The Indian Heritage

Atman Brahman - The ONE Self

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:42:00 +0000

The concept of Atman Brahman in Hinduism stems from Bhagavad Gita... the foremost of all sacred scriptures existing on mother Earth. Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism defines Brahman as the core of all things cosmic. Brahman of Hinduism is termed God Almighty in English. Brahman in Hinduism is also termed Parmatman, Karta, Sanatana Purusha, God, Ishwara and Bhagwan.

As per Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism Brahman is one and only one! The definition of Brahman as per Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism is the collective power of all purified atmans souls in the cosmos at a given point of time. If a grain of sand is an independent atman soul... the whole mound Brahman... God Almighty! The essence of an atman is not distinct from Brahman.

If an individual piece of puzzle is an independent soul Atman... the whole mound Brahman... God Almighty! In absence of Brahman and Atman... the whole cosmic system simply could not exist! As per Bhagavad-Gita only when Brahman explodes self with a big bang... the whole cosmos creates... never otherwise!.

Brahman... Atman... the big bang theory... all is interrelated! One simply cannot exist in absence of another. Viewed from limited power of senses... the concept of Brahman, atman, the big bang theory... all seems unreal... beyond the conceptualization of human senses... the human intellect! But viewed from cosmic point of view... Brahman and Atman are the only real truths of life.

Photo courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/hinduismthereligion

The concept of Brahman Atman is not debatable. Why? Our existence as a human being solely depends upon the existence of atmans souls in the cosmos. It is only existence of a consciousness within human beings... particularly all living beings that makes life possible in the cosmic system. The presence of an Atman soul within our heart is the only essence of life.

Brahman termed God Almighty exists within every human being in minuscule form as our Atman soul! It is only when an atman soul manifests the human body... life comes into existence in the cosmic system! In absence of an Atman soul.

It is the presence of a consciousness within our heart that results in formation of life on mother Earth. In absence of an atman soul... every living body is but inert matter that would just decay and die! Every atman soul manifests the human body to work out its karma... remove the dross impurities within!.

No sooner Brahman explodes self with a big bang... all purified souls atmans in the cosmos hurtled down their cosmic journey at unimaginable speeds... in the melee all atmans souls gather impurities similar as a rolling ball gathers moss! To cleanse self of all dross impurities within... to purify itself... to regain its lost original pure prime pristine form every atman soul manifests life!.

Right from the first manifestation as an amoeba (single cell formation) by the atman soul... the goal of every atman soul remains rejoining Brahman (termed God Almighty) at the earliest! It is through the complex process of karma every Atman soul completes its cosmic journey of 8.4 million manifestations... an earthly life cycle of 96.4 million years.

The moment the atman soul reached the stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)... the journey of every atman soul comes to an end! The enlightened one finally takes salvation (moksha) and the liberated Atman soul enters the kingdom of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism)... a point of no return! Once purified... the liberated soul Atman remains in Vaikuntha for eternity!.

Brahman (termed God Almighty) is the only truth of life... around which rotates the whole cosmic system! Manifestation in human form is the most pleasant experience for every atman soul. It is only in human form every Atman soul regains its original pure prime pristine form... which was not possible otherwise!

The human form is the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle! The prime reason why traveling the path of spirituality... gaining enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha) is termed highest of all spiritual pursuits available on mother Earth... and even the most difficult!.

Science may refute existence of atman soul or even Brahman (termed God Almighty) but spirituality as detailed in sacred Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism is absolutely clear about the concept of atman Brahman! Science has its limitations... It demands proofs! In the domain of Brahman God... it is absolute faith in Brahman (God Almighty) that paves way for reaching the stage of enlightenment!.

Science still disputes big bang theory but in sacred Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism... occurrence of big bang... Brahman exploding self with a big bang is an absolute truth of life. The cosmic truths detailed in Bhagavad-Gita can never be understood literally... one needs reading in between the lines!.

The concept of atman Brahman is explicit for a serious traveler of spirituality! Unless one believes in concept of atman Brahman... the spiritual path can never be seriously traveled! For reaching the stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha)... traveling the spiritual path is a necessity!.

One who has full faith in Brahman (termed God Almighty)... one who can travel the spiritual path unflinchingly covers the spiritual journey without much hindrance. In simpler words one cannot view the whole of the ground unless he stands on a higher ground like mountain top! For a serious seeker of spirituality... having absolute faith in Brahman is a must!

Most human beings on Mother Earth start spiritual travel with ifs and buts... Never realizing that the spiritual path is the most formidable of all journeys one ever travels in life. The spiritual path demands highest level of perfection that can ever be practiced by human beings. Practicing patience, persistence and perseverance at its level best... one finally crosses the ocean of samsara (worldly life).

For reaching Atman soul... for reaching the spirit within... for reaching our real self... our inner self... one needs indulging in yoga meditation that leads one directly to the abode of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism). Realizing our real self... for reaching the stage of self realization... absolute control over five senses and mind is an absolute must.

The journey of spirituality... the journey to our inner self can never be covered halfheartedly! It is only by traveling the spiritual path with all sincerity one can finally realized Self. He then realises the Self is Brahman and Brahman is God.

V.S. Ramachandran: The Neurons That Shaped Civilization.

SPEAKER VILAYANUR RAMACHANDRAN: The Brain expert

Interactive Transcript:

I'd like to talk to you today about the human brain, which is what we do research on at the University of California. Just think about this problem for a second. Here is a lump of flesh, about three pounds, which you can hold in the palm of your hand. But it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space. It can contemplate the meaning of infinity, ask questions about the meaning of its own existence, about the nature of God.

And this is truly the most amazing thing in the world. It's the greatest mystery confronting human beings: How does this all come about? Well, the brain, as you know, is made up of neurons. We're looking at neurons here. There are 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain. And each neuron makes something like 1,000 to 10,000 contacts with other neurons in the brain. And based on this, people have calculated that the number of permutations and combinations of brain activity exceeds the number of elementary particles in the universe.

So, how do you go about studying the brain? One approach is to look at patients who had lesions in different part of the brain, and study changes in their behavior. This is what I spoke about in the last TED. Today I'll talk about a different approach which is to put electrodes in different parts of the brain, and actually record the activity of individual nerve cells in the brain. Sort of eavesdrop on the activity of nerve cells in the brain.

Now, one recent discovery that has been made by researchers in Italy, in Parma, by Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues, is a group of neurons called mirror neurons, which are on the front of the brain in the frontal lobes. Now, it turns out there are neurons which are called ordinary motor command neurons in the front of the brain, which have been known for over 50 years. These neurons will fire when a person performs a specific action. For example, if I do that, and reach and grab an apple, a motor command neuron in the front of my brain will fire. If I reach out and pull an object, another neuron will fire, commanding me to pull that object. These are called motor command neurons that have been known for a long time.

But what Rizzolatti found was a subset of these neurons, maybe about 20 percent of them, will also fire when I'm looking at somebody else performing the same action. So, here is a neuron that fires when I reach and grab something, but it also fires when I watch Joe reaching and grabbing something. And this is truly astonishing. Because it's as though this neuron is adopting the other person's point of view. It's almost as though it's performing a virtual reality simulation of the other person's action.

Now, what is the significance of these mirror neurons? For one thing they must be involved in things like imitation and emulation. Because to imitate a complex act requires my brain to adopt the other person's point of view. So, this is important of imitation and emulation. Well, why is that important? Well, let's take a look at the next slide. So, how do you do imitation? Why is imitation important? Mirror neurons and imitation, emulation.

Now, let's look at culture, the phenomenon of human culture. If you go back in time about [75,000] to 100,000 years ago, let's look at human evolution, it turns out that something very important happened around 75,000 years ago. And that is, there is a sudden emergence and rapid spread of a number of skills that are unique to human beings like tool use, the use of fire, the use of shelters, and, of course, language, and the ability to read somebody else's mind and interpret that person's behavior. All of that happened relatively quickly.

Even though the human brain had achieved its present size almost three or four hundred thousand years ago, 100,000 years ago all of this happened very very quickly. And I claim that what happened was the sudden emergence of a sophisticated mirror neuron system, which allowed you to emulate and imitate other people's actions. So that when there was a sudden accidental discovery by one member of the group, say the use of fire, or a particular type of tool, instead of dying out this spread rapidly, horizontally across the population, or was transmitted vertically, down the generations.

So, this made evolution suddenly Lamarckian, instead of Darwinian. Darwinian evolution is slow; it takes hundreds of thousands of years. A polar bear, to evolve a coat, will take thousands of generations, maybe 100,000 years. A human being, a child, can just watch its parent kill another polar bear, and skin it and put the skin on its body, fur on the body, and learn it in one step. What the polar bear took 100,000 years to learn, it can learn in five minutes, maybe 10 minutes. And then once it's learned this it spreads in geometric proportion across a population.

This is the basis. The imitation of complex skills is what we call culture and is the basis of civilization. Now there is another kind of mirror neuron, which is involved in something quite different. And that is, there are mirror neurons, just as there are mirror neurons for action, there are mirror neurons for touch. In other words, if somebody touches me, my hand, neuron in the somatosensory cortex in the sensory region of the brain fires. But the same neuron, in some cases will fire when I simply watch another person being touched. So, it's empathizing the other person being touched.

So, most of them will fire when I'm touched in different locations. Different neurons for different locations. But a subset of them will fire even when I watch somebody else being touched in the same location. So, here again you have neurons which are enrolled in empathy. Now, the question then arises: If I simply watch another person being touched, why do I not get confused and literally feel that touch sensation merely by watching somebody being touched? I mean, I empathize with that person but I don't literally feel the touch. Well, that's because you've got receptors in your skin, touch and pain receptors, going back into your brain and saying "Don't worry, you're not being touched. So, empathize, by all means, with the other person, but do not actually experience the touch otherwise you'll get confused and muddled." .

Okay, so there is a feedback signal that vetos the signal of the mirror neuron preventing you from consciously experiencing that touch. But if you remove the arm, you simply anesthetize my arm, so you put an injection into my arm, anesthetize the brachial plexus, so the arm is numb, and there is no sensations coming in, if I now watch you being touched, I literally feel it in my hand. In other words, you have dissolved the barrier between you and other human beings. So, I call them Gandhi neurons, or empathy neurons.

And this is not in some abstract metaphorical sense, all that's separating you from him, from the other person, is your skin. Remove the skin, you experience that person's touch in your mind. You've dissolved the barrier between you and other human beings. And this, of course is the basis of much of Eastern philosophy, And that is there is no real independent self, aloof from other human beings, inspecting the world, inspecting other people. You are in fact, connected not just via Facebook, and Internet, you're actually quite literally connected by your neurons. And there is whole chains of neurons around this room, talking to each other. And there is no real distinctiveness of your consciousness from somebody else's consciousness.

And this is not mumbo-jumbo philosophy. It emerges from our understanding of basic neuroscience. So, you have a patient with a phantom limb. If the arm has been removed and you have a phantom, and you watch somebody else being touched, you feel it in your phantom. Now the astonishing thing is, if you have pain in your phantom limb, you squeeze the other person's hand, massage the other person's hand, that relieves the pain in your phantom hand, almost as though the neuron were obtaining relief from merely watching somebody else being massaged.

So, here you have my last slide. For the longest time people have regarded science and humanities as being distinct. C.P. Snow spoke of the two cultures: science on the one hand, humanities on the other; never the twain shall meet. So, I'm saying the mirror neuron system underlies the interface allowing you to rethink about issues like consciousness, representation of self, what separates you from other human beings, what allows you to empathize with other human beings, and also even things like the emergence of culture and civilization, which is unique to human beings. Thank you.

About V.S. Ramachandran

V.S. Ramachandran is a mesmerizing speaker, able to concretely and simply describe the most complicated inner workings of the brain. His investigations into phantom limb pain, synesthesia and other brain disorders allow him to explore (and begin to answer) the most basic philosophical questions about the nature of self and human consciousness.

Ramachandran is the director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. He is the author of Phantoms in the Brain (the basis for a Nova special), A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness and The Man with the Phantom Twin: Adventures in the Neuroscience of the Human Brain.

"Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo, journeying the silk road of science to strange and exotic Cathays of the mind. He returns laden with phenomenological treasures...which, in his subtle and expert telling, yield more satisfying riches of scientific understanding."

- Richard Dawkins.

NASA Shares The Images of HAND OF GOD Nebula

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 11:37:00 +0000

Can you see the shape of a hand in this image? The hand might look like Maha Vishnu's hand holding the Sudarshan Chakra, but it is actually a cloud of material ejected from a star that exploded. NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has imaged the structure in high-energy X-rays for the first time, shown in blue. Lower-energy X-ray light previously detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is shown in green and red.

Nicknamed the "Hand of God," this object is called a pulsar wind nebula. It's powered by the leftover, dense core of a star that blew up in a supernova explosion. The stellar corpse, called PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short, is a pulsar: it rapidly spins around, seven times per second, firing out a particle wind into the material around it -- material that was ejected in the star's explosion. These particles are interacting with magnetic fields around the material, causing it to glow with X-rays. The result is a cloud that, in previous images, looked like an open hand. The pulsar itself can't be seen in this picture, but is located near the bright white spot.

One of the big mysteries of this object is whether the pulsar particles are interacting with the material in a specific way to make it look like a hand, or if the material is in fact shaped like a hand.

NuSTAR's view is providing new clues to the puzzle. The hand actually shrinks in the NuSTAR image, looking more like a fist, as indicated by the blue color. The northern region, where the fingers are located, shrinks more than the southern part, where a jet lies, implying the two areas are physically different.

The red cloud at the end of the finger region is a different structure, called RCW 89. Astronomers think the pulsar's wind is heating the cloud, causing it to glow with lower-energy X-ray light.

In this image, X-ray light seen by Chandra with energy ranges of 0.5 to 2 kiloelectron volts (keV) and 2 to 4 keV is shown in red and green, respectively, while X-ray light detected by NuSTAR in the higher-energy range of 7 to 25 keV is blue.

Mural of Lord Rama in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 04:50:00 +0000

Amazing discovery:

Images of Lord Rama Found on the High Mountains of Iraq

Lord Rama is worshiped in the country of India. There is immense faith in India about Lord Rama. The Indian delegation to Iraq this year got to see a mural dating back to 2000 years ago. The Ayodhya research institute claims to have the image of Lord Rama. This mural was found in the Darband-e-Berula rock on the route from the narrow pass through the Horen Sherwan region of Iraq. Ayodhya Research Institute director Yogendra Pratap Singh says that this is the image of Hanuman. He said that the king and monkey made in the picture are Lord Ram and Hanuman.

In June this year, a delegation led by Indian Ambassador Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit went to Iraq. For this, the Ayodhya Research Institute under the Department of Culture requested. The delegation also included an Indian diplomat at the Abril Consulate, Chandramouli Karan, the historian of the University of Sulaimaniya and the Iraqi governor of Kurdistan. The Iraqi archaeologists and historians are denying it to be the image of Lord Rama. Iraqi scholars state that the mural depicts Tadurni, the chief of the hill tribe. He said that the missing link needed to be found to prove it.

Among the murals found by the Archaeological Department, a king with a bare chest is shown. A bow and a sword are placed in the belt of his waist, which is armed with arrows on the bow. Not only this, in addition to this image, a second image is also seen with the palms. Ayodhya research institute director Yogendra Pratap Singh claimed that the mark of God in Baitullah Pass is a clear proof that Rama is not just in stories. This delegation has collected pictorial evidence to make a detailed study of the relationship between Indian Mesopotamian cultures.

Singh claimed that this was the first official attempt to establish links between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia's civilizations. Citing various references, he stated that Lower Mesopotamia was ruled by Sumeria between 4500 and 1900 BCE. Evidence that it came from India and was genetically associated with the Indus Valley Civilization. It is proposed that murals of different places will be brought under one roof in Ayodhya. The director of the institute said that the mark of Ram is in different parts of the world. The culture department of UP has also prepared a proposal to get a replica of the same mural made in Ayodhya.

It is vital to understand the similarities between the Yazidis of Iraq and the Hindus of India to accept the impact of Hinduism in the region. You can find the list of the similarities here:

The similarities between Hindus and Yezidi culture (Courtesy of Times Of India)

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4 Verse 8

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 17:59:00 +0000

Chapter 4: Transcendental Knowledge

VERSE 8

Paritranaya Sadhunam

Vinasaya Ca Duskrtam

Dharma-Samsthapanarthaya

Sambhavami Yuge Yuge

TRANSLATIONS

Paritranaya - for the deliverance;
Sadhunam - of the devotees;
Vinasaya - for the annihilation;
Ca - also;
Duskrtam - of the miscreants;
Dharma - principles of religion;
Samsthapana-arthaya - to re-establish;
Sambhavami - I do appear;
Yuge Yuge - millennium after millennium.

TRANSLATION

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants,

as well as to re-establish the principles of religion,

I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

PURPORT

According to Bhagavad-gita, a sadhu (holyman) is a man in Krsna consciousness. A person may appear to be irreligious, but if he has the qualifications of Krsna consciousness wholly and fully, he is to be understood to be a sadhu.

Duskrtam applies to one who doesn't care for Krsna consciousness. Such miscreants, or Duskrtam, are described as foolish and the lowest of mankind, even though they may be decorated with mundane education; whereas another person, who is one hundred percent engaged in Krsna consciousness, is accepted as sadhu, even though such a person may neither be learned nor well cultured.

As far as the atheistic are concerned, it is not necessary for the Supreme Lord to appear only to destroy them, as He did with the demons Ravana and Kamsa. The Lord has many agents who are quite competent to vanquish demons. The Lord also descends to appease His devotees, who are always harassed by the demons. The demon harasses the devotee, even though the latter may happen to be his kin. Although Prahlada Maharaja was the son of Hiranyakasipu, he was nonetheless persecuted by his father; although Devaki, the mother of Krsna, was the sister of Kamsa, she and her husband Vasudeva were persecuted only because Krsna was to be born of them. So Lord Krsna appeared primarily to deliver Devaki, rather than kill Kamsa, but both were performed simultaneously. Therefore it is said here that to deliver the devotee and vanquish the demon miscreants, the Lord appears in different incarnations.

History of India

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 14:41:00 +0000

Underwater Temple Garden, Pemuteran, Bali

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 16:52:00 +0000

Recently the whole world was shocked with claims that a Vishnu temple was found submerged under water in Bali. And that the temple was built 5000 years ago. It then later submerged due to volcano eruption and the rising of sea water. Many Indian and Hindu based organisations and individuals start making videos and claims about this without any evidence at all.

So how true is this Submerged Vishnu Temple?
After a thorough online research, one will understand that this claim is actually a hoax. The “temple” was actually constructed recently as part of an artificial reef creation project. Coral and other sea life can anchor onto vertical structures placed on the sea floor, creating important marine habitat.

The temple or more precisely a "Garden" was built in 2005 in Bali to act as stimulus for coral breeding and also as tourist attraction.
It was not built 5000 years ago as claimed and definitely not a theme park as claimed by some foreign medias.

Sea Rovers Dive Center has constructed several artificial reefs with funding from the Australian Agency for International Development. They named the site temple “Taman Pura” or temple garden. This is perhaps the most interesting man-made reef to dive on in the area.

The place is known as Underwater Temple Garden, is located Pemuteran, Bali, Indonesia also houses the statues of Buddha, Laxmi, Saraswati under its waters. Despite being the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesians love respect their ancient beliefs and make sure the belief system of their ancestors lives on. There are so many ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples found in Indonesia every year but this is not one of them.

The initial project was created 29 meters below the ocean surface. This it just slightly below the limits of recreational diving depths, but close enough to descend for a good look. A second site at only 15 meters has been created nearby so that less experienced divers can enjoy the amazing experience of diving to view ancient-looking Hindu and Buddhist statues. The first site has around a dozen large stone statues sitting on the ocean floor and a 4 meter tall temple gateway. You can see more statues at the second site.

In addition to Taman Pura, there are many other dive sites in the clear blue waters off the coast of Bali. Pulau Menjangan, Amed, and Padangbai all have shallow dive sites that are suitable for beginners. Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Candidasa’s dive sites are generally deeper or have more current, making them more suitable for experienced divers.

This site is a definite "MUST VISIT" site that one should never miss when visiting Bali.

Narakasuran - The Story of Deepavali

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 19:33:00 +0000

Naraka Chaturdasi is always associated with the Deepavali celebrations. It is celebrated to commemorate the killing of demon Naraka

Unlike in North India, where it is observed a day before, in South India, Naraka Chaturdasi is observed on the Deepavali day itself. Naraka Chaturdasi day celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna over Demon Naraka (Naraka Asuran or Narakasuran).

Legend has it that Demon Naraka, the son of Bhuma Devi and Vishnu's Varaha avatar, with the help of a boon from Brahma became very powerful. The boon was that he could only be killed by his mother Bhuma Devi (one of Lakshmi's avatar). With such immense power Naraka lost his self control and his ego took over him. He started harassing people and demi-gods. He also forcibly took away the earrings of Aditi, the mother of devas.

Artist impression of the demon King Naraka

Finally, the task of annihilating Naraka fell on Krishna. As he could not ask a mother to kill her own son, Lord Krishna asked his wife Satyabhama, (another avatar of Lakshmi), to accompany him to the battle against Naraka and to be his charioteer.

Before he can battle Narakasuran, Lord Krishna had to defeat Narakasuran's general, the 5 headed Mura with his Sudarshan Chakra. Then he continued his battle with Narakasuran.

The battle between Narakasuran and Krishna shook the entire world. During the battle, an arrow hits Krishna and he acts being unconscious. Seeing this, Satyabhama became furious and took the bow and arrow of Krishna and killed Demon Naraka.

It is said that before dying, Narakasuran realized his mistakes and requested for a festival in his name to remind people on what will happen if they are consumed by false ego.

Naraka Chaturdasi thus indicates that good and evil rises from the same root. It also suggests that personal relationships do not matter when it comes to the good of the society. Victory of good over evil always prevails.

According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, Narakasura or Naraka is the asura son of the earth goddess Bhuma Devi and Varaha (third avatar of Vishnu). He is said to have grown to be a demon through association with Banasura. He established the kingdom of Pragjyotisha after overthrowing the last of the Danava king, Ghatakasura.

After it was foretold that he would be destroyed by a later incarnation of Vishnu, his mother, Bhuma Devi, sought a boon from Vishnu. that her son should have a long life, and be all powerful and can only be killed if she wanted to. Vishnu granted these boons.

Narakasura is cited as the progenitor of many dynasties that ruled Kamarupa in historical times. Kamarupa is located in modern day Assam, a place in North East India.

The ruins of Pragjyotisha can still be found in Kamarupa, Assam, India

Even though Narakasuran was born to Lord Varaha, Himself, he became evil due to his association with another Asura known as Banasura. Since he knew he cannot be killed by anybody else, he was engulfed with ego and became very disrespectful to the devas. After conquering the Earth, he attacked the Heaven and Indra (the king of heaven). Unable to win, Indra pleaded to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu agreed but as to fulfill his promise to Bhooma Devi, he must let Narakasuran live a very long time. Soon, Lord Vishnu took the avatar of Lord Krishna and His wife Lakshmi took the avatar of Satyabama.

Since Indra left the heaven, Narakasuran went to Aditi (the heavenly mother goddess) and forcefully ripped her earring off her ear. He also kidnapped 16,100 women after that. Aditi is the cousin of Satyabama went to her and pleaded for help. Satyabama sees that Narakasuran has no respect for women and asked Lord Krishna to restore order by killing him.

When the time was right, Lord Krishna brought Satyabama and together killed Narakasuran and bestowed order to the worlds. Since the 16,100 women no longer have any place to go, he took them in as his wives by creating multiple personalities of himself for each of them.

Satyabama kills Narakasuran

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 02:33:00 +0000

Happy Krishna Jayanthi!!

The Kelings in History

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 19:27:00 +0000

Recently there were many disputes among Tamil communities of Malaysia, Singapore and even Indonesia when they are referred as Keling. Many take this as a derogatory remarks hurled at them. A few people had tried to give some explanation on the history of such words. But some other disputes their claims. So in this post, I'll try to put forth as many as historical accounts I can find on the origin of the word.

Keling is a Malay word which referred to the Indian in Malaysia and it has been received in a derogatory manner amongst the Indian in Malaysia at the beginning of twentieth century. However, the Malay consciousness of keling is not new and it happened since the existence of Malay Sultanate in Malacca in 15th century.

It has been used widely in many classical Malay books such as Sulalat al-Salatin, Hikayat Hang Tuah and Hikayat Raja Pasai. According to the 17th century Malay epic Sulalat al-Salatin, “Keling” played a very important role to help the administration of the Malacca Malay Empire. Generally, the word “Keling” has been used mostly with a positive connotation. In Sulalat al-Salatin, the word “Keling” was used 66 times in different contexts.

The book also associates 2 prominent characters with the word keling namely; Mani Purindam and Raja Mundeliar and how they had been assimilated in the Malay society and accepted as part of the high rank officials in the Malacca Empire.

In the modern Malay dictionary, the word “Keling” is used to describe merchants coming from the South Indian subcontinent including Kalinga and Telingana to the Malay Peninsula as early as 3rd century. The Malay dictionary mentioned that this word, especially in the Northern area of Malay Peninsula, refers to the Indians who are Muslims.

The story about “Keling” appeared before the existence of Malacca Empire. It was about Raja Suran, who was the King from India, came to the Malay Peninsula in his military expedition with his soldiers. His army, together with large numbers of elephants and horses, fought hard with the military from Siam and finally, the King succeeded to kill Raja Chulan. Later, Raja Suran married with Prince Onang Kiu, the daughter of Raja Chulan, and the army marched towards Temasik, or known today as Singapore. It has been described that they were skillful fighters from the great Kingdom in India and were involved in the process of colonization and expansion of Indian Empire until it reached Southeast Asia. The armed forces were formidable in both land and sea warfare and won against the Kingdom of Gangga Nagara in Perak, Langgiu in Johore and Temasik.

There are many locations in south-east Asian countries Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia named after the word "Keling". This proves that Kelings has been a big factor in the history in those areas. In Medan, Sumatra Utara, Indonesia, there is a place named as 'Kampung Keling' until now the Indians are referred to as Kelings without any offence. In fact recently when the local government attempted to change the town name to Kampung Madras, Tamils living in the village protested and preferred to be called as Keling.

KAMPUNG KELING, MEDAN, SUMATERA UTARA, INDONESIA - A SMALL TOWN MOSTLY INHABITED BY TAMIL COMMUNITY

William Girdlestone Shellabear (1862–1948), the founder of MPH Group, a publication house that was founded on 1890 referred the word “Keling” in his dictionary in the early 20th century as “the native of the eastern coast of British India, especially the Telugus and Tamils”. And R. O. Winstedt of Malay-English Dictionary, added that this word has been taken from the old kingdom of Kalinga in India.

The Dutch "Dagregister" referred to Indian inhabitants of Melaka as "Clings" or "Klingers". One must remember that the Dutch ruled Melaka long before the British landed on this part of the world.

Munshi Abdullah an Indian descendant himself used the word "Keling" in his many literatures especially in his book "Sejarah Melayu". In the 2nd chapter, he narrated that the Chinese emperor referred the Chola King as "Raja Keling". This can be cross referenced in the Chinese literatures as well like in the compilation of the Chinese history book, "China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization" edited by The Editorial Committee of Chinese Civilization. Under the chapter, "Maritime Transportation and Trade in the Tang Dynasty", page 603 referring the Indian subcontinent as "The State of Keling". This book gives the earliest recorded dates as A.D.813.

In the "100th volume of Tang Hui Yao" in the 8th year of Yuanhe (813), The Keling State offered "two Sengzhi maids"

In his book, "A Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya", Nicholas Belfield Dennys mentioned as follows:

Inscription, Indian - An ancient inscription, supposed to date from the thirteenth century, was extant on a sandstone rock at the entrance of Singapore river, on the spot now occupied by the Harbour Master's Offices. Col. Low [J. I. A., Vol. I, p. 89] gives the following account of it:—" The inscription, a fragment of which I possess, was only legible in few places, the character appertaining to the Peninsula of India, and probably it may be described in the Malayan annals in these terms: ' Rajah Suran of Amdan Nagara, after conquering the State of Johore with his Kling troops [Kling is the term applied to the people of Coromandel coast], proceeded to Tamsak. When he returned to his country of Kling or Bejaneegar, he left a stone monument of his victories, on which was an inscription in the language of Hindustan. Tamsak is also called Singhapura.' This was about A.D, 1201. Singhapura. observes Mr. Crawfued, was first settled in A.D, 1160 by Sri Sura Bawana." [See J. I A., Vol. I. p. 89. and M. P. I. C, Vol. I, p. 219 et acq.]

This proves that the word Keling was already in use around A.D, 1201. He continues...

Mr. Maxwell states that at the foot of Bukit Mertajam, Province Wellesley, on the south side, there is a block of granite on which some rude characters hare been traced. The Malays call it batu surat, the rock of the writing. " I believe," he says, " that the inscription has never been deciphered, and that the character has not been identified. When I saw it last (in 1874), it was difficult in places to detect the ancient inscription on the rugged face of the rock, its faint lines contrasting strangely with the deeply-cut initials of Col. Low on the same boulder."

He also gives a lengthy description on the word itself:-

Kling - The name given by the Malays (J. I. A.. Vol. II., p. 10) to the Telinga nation of Southern India, and which appears to be a corruption or abbreviation of the genuine name of the country of this people—Kalinga. So many have settled in Malaya that they form an appreciable portion of the population. Being the only Indian nation familiarly known to the nations of the Archipelago, the word is used by them as a general term for all the people of Hindustan, and for the country itself. The trade and intercourse of the Telingas with the Archipelago is of great but unascertained antiquity, and still goes on. Many Telingas have, from time to time, settled more particularly in the western parts of Malaya, as in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and their mixed descendants are tolerably numerous. In Singapore, for example, the Telingas form about one-tenth of the population, and in Penang they are eyen more numerous. It was this people that, in all probability, introduced the Hindu religion, and they seem also to have contributed materially to the spread of Mahommedanism, the majority of the settlers being at present of this persuasion. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese found them carrying on trade at Malacca, and Barbosa, who calls them Chetijs (obviously the "Chitties" of to-day), describes them as " wealthy merchants of Coromandel, who traded in large ships."

A propos of this subject, two interesting communications appeared in the Penang Gazzette under date of 16th September, 1887, the greater portions of which we quote hereunder. Vilayat writes :—

In my edition of Elphinstone's "History of India," p. 242, the following passage occurs:—

"Another branch of the tribe of Chalukya * * * ruled over Calinga, which is the eastern portion of Telingana, extending along the sea from Dravida to Orissa."

"Garrett, in his * Classical Dictionary of India,' says: Kalinga is the name of the sea-coast west of the mouth of the Ganges with the upper part of the Coromandel Coast. The inhabitants are called Kalingas."

"Forbes, in his 'Hindustani Dictionary,' says : Kaling, the name of a country, especially applied to a district on the Coromandel Coast between Cuttack and Madras."

When I first heard the name Kling, I considered it a misnomer, but have changed my opinion for various reasons:—

The people we speak of as Klings cannot properly be called Hindus, as the majority in the Straits will, I believe, be found to be Mahommcdans. This disposes of the religious name.
They cannot be called Tamils, as very many, if not most of them, are Telugus (Telingana) ; thus language fails to meet the difficulty.
Coromandels might be used, but this word is only known as a geographical expression by the Europeans. Natives of India do not use it, that I am aware of.
Dravidians might meet the want of a common name (one in common I mean), but philologists would be horror-struck at the desecration of one of their pet words. Nor is it a word in common use among natives of India.

We are thus compelled to fall back upon the despised word Kling, which, I think, may be satisfactorily accounted for on the following suppositions:—

Penang was originally a part of the Bengal Presidency, or rather was ruled from Bengal.
Officials from Bengal must have brought Bengali servants with them.
These, when the first importations of natives of the south-east coast of India were brought over, would class them as Kaling ; that is, as people coming from the districts known to them as Kaling, south of Bengal.
The next step would be easy— Kaling has a short " a " ; omit it altogether (there are many similar instances in philology), the result is Kling, applied to all natives south of Bengal.

The above appears to me the probable derivation of the name as used here. It should be observed that Forbes gives the word as Kaling and not Kalinga, as spelt by other authors from whom I have quoted.

He also continues by adding...

"Scabeboeus" adds the following remarks:—The word is a most interesting one, and points to a connection between the Straits and India reaching nearly as far back as the time of Alexander the Great, and the only trace of which remains in its continued application to natives of Southern India. It is not used only in the Straits, but all over the Dutch and Portuguese possessions in the East Indies, and its universal application in these parts points to a large trade having been carried on between Southern India and the Eastern Seas. It is erroneously derived from Telinga or Telingapatam, once a port on the Madras Coast, from which the sea has receded, and which is now an inland town about 2 miles from the shore. The name of this port signifies that there was a community or nation bearing the name of Talingas or Kalingas, and it is from the name of this people that our word is derived. Indian archaeologists are well aware of the existence of a large nation in Southern India who worshipped Siva, and who called themselves Kalingas. Some record of this nation is found in the oldest of known Indian inscriptions— those at Khalsi—which are probably the moat interesting in the East, as demonstrating the connection of India and Greece, by their mention of the names of Ptolemy and Alexander.

Evidences of this connection are abundant in Greek literature ; but these are the only clear ones on the Indian side. The country that this nation inhabited is now known as Northern Circars—the Telugu Coast of the Bay of Bengal. No doubt emigration and trade from this part of India was then more extensive than any other, and the word Kalinga was applied in general to all emigrants from India. In the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, in an article on the Sijara Malayu—a. collection of Malay legends—it ia stated the word Kaling is used generally for India. The Klings of the Straits do not come so much from the Northern Circars as from districts about Tanjore, and from purely Tamil districts; and the classes who take domestic service in the Straits—Hindus or Lubbais—are never known to serve Europeans in India.

Two quotations which I have found with reference to the word are of great interest; one is from the translation of Mr. Senart of the Khalsi inscription, and is as follows;—" Great is Kalinga, conquered by King Pujadasi, beloved of Devas. Hundreds of thouaanda have been carried off. Immediately the King, on learning of the conquest of Kalinga, turned to religion, &c." This dates about 250 B.C..

The other is from a French translation of a narrative of a Chinese traveller, Huen Tsiang (Polerins Bouddistes); it runs:— "After having travelled 1,500 li, he arrived at the Kingdom of Kalinga, In ancient times the Kingdom of Kalinga possessed a dense population; insomuch that in the streets shoulders rubbed and waggon wheels jostled; if the passengers but lifted their sleeves an awning of immense extent was formed . . . ." The narrative of these travels was written by the traveller about 640 of our era, and though travellers' tales are proverbially liable to being taken at something less than par value, this ancient Chinese traveller seems, in the opinion of his French translator. to have been not only a prince among pioneers, but an observant and truthful narrator of what he saw.

In the book; A History of Classical Malay Literature, the author Liaw Yock Fang described the Hindu influences in Indonesia where itis known as Serat Rama Keling in Jawa, Madura and Yogyakarta.

Kenneth R. Hall in his book A History of Early Southeast Asia describes a group of merchants of Bandar Hilir as "Another group, hailing from Tuban, Japara, Sunda and Lampug, lived in the Upeh quarter with chief Utimuti Raja, though apart from the Keling, Chinese, and Gujarati residential enclaves..."

In Asiatic Researches or Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal - Volume 10, which was published in London in 1811, and describes the classical Malay dramas, you may find stories of 5 Pandava brothers. Here the Indian drama is said to be translated from the Keling culture and known as the history of a Keling Rajah.

There are a huge number of reference points in the historical books available to show that the word Keling had been used loosely to identify Indians in general throughout this region and not limited to Malaysia.

NAMES OF PLACES

Various place names in Malaysia contain the word keling for historical reasons, e.g. Tanjong Keling., Kampong Keling, and Bukit Keling, etc.

In Penang, the Kapitan Keling Mosque, situated on the corner of Buckingham Street and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (Pitt Street), is one of the oldest mosques in George Town.

In Singapore, there is a road in Jurong Industrial Estate called Tanjong Kling Road which was derived from the word 'Keling'.

In Jepara Regency, Central Java, Indonesia, there is a subdistrict called Keling. Locals link the location with the historical 6th century Kalingga Kingdom.

In Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, there's a place called Pacar Keling. It's an area in the subdistrict Tambaksari, Surabaya. Phrase 'Pacar' itself means 'Lover' in Bahasa Indonesia.

In Philippines, there is a district in the North Luzon by the name of Kalinga.

Apart from these locations, there are literally hundreds of locations, villages and structures throughout South East Asia that carry the name of Kalinga in various forms such as Keling and Kling.

DEROGATORY

The word “keling” in Malaysia has become a socially undesirable term and it has a derogatory connotation for Malaysians of Indian origin. Though the word existed in the Malay vocabulary since 15th century, there was an attempt to remove it from the Malay dictionary due to its negative connotations.

Many attempts have been made over the years to erase it from the Malay vocabulary. One was by a group of Indian Muslim community in Malaysia to remove the word “keling” from the third edition of Kamus Dewan, a Malay dictionary which was published by the Malaysian government agency, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). It happened in July 30th 2003 when the chairman of Angkatan Pelopor India Muslim Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan (APIM), filed the summons in High Court against Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and five others over the use of the term “keling” which, according to them, was offensive and humiliating to Malaysians Indians. He said that the word was in conflict to the Federal Constitution, National Principles (Rukun Negara) and the Publication and Printing Presses Act 1984 (Amended 1987).

This phenomenon is not only happened in Malaysia, but also happened in Singapore. On 1st August 1921, The Straits Times, one of the newspapers in Singapore carried out a notice from Municipal Office entitled “Kling Street - Change of Name”. In the advertisement, it was announced that the name of the Kling Street will be changed to Chulia Street starting from 1st January 1922. It was believed that the name had been changed due to the suggestion by the Indian Association of Singapore.

There were many incidents of Indian migrations. The latest migrations of Indians happened during the British reign in early 1800's. The British brought in many workers to work in Malaya in many industries mainly in rubber plantations. At the same time they also had brought in criminals and Indian freedom fighters to break the movement. This workers group of Indians do not know the local history and assumed that the word was derived from the sound of chains of criminal's feet. They failed to understand that the term was used to all early Indians who came from the Indian subcontinent.

Some argued that it refers only to those who came from the Kalinga city and should not be used to the general Indians. Till today the term is still considered derogatory by the Indian communities in this region.

I truly believe that if we learn the history of the word "Keling" and how it had affected the local community in the past, it will boost the morale of the present day Indians.

References:

A Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya, Nicholas Belfield Dennys - http://www.archive.org/details/adescriptivedic00denngoog
Indo-Portuguese History: Old Issues, New Questions
The Role of the Keling during the 15th Century Malacca Sultanate, - Abdur-Rahman Mohamed Amin and Ahmad Murad Merican
A Historical Perspective on the Word "Keling" - http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/keling.htm
The Penang Gazette, 16th September 1887
International Journal of Social Science and Humanity
China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization
W. G. Shellabear, Malay-English Vocabulary, Singapore
Singapore Infopedia - http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_156_2005-01-26.html
The Keling in Malay Discourses: The Study of Narratives in Selected Classical Malay Prose Epics

Thou Shalt Not Kill

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:04:00 +0000

Recently certain churches in USA had claimed that the early Christian churches had a mistake when translating the 10 Commandments into English. Their main concern was the 6th Commandment which says ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.’

According to the churches, it should be translated as ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ They say its OK to kill any animal or even human being (as soldiers or police in the line of duty) but not murder (illegal killing).

Please refer to the links provided at the bottom of this page

We are here not to question their opinion. This post has nothing to do with this claim but to honor cows for the recent "Maattu Ponggal" festival. Hindus respect cows as mother. The best explanation on why Hindus are abstained from eating cow (beef) was given by Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada to Cardinal Jean Danielou at a monastic retreat near Paris, in July of 1973.

The transcript below was prepared by ISKCON based on the entire conversation.

Srila Prabhupada:

Jesus Christ said, “Thou shalt not kill.” So why is it that the Christian people are engaged in animal killing?

Cardinal Danielou:

Certainly in Christianity it is forbidden to kill, but we believe that there is a difference between the life of a human being and the life of the beasts. The life of a human being is sacred because man is made in the image of God; therefore, to kill a human being is forbidden.

Srila Prabhupada:

But the Bible does not simply say, “Do not kill the human being.” It says broadly, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Cardinal Danielou:

We believe that only human life is sacred.

Srila Prabhupada:

That is your interpretation. The commandment is “Thou shalt not kill.”

Cardinal Danielou:

It is necessary for man to kill animals in order to have food to eat.

Srila Prabhupada:

No. Man can eat grains, vegetables, fruits, and milk.

Cardinal Danielou:

No flesh?

Srila Prabhupada:

No. Human beings are meant to eat vegetarian food. The tiger does not come to eat your fruits. His prescribed food is animal flesh. But man’s food is vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk products. So how can you say that animal killing is not a sin?

Cardinal Danielou:

We believe it is a question of motivation. If the killing of an animal is for giving food to the hungry, then it is justified.

Srila Prabhupada:

But consider the cow: we drink her milk; therefore, she is our mother. Do you agree?

Cardinal Danielou:

Yes, surely.

Srila Prabhupada:

So if the cow is your mother, how can you support killing her? You take the milk from her, and when she’s old and cannot give you milk, you cut her throat. Is that a very humane proposal? In India those who are meat-eaters are advised to kill some lower animals like goats, pigs, or even buffalo. But cow killing is the greatest sin. In preaching Krishna consciousness we ask people not to eat any kind of meat, and my disciples strictly follow this principle. But if, under certain circumstances, others are obliged to eat meat, then they should eat the flesh of some lower animal. Don’t kill cows. It is the greatest sin. And as long as a man is sinful, he cannot understand God. The human being’s main business is to understand God and to love Him. But if you remain sinful, you will never be able to understand God—what to speak of loving Him.

Cardinal Danielou:

I think that perhaps this is not an essential point. The important thing is to love God. The practical commandments can vary from one religion to the next.

Srila Prabhupada:

So, in the Bible God’s practical commandment is that you cannot kill; therefore killing cows is a sin for you.

Cardinal Danielou:

God says to the Indians that killing is not good, and he says to the Jews that…

Srila Prabhupada:

No, no. Jesus Christ taught, “Thou shalt not kill.” Why do you interpret this to suit your own convenience?

Cardinal Danielou:

But Jesus allowed the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.

Srila Prabhupada:

But he never maintained a slaughterhouse.

Cardinal Danielou:

[Laughs.] No, but he did eat meat.

Srila Prabhupada:

When there is no other food, someone may eat meat in order to keep from starving. That is another thing. But it is most sinful to regularly maintain slaughterhouses just to satisfy your tongue. Actually, you will not even have a human society until this cruel practice of maintaining slaughterhouses is stopped. And although animal killing may sometimes be necessary for survival, at least the mother animal, the cow, should not be killed. That is simply human decency. In the Krishna consciousness movement our practice is that we don’t allow the killing of any animals. Krishna says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati: “Vegetables, fruits, milk, and grains should be offered to Me in devotion.” (Bhagavad-Gita 9.26) We take only the remnants of Krishna’s food (prasadam). The trees offer us many varieties of fruits, but the trees are not killed. Of course, one living entity is food for another living entity, but that does not mean you can kill your mother for food. Cows are innocent; they give us milk. You take their milk—and then kill them in the slaughterhouse. This is sinful.

Student:

Srila Prabhupada, Christianity’s sanction of meat-eating is based on the view that lower species of life do not have a soul like the human being’s.

Srila Prabhupada:

That is foolishness. First of all, we have to understand the evidence of the soul’s presence within the body. Then we can see whether the human being has a soul and the cow does not. What are the different characteristics of the cow and the man? If we find a difference in characteristics, then we can say that in the animal there is no soul. But if we see that the animal and the human being have the same characteristics, then how can you say that the animal has no soul? The general symptoms are that the animal eats, you eat; the animal sleeps, you sleep; the animal mates, you mate; the animal defends, and you defend. Where is the difference?

Cardinal Danielou:

We admit that in the animal there may be the same type of biological existence as in men, but there is no soul. We believe that the soul is a human soul.

Srila Prabhupada:

Our Bhagavad-Gita says sarva-yonisu, “In all species of life the soul exists.” The body is like a suit of clothes. You have black clothes; I am dressed in saffron clothes. But within the dress you are a human being, and I am also a human being. Similarly, the bodies of the different species are just like different types of dress. There are soul, a part and parcel of God. Suppose a man has two sons, not equally meritorious. One may be a Supreme Court judge and the other may be a common laborer, but the father claims both as his sons. He does not make the distinction that the son who is a judge is very important and the worker-son is not important. And if the judge-son says, “My dear father, your other son is useless; let me cut him up and eat him,” will the father allow this?

Cardinal Danielou:

Certainly not, but the idea that all life is part of the life of God is difficult for us to admit. There is a great difference between human life and animal life.

Srila Prabhupada:

That difference is due to the development of consciousness. In the human body there is developed consciousness. Even a tree has a soul, but a tree’s consciousness is not very developed. If you cut a tree it does not resist. Actually, it does resist, but only to a very small degree. There is a scientist named Jagadish Chandra Bose who has made a machine which shows that trees and plants are able to feel pain when they are cut. And we can see directly that when someone comes to kill an animal, it resists, it cries, it makes a horrible sound. So it is a matter of the development of consciousness. But the soul is there within all living beings.

Cardinal Danielou:

But metaphysically, the life of man is sacred. Human beings think on a higher platform than the animals do.

Srila Prabhupada:

What is that higher platform? The animal eats to maintain his body, and you also eat in order to maintain your body. The cow eats grass in the field, and the human being eats meat from a huge slaughterhouse full of modern machines. But just because you have big machines and a ghastly scene, while the animal simply eats grass, this does not mean that you are so advanced that only within your body is there a soul and that there is not a soul within the body of the animal. That is illogical. We can see that the basic characteristics are the same in the animal and the human being.

Cardinal Danielou:

But only in human beings do we find a metaphysical search for the meaning of life.

Srila Prabhupada:

Yes. So metaphysically search out why you believe that there is no soul within the animal—that is metaphysics. If you are thinking metaphysically, that’s all right. But if you are thinking like an animal, then what is the use of your metaphysical study? Metaphysical means “above the physical” or, in other words, “spiritual.” In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says, sarva-yonisu kaunteya: [Bg. 14.4] “In every living being there is a spirit soul.” That is metaphysical understanding. Now either you accept Krishna’s teachings as metaphysical, or you’ll have to take a third-class fool’s opinion as metaphysical. Which do you accept?

Cardinal Danielou:

But why does God create some animals who eat other animals? There is a fault in the creation, it seems.

Srila Prabhupada:

It is not a fault. God is very kind. If you want to eat animals, then He’ll give you full facility. God will give you the body of a tiger in your next life so that you can eat flesh very freely. “Why are you maintaining slaughterhouses? I’ll give you fangs and claws. Now eat.” So the meat-eaters are awaiting such punishment. The animal-eaters become tigers, wolves, cats, and dogs in their next life—to get more facility.

Transcript courtesy of: ~ ISKCON

"http://forward.com/articles/6091/on-language/".

"http://www.gotquestions.org/you-shall-not-murder.html".

The World Keeps Vedic Time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 20:37:00 +0000

World Vedic Heritage By: P.N. Oak

The uniform worldwide tradition of time-management and the Sanskrit terminology associated with it, is yet another emphatic proof of the prevalence of a uniform , unitary Vedic culture throughout the world from time immemorial. The Hindu alias Vedic almanac is the ancient most because it adheres to the Srushti-Samvat i.e, the time -computation from the creation of the cosmos. Nothing can be more ancient.

What is more, anybody undertaking any Vedic ritual at any time in any part of the world has to recall and repeat the entire computation of the aeons, eras, years and days that have passed from the moment of the creation to the day of the ritual. Thus a continual, up-to-date, day -to -day computation uttered through billions of months down the ages, day -in and day –out, all over the world has ensured an unerring tally of eternal time, A quick

Review of the cosmic time tally is part of the Sankalpa uttered at Vedic rituals.

People retaining the Vedic tradition are currently identified as Hindus. And since Vedic-tradition has been a world-heritage every human being is, in a way, a Hindu, in Modern parlance.

It was during that long stretch of universal administration that a uniform time-calculation system and terminology was introduced. The world still sticks to it and yet very few seem to be aware of it.

The word Time itself is a corruption of the Sanskrit word ‘Samay’. That was pronounced as ‘Tamay’ and later as ‘Time.’

Take the word ‘calendar’ itself. That is the Sanskrit word ‘Kalantar’ (कालांतर) which signifies a chart detailing the divisions of time (namely the day, week, month and year.

Likewise the word clock is Sanskrit ‘Kala-ka’ (काल-क)i.e a recorder-cum-indicator of time.

Let us know start from the split-second to find out how the entire time computation around the world is all of the Vedic tradition.

The 60 second, 60 minute calculation is Vedic mathematics because according to the 60 vipalas make one ‘pala’ and 60 ‘palas’ make one ‘ghati’(i.e. 24 minutes). The word ‘second’ itself is a malpronunciation of the Sanskrit word ‘Kshan’(क्षण). The word Minute is also corruption of sanskrit word ‘Mit’(मित).

The term ‘hour’ is a malpronunciation of the Sanskrit word (होरा)’hora’ (which is made up of 2 ½ ghatis).

60 Pal	=	1 Ghati (24 Minutes)
2.5 Ghati	=	1 Hora (=1 Hour)

Below in detail -

1 Krati	=	34,000th of a second
1 Truti	=	300th of a second
2 Truti	=	1 Luv
2 Luv	=	1 Kshana
30 Kshana	=	1 Vipal
60 Vipal	=	1 Pal
60 Pal	=	1 Ghati (24 Minutes)
2.5 Ghati	=	1 Hora (1 Hour)
2.5 Ghati	=	1 Divas (1 Day)
7 Divas	=	1 Saptah (1 Week)
4 Saptah	=	1 Maas (1 Month)
2 Maas	=	1 Ritu (1 Season)
3 Ritu	=	1 Ayana (6 months)
6 Ritu	=	1 Varsha (1 Year)
100 Varsha	=	1 Shatabda (1 Century)
10 Shatabda	=	1 Sahasrabda
432 Sahasrabda	=	1 Kali Yuga (432,000 human years)
2 Kali Yuga	=	1 Dwaapar Yuga (864,000 human years)
3 Kali Yuga	=	1 Treta Yuga (1,296,000 human years)
4 Kali Yuga	=	1 Satya Yuga (1,728,000 human years)
10 Kali Yuga	=	1 Maha Yuga (4,320,000 human years)
1000 Maha Yuga	=	1 Kalpa (4.32 Billion human years)

The word ‘day’ is the corrupt form of the Sanskrit word 'din’ (दिनम्).

All the days of the week too follow the order laid down by Vedic tradition wherein each day is named after the members of our solar system in a specified order. For Instance. Sunday (the day named after the Sun) follows Saturday (the day of Saturn). Monday (which is Moonday) follows Sunday and so on.

Tb whole world couldn’t have followed this system without the slightest egoistic or chauvinistic murmur from anywhere, had it not been subject to a common Vedic administration.

After the week comes the month. The division of the year into 12 Parts (each or which is known as month, corresponding to the twelve Zodiacal signs) is devised by the Vedic system and is unquestioningly followed all over the world.

Even the Sanskrit term ‘mas’ (मास) signifying a month is still used in Europe. The European terms Christmas and Michaelmas signify the months in which the celebrations concerning Christ (alias chrisn)and Michael are observed. Michael is Sanskrit Mukul.

The names September, October, November and December are the Sanskrit words (सप्तांबर)Saptambar, (अष्टांबर)Ashtambhar, (नवांबर)Navambar, (दशांबर)Dashambar where (अंबर)’ambar’ is the Sanskrit term for the Zodiac while the numbers (सप्ता) sapta, (अष्टा)ashta, (नवा) nava and (दशा) dasha, signify the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months respectively.

If the remaining eight months are not easily identifiable as Sanskrit that is because history always leaves ruins in its wake for various reasons. It is like an old man whose teeth have wide gaps. The two rows of well-set teeth of his childhood do not remain intact as age advances. But the remaining teeth and dented gums do lead to the conclusion that once the man did have a full set of teeth.

The same may be said of the months. From the four months still clearly identifiable as Sanskrit. It can be safely deduced that the remaining eight months too had Sanskrit names.

Among the others a few more can still be identified as Sanskrit on a closer look. The name Januarius is the original name, of which January is an abbreviation. Here it may be recalled that in Latin the name of God Ganesh came to be spelled as Janus.So even the Januray beginning of the year is rooted in the Vedic tradition of Ganesh worship. Even the name Januarius misbelieved to be Latin in the Sanskrit term ‘gana-raya-eash’ ()signifying Lord Ganesh.

The name of the succeeding month February wag spelled by the Romans as Februarius. That is a malpronounciation of the Sanskrit word Pravaresh. From the Sanskrit word ‘Pitar’ changing to' father' in European pronunciation we know that European 'f’ replaces Sanskrit ‘P’ Consequently Februarius was (प्रवरेश)Pravaresh. (प्रवर) Pravar in Sanskrit signifies a sage. So the term Pravaresh alias Februarius signified God as the Lord of Sages.

The term March is from (मरीचि) ‘Marichi’ -one of the Sanskrit names of the Sun. Since that month marks the beginning of longer alias a kind of waxing of the sunlight hours it was named after the Sun. Another explanation is that March signifies a start i.e marching orders. Since in ancient practice the beginning of the year coincided with that period, the opening month was named March.

These clues should help scholars to trace the Vedic origin of the term April, May, June and July or either Sanskrit substitutes.It could be that May is named after Maya - i.e. illusion(in Sanskrit), the Holy Spirit which consorted with the Creator to create the cosmos.

It is commonly believed that the name July originates from Julius Caesar and Augustus from Augustus Caesar. These could be explanations concocted by latter-day scholars. Muslim and Christian histories bristle with such concoctions . By that token other Roman emperors too should have had the remaining ten months named after themselves. Were they less egoistic or ambitious?.

The term August and even the imperial name ‘Augustus’ derive from Sage Agastya (अगस्त्य) an ancient seer and Vedic scholar of world renown who was known for his impressive personality. The term ‘august personality’ and ‘august presence’ derive from that sage. The Agastya had a world impact is additional proof that the Vedas were revered and recited all over the world in ancient times.

December was observed as Chrisn-mas because Chrisn has mentioned in the Bhagwad Geeta that all months Margasheersh (i.e. December) represents him.

Chrisnmas ()has been so named in Vedic tradition also because that is the last month of long, dark nights and the word Krishna signifies darkness too.

In our own day September ranks as the ninth month though its Sanskrit name proclaims it to be the seventh month. What explains this anomaly?

September could be the seventh month only if March is counted as the first month. And actually all around the ancient world, in Rome, in England etc the year began only in March. It was only from 1752 A.D. that England formally switched on to January 1 as the New Year Day by an act of Parliament. Earlier its New Year Day used to be march 25.

The European tradition of counting the hours of the day from the midnight hour originated in India after the Mahabharata War, taking the time of Krishna’s birth as its base since Krishna was revered throughout the world and Krishna’s birth symbolized the end of a dark period of tyranny.

Another explanation is that the Vedic administrative headquarters for Europe used to be in London in the British Isles. London meridian time is 5½ hours behind the Indian time. When the sun rises at 5.30 a.m. India changes the date as per vedic practice. At that time it is midnight hour in London. Therefore, the vedic administration there cultivated the tradition of reckoning the day from the midnight hour. Forgetting that, our own times Indian bureaucracy reckons its official date to commence from the midnight hour.

Even the terms a.m. and p.m. have a Sanskrit connotation and not English as is easily assumed. The letters a.m. and p.m. are the initials of the hoary Sanskrit expressions (आरोहणम् मार्तडस्य्) Arohanam Martandasaya (i.e. the climbing of the sun) and (पतनम् मार्तडस्य्)Patanam Martandasaya (i.e. the falling of the sun)

London has been a very ancient Vedic capital. Its ancient Sanskrit name was Nondonium which is Sanskrit for a ‘Pleasing Habitation’. In Roman time, it was misspelled as Londonium. Later this was abbreviated to London.

The current trend of the academic world is to regard the Vedic era as the most primitive. Contrarily it was an era of almost divine excellence in every respect because of billions of years ago divinity itself provided the first proto-types of humanity. Hereunder is that split second scale of ancient Vedic calculation.

1 Paramaanu	=	26.3 µs (Approx.)
2 Paramaanu	=	1 Anu (57.7 µs)
3 Anu	=	1 Trasarenu (158 µs)
3 Trasarenu	=	1 Truti (474 µs)
100 Truti	=	1 Vedh (47.4 ms)
3 Vedh	=	1 Lav (0.14 second)
3 Lav	=	1 Nimesh (0.43 second)
3 Nimesh	=	1 Kshan (1.28 second)
5 Kshan	=	1 Kaashthaa (6.4 seconds)
15 Kaashthaa	=	1 Laghu (96 seconds)
15 Laghu	=	1 Dand (24 minutes)
2 Dand	=	1 Muhurtha (48 minutes)
30 Muhūrta	=	1 Ahorātram (1 Day)

We Have Moved

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 18:39:00 +0000

We Have Moved

We have moved to Facebook since the middle of 2014. We are truly sorry for not informing you in advance.

Please do follow us at Facebook.com/The-Indian-Heritage/

There have been many posts since we started our journey in Facebook. Please do visit our previous posts. We wanted to both sites at first but we found that keeping it up in facebook is much easier. We will still make a post or two here as well but we will make sure the post is reflected in our FB page.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Happy New Year 2015 and Happy Ponggal festival

May this day onward , you are showered with all the blessing from the Almighty

Wishing You All The Best Wishes On This Pongal

The Islamic 786 and the Hindu OM

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 May 2014 19:42:00 +0000

The Islamic 786 and the Hindu OM

Om has more than 10000 meanings and one of it is god. Paths may be different but we all have one and only one Almighty above us and the only difference being the languages. Some Hindu Followers believe that Number 786 is OM.

Significance of 786

Some muslims from Egypt don't know importance of 786 but its sacred for muslims of Asia. Some tell its lucky number and some tell it means "Bismillah". 786 is known to be the symbolic representation of Allah. But no Islamic scholar so far has been able to explain from where this number originated. 786 is not mentioned in the Quran.

Origin of 786

Although there is no evidence of the significance of the number "786" in Islam yet we see many Muslims following this trend of using this number in place of 'Bismillah'(In the name of Allah). This custom is not from the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
It is said that if 'Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim' is written in Arabic/ Urdu, the sum of these letters adds up to 786, therefore people use 786 as a substitute to name of Allah.
Numerology is prohibited in Islam. As per some muslims, people have introduced it in Islam by attaching some numbers to Arabic letters.

The broken Sanskrit OM thought to be 786 in Devanagari font

Relation of 786 with Hinduism

According to many Vedic dharma followers, The number "786" means "Om", which has a connection with Kabbalah. Rafael Patai points out in his book "the Jewish mind" the similarities between Tantra and Kabbalah and that there is evidence to support the idea that there was communication between early Kabbalists and Tantrics.

All Arabic copies of the Koran have the mysterious figure 786 imprinted on them. No Arabic scholar has been able to determine the choice of this particular number as divine. It is an established fact that Muhammad was illiterate therefore it is obvious that he would not be able to differentiate numbers from letters. It is said, This magical number is none other than the Vedic holy letter "OM" written in Sanskrit. If "OM" is read backwards in the Arabic way and magically the numbers 786 will appear.

History of Arabic 786 and OM.

Before Islam, Mecca and Ka'abah were populated by Hindus who worshipped Siva. Ka'abah was originally known as Kabaliswaran Temple. Kabali is another name for the Lord Siva. When the Islamic army marched into the town and destroyed all the temples, the symbol "OM" fell down and broke into 3 parts. For some reasons, Muhammad then stopped the destruction and maintained the Shiv-Ling a.k.a. Siva Lingam, a stone shaped like phallic.

This stone later was incorporated into the Mecca as the Aswadh stone. Pilgrims are to kiss the stone after circumbulating the Mecca.

It is said that the army found the 3 broken parts of the "OM" symbol and asked Muhammad if it should be restored. Unable to answer them, the illiterate Muhammad decided that it actually means 'Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim'.

The number 786 was later linked with it because the broken parts seen from the back looks like the numbers if written in Devanagari.

The Story of Mahisasura Mardhini

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 19:19:00 +0000

There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:

Goddess Kali standing on Lord Shiva who lied on her path of rampage to stop Her.

There are many versions for this story. One of the version as follows:

There was a demon called Mahisa or Mahishasura who created chaos everywhere he goes.Goddess Durga, who had ten arms each carrying a weapon and who rode a lion or tiger in battle, fought with him. Durga became so enraged that her anger burst from her forehead in the form of Kali. Once born, the black goddess went wild and ate all the demons she came across, stringing their heads on a chain which she wore around her neck and Mahisa's head in her hand. She went on a raging rampage. No demon, human or God stood a chance at stopping her blood-lust. It seemed impossible to calm Kali’s bloody attacks, which now extended to any wrongdoers, and both people and gods were at a loss what to do. Fortunately, the mighty Shiva stopped Kali’s destructive rampage by lying down in her path, and when the goddess realised just who she was standing on, she finally calmed down.

In another version goddess Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and stopped and cooled down.

The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.

The simple explanation is that Shiva also known as Savam (corpse) and Kali known as Shakti (energy). is a metaphor for mas cannot retain its original form without energy. Soul (energy) is eternal and body (matter) is not permanant

Lord Krishna and Shiva Worship in Ancient China

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 18:48:00 +0000

The civilizations of China and India have a long history of interaction. The links between these two ancient civilizations were numerous and were sustained for thousands of years. The Chinese tell of a tradition in "Schuking" in which it is stated that the ancestors of the Chinese people came to China after crossing the high mountain ranges to the South.

A PANEL OF INSCRIPTIONS OF THE GOD NARASIMHA ADORNS THE ENTRANCE TO THE MAIN SHRINE OF THE TEMPLE,
BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN INSTALLED BY TAMIL TRADERS WHO LIVED IN QUANZHOU IN THE 13TH CENTURY.

In his book ‘The Aryans: A Modern Myth’ Paramesha Caudhuri writes, “In my book ‘Indian origin of the Chinese Origin’ pt I & II, I have spoke much of this topic trying to prove that the original Chin race of India dwelling in Kashmir, and several parts of South India colonized Shensi, a province of Central China and subsequently subjugated all other petty kingdoms and thus became the emperors of perhaps the one of the largest empires of the world. The name China and the Chinese were after the Chins of India and hence the scholars are unanimous about the Indian origin of the name of China. What I have done novel is highlight that the Indians did not only name a great country but also created the Chinese nation”.

While this statement is based on the ‘Indian Origin Theory’ as the source of Chinese civilization, it is important to understand that regardless of the origins of the Chinese, the evidence reveals that ancient Chinese culture was Vedic in nature. The Vedic tradition has undoubtedly been best preserved in India yet the universality of Vedic culture is such that none can claim to be the sole inheritors or originators of the Vedic traditions. These traditions are part of the basic fabric of nature and the universe and can be accessed by anyone anywhere at any time. Yet just as Buddhism developed in India and was spread throughout a large apart of the globe by Indian missionaries, there can thus be no doubt that India has always been a primary source of Vedic wisdom.

As in the past, India is to this day the primary source of recurrent revivals of the Vedic traditions throughout the world. The same ‘eternal’ tradition known as Santana Dharma is at the very core of Chinese civilization. There are many hints of this phenomenon throughout history. For instance, the Imperial Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) used the Hindu/Vedic calendar alongside with the Chinese calendar. Amongst the Gods, the Lord of Death and the Underworld known in Sanskrit as Yamaraj is called ‘Yanmo Wang’ within the Chinese tradition. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang (ruled 712–56) called upon the Indian monk Vajrabodhi (671–741) to perform ‘Tantric’ rites to avert a drought in the year 726 AD.

"FURTHER ISOLATED REMAINS OF HINDU TEMPLES HAVE BEEN MADE,
MOST NOTABLY A FREESTANDING SCULPTURE OF VISHNU OVER A METER IN HEIGHT,
RECOVERED IN THE NANJIAOCHANG AREA OF QUANZHOU IN 1934.PROFESSOR JOHN GUY

In the Fujiyan province, in the Xinmen area of Quanzhou, there are the remains of a Shiva Temple. It still has a Shiva-linga over five meters tall. An ancient stone that still stands today; it has been widely identified as a Shiva Linga. Chinese records reveal that it was cut in half in the year 1011 AD and then rebuilt in the 1400s. Even as late as 1950, childless mothers would go to it to invoke the blessings of the deity for motherhood. Likewise in Hsuan-wu, Lo-yang district there is a pillar with Sanskrit writings from top to bottom and right to left. The scholar Henry Rudolph Davies wrote that besides Buddhism, Shaivism was also popular in Yunan as is manifest from the prevalence of the cult of Mahakala there. This ancient Indian colony in the south of China was a strong link in the Sino-Indian cultural relationship.

The research of the scholar M. Sushama presented in her book 'Hindu Wisdom' highlights the many references to China found within the Sanskrit texts. Sushama writes, “The Mahabharata makes a reference to presents brought by the Chinese to the Rajasuya Yajna of the Pandavas. In the Vana-Parva of the Mahabharata it is stated that the Pandava brothers crossed the country of the Cinas (China) during their trek through the Himalayan territory north of Badri. They are said to have reached the realm of the Kirata King Subahu. Also in the Mahabharata the Cinas (Chinese), with the Kiratas, are found among the armies of King Bhagadatta of Pragjyotisa, India’s modern Assam region. In the Sabha-Parva this king is described as surrounded by the Kiratas and the Cinas. In the Bhisma-Parva of the Mahabharata, the corps of Bhagadatta,consisting of the Kiratas and the Cinas of yellow color, are said to ‘look like a forest of Karnikaras”.

In the Artha Shashtra of Chanakya, China is mentioned as well. It is theorized that the name China is based upon the name of the kingdom, Ch’in, which was established by Shih Huang Ti in the year 221 BC. However according to the French art historian, Réné-Grousset, the name China comes from “an ancient Sanskrit name for the regions to the East”. The Chinese word for lion, ‘Shih’, used long before the Chin dynasty, was derived from the Sanskrit word, ‘Simha’. Notably the African Swahili word for lion ‘Simba’ is virtually the same as the Sanskrit ‘Simha’ as well. The Greek word for China, ‘Tzinista’, appears to be derived from the Sanskrit ‘Chinasthana’. M. de Guigues wrote in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. v’ that, ‘Magadha was known to the Chinese by the name Mo-kiato, and its capital was recognized by both its Hindu name Kusumpura, for which the Chinese wrote Kia-so-mo-pon-lo and Pataliputra, out of which they made Patoli-tse by translating putra, which means son in Sanskrit, into their own corresponding word, tse. Such translation of names has thrown a veil of obscurity over many a name of Hindu origin. Hindu geography has suffered a great loss’. In other words the Chinese translated Sanskrit words into Chinese and thus the original pronunciation was lost. We see this clearly in the Chinese version of the Indian city ‘Patali-Putra’. Patali-Putra means ‘Patali’s Son’. The Chinese kept the Patali part of the name but changed the Sanskrit word for son, ‘Putra’ to the Chinese word for son ‘Tse’. Thus the name Pataliputra became obscured as ‘Patoli-tse’. Thus even those familiar with the city of Pataliputra, being unfamiliar with the Chinese language, could not discern the original name as it was translated into the Chinese. We find another clear example of the impact of dialect upon a language in the Sanskrit word ‘Maṇḍala’. In Japan it becomes ‘Mandara’ but in China it is ‘Màntúluó’

The Italian writer Gerolamo Emilio Gerini (1860 -1913) stated: ‘During the three or four centuries, preceding the Christian era, we find Hindu dynasties established by adventurers, claiming descent from the Kshatriya potentates of Northern India, ruling in upper Burma, in Siam and Laos, in Yunnan and Tonkin, and even in most parts of southeastern China’. A study entitled “China and India” states, “China was part of the Indian ‘Vedic Empire’. This is explained by Professor G. Phillips on page 585 in the 1965 edition of the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ’. He remarks, ‘The maritime intercourse of India and China dates from a much earlier period, from about 680 B.C. when the sea traders of the Indian Ocean whose chiefs were Hindus founded a colony called Lang-ga, after the Indian named Lanka of Ceylon, about the present gulf of Kias-Tehoa, where they arrived in vessels having prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals after the pattern specified in the YuktiKalpataru (an ancient Sanskrit technological text) and exemplified in the ships and boats of old Indian arts’. YuagXianji, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, speaking at the C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation, Madras on March 27, 1984 revealed that, “Recent discoveries of ruins of Hindu temples in Southeast China provided further evidence of Hinduism in China. Both Buddhism and Hinduism were patronized by the rulers. In the 6th century A.D.the Chinese royal family was Hindu for two generations.

The following Tang dynasty (7th to the 9th century A.D.) also patronized both Hinduism and Buddhism because the latter was but a branch of Hinduism.” Albert Etienne Terrien de Lacouperie also highlighted the maritime intercourse of India with China dating it from about 680 B.C. That was the year sea traders of the Indian Ocean whose ‘Chiefs were Hindus’ founded a colony, called Lang-ga. Named after the Indian word Lanka it was located near the present gulf of Kiaotchoa. It is obvious that India and China were connected far earlier and this date only refers to founding of the Indian colony of Lang-ga. Since the incidents of the Mahabharata have been proven to have occurred over 5100 years ago it is obvious that contacts between India and China existed long before 680 B.C. Indeed India had interactions China from very ancient times. Cultural connectivity was maintained through several methods and of these there were three main routes. The first was through Yunan and Burma and the second was through the Central Asian region. The third was by the seas. Currently Orissa’s coastline is blocked in by massive sand bars but in ancient times prior to 1000 AD, Orissa was a major maritime power. Many discoveries from the ancient civilizations of Babylon, Sumeria, China, Greece and Rome have been discovered throughout Orissa. Along with Orissa, ships from India’s southern ports frequented the ports of the China and Japan in the East and Rome, Alexandria and Greece in the West. It was through these routes that India’s Vedic and Buddhist cultures were spread throughout the world.

ANCIENT VAISHNAVA CARVINGS DISCOVERED IN QUANZHOU, CHINA

FROM TOP-LEFT CLOCKWISE: VAMSHIDHAR KRISHNA- NARASIMHA AVATAR -

DAMODARA KRISHNA AND THE YAMAL-ARJUNA TREES -

KRISHNA STEALING THE GARMENTS OF THE GOPIS.

Theories positing an invasion by outsiders as the source of Vedic Indian civilization are unsubstantiated yet they are taught as fact by nearly every school, college and university in the world. On one hand we have a vast tradition and culture that developed over many millennia and which has the Ramayana and Mahabharata at its very basis. On the other hand we have theories that were developed by outsiders that completely contradict the perspective of those who live and breathe the culture. The native peoples of the world are not allowed to own their past. Their traditional perspectives of themselves are discounted as imagined myth or exaggerated legend. It is thus imperative to develop timelines and histories that actually coincide, not only with the scientific evidences, but with the living traditions of the people as well. Using this method we find that the Chinese traditions have many correlations with the Vedic.

According to the research of Eberhard, the Chinese Creation ‘Myth’involves a ‘Boy of the White Crane'. He is said to live in the palace of ‘jade emptiness’. This is believed to represent the ‘Primeval Ocean’ and Lord Brahma who rides a white swan and is born from the navel of Lord Vishnu as he rest in the Primeval Ocean. Also the "Supreme God in Chinese popular religion" is called ‘Yùhuáng[-dà]-dì’, which translates as "Jade-Emperor-Big-Supreme Being". Thus we find that, like Quetza-lcoatl, the Supreme Being of the Mayans and Aztecs, and Rama-chandra, who is Vishnu, the Supreme Being within the Vedic tradition, the Chinese Supreme Being Yu-Huang di is green as well. Since this ‘Jade-Green’ is considered to be sea colored green we see yet another Supreme Being connected with the color of water which iconically means the color blue. China’s leading expert on connections between India and China, the late Professor Huang Xinchuan of the Department of Oriental Philosophy in Beijing University stated that ancient China once had many Vishnu and Shiva Temples.

During an interview with the Professor he personally informed me of the many evidences regarding China’s Vedic past. He also referred to himself as ‘The Last Chinese Hindu’. According to his research the location of these early Chinese Vedic Temples can be traced by following the ancient Incense trade routes between India, Nepal, Tibet and China. He also referred to himself in a meeting I arranged between the Professor and Ram Madhav (RSS Natinal Executive) as ‘The Last Chinese Hindu’. In a paper Proffesor Huang Xinchuan wrote, “Following the Buddhist and Hindu religious activities, the Indian orthodoxy philosophy, the six Darsanas, Vedanta in particular once flourished in China. Vedanta had exerted also some influences on Chinese Buddhism and Taoism in its own way.In China we have preserved abundant historical records and relics of Hinduism as well as Buddhism.

Since the third century AD, China has discovered numerous Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit. There are records in Buddhist and Hindu scriptures either systematic or piecemeal. For example, the Vedas and Upanishads as seen in Chinese historical record were translated freely into Chinese as Ming-Lun (the Science of Knowledge), Zhi-Lun (the Science of Intelligence) or transliterated into Chinese as Feituo, Pituo, etc. Besides, there are Chinese historical sources of Vedangas. Chinese Taoism has something in common with Shaktism. We can find some examples.

One text in which the Tung Hsuan Section of the Tao Tsung (Taoist Canon) originated goes by the name Lin Pao Ching (Book of the Marvelous Jewel). In this text, we can find the influence of Brahmanism and Upanishad (Vedanta) in particular. It has a portrait of Yuan Shih TienTsun (the Highest God of Taoism) based on the portrait of the Maha Brahma of Brahmanism at the numerous kalpas in the unlimited darkness of Chaos. Thus, He transforms himself into thirty-three devas, asuras, Ten directions of the Universe etc.”

Among many other rare insights into Chinese Hinduism Professor Huang Xinchuan stated that the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, is indeed Hanuman. Fujian Province, southeastern China is home to several Vedic/Hindu sites. A striking series of Hindu carvings in bas relief from a pillar of a Hindu temple was later built-into the Kaiyuan Buddhist monastery. Many Vedic deities and carvings are now located at the Quanzhou Maritime Museum. The items are arranged by religion into seven sections—Islam, Christianity, Manicheanism, Hinduism, Budd-hism, Daoism and Folk Religion.

PREHISTORIC CHINESE STYLE SHIVA LINGA - STONE BAMBOO SHOOT

Historical remains of China’s ancient Vedic presence remain and were a part of Quanzhou’s culture for centuries. Much of these artifacts were destroyed during Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’. Some artifacts survived as its deities and carvings were used as the décor of other structures and monuments. Behind the main hall "the Mahavira Hall” of the famous Kaiyuan Buddhist Temple there are some columns decorated by Hindu/Vedic cravings.

In the book ‘The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000-1400’ Professor John Guy reveals many details about the presence of Vedic/Hindu culture in China. It clearly indicates the indigenous Chinese participation in the worship of Lord Shiva. John Guy writes about an ancient inscription that was discovered in China. “The inscription consists of six lines in Tamil script, with the last line in Chinese characters." The Tamil letters are poorly formed and often erroneous, indicating that they were executed by a non-Tamil speaker. The religious affiliation is Hindu, the passage opening with is homage to Siva: Obeisance to Hara [Siva], Let there be prosperity!

On the day [having] Chitra the month of Chittirai of the Saka year 1203, the Tavachcha-kkarvattigal alias Sambandhaperumal caused, in accordance with firman of Chekachai Khan, to be graciously installed the God Udaiyar Tirukka-dalisvaram Udaiyanayinar, for the welfare of the illustrious body of the illustrious Chekachai Khan, The dedication implies that the inscription was commissioned for installation in a new temple dedicated to Siva, though it is possible that it was to mark the installation of a new image of Siva in an existing temple. The donor is a Tamilian named Sambandh Perumal and, according to H. Ray, may be linked through the preface to his name, Tavachchak katavarttigal, to the area of Kumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu. A possible link with this important temple city is supported by the subject matter of at least two of the Quanzhou sculptures, as will be illustrated shortly. The dedication asserts that the image of Siva was installed with the imperiaI authority (firman) of Chekachai Khan, possibly Kubilai Khan's son Chimkin.

Unlike the mainstream scholar's view of the Tamils residing in China, they did not act as an enclosed alien community. Thus we see a Shiva temple whose 'donor' was a Tamil was stated to have been rebuilt for the wellbeing of the Chinese emperor and the Shiva deity was installed 'in accordance with the 'firman' (imperial authority) of Chekachai Khan' Genghis Khans descendant who ruled China at the time. In other words the Mongol ruler of China was intimately involved with its dedication. In fact when we look closely at the evidence the Shiva temple connected to the Tamil appears to have been commissioned by the Imperial Chinese government. And as noted by Professor Guy the Shiva Temple may have already been in existence, which is highly likely, and it is only the Deity of Lord Shiva that was new. Scholars have stated that the Shiva temple had originally been built in 685 or 686 AD during the Tang Dynasty but was rebuilt by the Tamil Hindu community in the city in the late 13th century who dedicated it to Lord Shiva.

There is direct evidence of that there were indeed Hindu temples in China as early as the 6th century AD. In the paper “Rethinking Community –The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou, Risha Lee writes, “A Chinese source states that in 720 AD the Pallava King Narasimhavarman II ‘constructed a temple (in Tamil Nadu, India) on account of the empire of China”, and another text cites the existence of three Hindu temples in southern China where ‘Brahmans’ resided during the 8th century.” As noted the Tamil language was so unfamiliar that the Tamil inscription connected to this Shiva temple is such that it is 'poorly formed and often erroneous'. It had to be done by those for whom Tamil was not a native tongue thus it is quite possible and highly likely that the Deity was brought from India but the temple carvings and the temple itself were also crafted by Chinese. So rather than a mere off-shoot of the Tamil Hindu tradition, Chinese Vedic culture was deeply integrated into the socio-political framework of Chinese society and civilization. A brief look into the Cham Vietnamese Hindu sculptures reveals a highly evolved Native expression of Hindu/Vedic art and sculpture. These same non-Indian Vietnamese Hindus are on record as having migrated in masse to China’s Hainan Island as well.

The details regarding the various Vedic carvings of the Chinese Vedic Temples reveal the depth of China’s Vedic culture. Once again referencing Prof John Guy’s ‘The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000-1400’. Vaisnavite themes: The two pillars on the Kaiyuan temple are decorated with twenty four roundels, seven of which are devoted to Vishnu, and one to Siva as an ascetic; the remainders are purely decorative. The subjects are standard popular devotional themes and many are concerned with the exploits of Krishna: -Vishnu enthroned with Laksmi and Bhudevi . -Vishnu on Garuda (Garudasana) -Vishnu in his man-lion aspect (Narasimba). -elephants (Gajendramoksa) . -Infant Krishna fells the Arjuna trees . Krishna subduing the serpent Kaliya (Kalia-damana) . -Krishna steals the milkmaids cloths. The presence of carvings depicting Krishna’s activities as a child in Vrindavan is quite remarkable. Despite theories that present the evidence of Chinese Vedic culture as a mere off shoot of the Tamil merchant community, the presence of carvings based on Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes suggest much more.

The fact is just as Buddhism was adopted and practiced by billions of non-Indians it is highly probable that Vedic culture was just as prevalent. Thus the labeling of China’s Vedic presence as a mere by-product of South Indian Tamil merchants alone does not fit the evidence. Undoubtedly, Tamils were intimately involved with the Hindu/Vedic culture of China yet they were not alone. Indians from other regions, as well as Cambodian, Vietnamese and Indonesian Hindus frequented the East China Seas. These diverse groupings all provided their own unique imprint upon the culture of China.

At this time in history, much of South East Asia was Vedic/Hindu. No Chinese 'Wall' was ever built to obstruct this Vedic influence and no ancient wave of Mao’s anti-Vedic iconoclasm is recorded. Prof John Guy further writes regarding the presence of Shaivism in ancient China: Saivite themes: Several reliefs depict devotees of the Hindu god Siva venerating the deity, and one relief (now lost) depicts Nataraja, Siva as Lord of the Dance.' This theme emerged in the early Chola period. Clearly Scholars do not attempt to deny the ancient presence of Vedic culture in China. However they do attempt to portray this presence as being foreign to China. While agreeing that there were indeed Hindu / Vedic Temples in China many modern scholars present the culture as being practiced solely by Indian merchants that frequented the region. Using this same reasoning one could also deny that the Chinese ever practiced Buddhism. However since Buddhism itself grew from the Vedic tree it was adopted by the Chinese. The same synchronistic processes that led Indians, Sri Lankans, Cambodians, Laotians, Vietnamese, Thais,Indonesians, Malaysians and others to accept the teachings of Buddha from within the context of Vedic /Hindu culture were present in China as well.

The fact is wherever you find a strong Buddhist presence you will have an earlier Vedic / Hindu presence. As it was in Cham Vietnam or Indonesia, or Philippines it was in China, Mongolia and Japan. They all had a strong native indigenous expression of Hindu art and culture. The Buddhist missionaries from India came not to convert but reveal the latest expression of Dharma. They did not work in a cultural vacuum with a people unfamiliar with Dharma or Sanskriti or culture. Rather Buddhism was recognized as a new wave of the same ocean and thus it spread rapidly.

The numerous examples of native Vedic culture throughout Mongolia and Japan are conclusive. The Vedic based civilizations that spread and flourished throughout these areas north and east of China and in the region of South Asia and South East Asia were just as prevalent in ancient China. We find a distinct native artistic style being expressed in many Chinese examples of Vedic architecture, sculptures, carvings and art. The Vedic Chinese artifacts clearly reveal a uniquely Chinese style regardless of any external influence. We see this phenomenon throughout Asia. A massive Shiva Linga(known as the “Stone Bamboo Shoot” or Shixun) located in Xinmen area of Quanzhou, China has been dismissed as a Shiva Linga merely because it does not exhibit a South Indian Chola artistic style. However by recognizing that China’s Vedic culture predated the arrival of Indian Chola merchants it becomes obvious that the Quanzhou Shiva Linga is a native Chinese expression of devotion to Shiva. Vedic does not necessarily always mean Indian. As long as people see every example of Vedic civilization as a sign of an Indian presence the facts regarding the history of religion will always elude them. While India has long sent out its cultural emissaries to revive humanities ancient sacred traditions it is erroneous to label these traditions as being solely Indian. Vedic culture is a universal phenomenon. Today’s India is still called Bharat but it only represents an extremely truncated Bharat. True Bharat is the entire world and this Vedic culture is the entire humanity's heritage.

As we see in India so many reflections of the same culture, Krsna as Jagannath is the same Rama is the same Tirupathi is the same Nara-simha is the same Chaitanya is the same Buddha is the same Vamana is the same Varaha etc. This same phenomenon once extended globally. Now we have a culture called 'Indian' based upon the Greek name for the Indus River that no longer remains within the boundaries of India. Thus the term ‘Bharatiya’ is used yet according to the Vedic scriptures Bharat was originally global. It is my opinion that the region of modern India was the epicenter and capital but everyone, be they Yavanas, Kiratas, Hunas, Shakas, Chinas etc. were all equal members of Bharat. Thus they fought for the same cause in the Mahabharat war. All this Vedic culture is primal and India preserved the ancient truths as the rest forgot. Just as the whole world was once Bharat, including the Sindh region of Pakistan, yet today we see how Vedic culture has been basically removed from that formerly 'Indian' region. So this same process that we see happening today in Pakistan happened globally as Kali Yuga progressed.

God and the Devas are universal realities. They have authentic markers that trace their presence whenever revealed or experienced. Thus Krsna is Krsna with the same qualities and characteristics wherever he has revealed himself. Though he performed his Lila, along with Buddha in India, he is not an Indian invention and some have stated that he traveled far beyond the borders of modern India as well. The Pandavas surely did before the Rajasuya Yajna. The Rishis have faithfully recorded Krishna's characteristics and thus evidence of his worship and presence can be accurately traced throughout history. Thus by using that template we can trace out evidence of Krsna and Shiva worship throughout the entire world.

There is no minimizing the impact and influence of India's great Saints and culture. But rather than a conversionary force India had a reinforcing influence that repeatedly revived the world's ancient Vedic heritage in all its expressions. This is ongoing even today. During a recent trip to India I personally met with a large group of Chinese Vaishnava pilgrims. They represent just one example of the modern revival of China’s ancient Vedic heritage. We thus have many non-indian Vaishnavas and Yogis in China and elsewhere but still Indian Gurus, books etc. will guide them. However they do not guide them on how to be Indians but on how to revive their original traditions.

These indigenous expressions of the Vedic traditions are the same universal truths that have been carefully preserved and maintained within the Vedic Sampradayas current in India. And now by applying the template and Siddhanta of these Sampradayas, lo and behold, we can find ancient and at times onging examples of Vedic culture globally. This is not because Indians traveled the world promoting and converting people. Its because Vedic culture and Worship was once practiced throughout the entire world. The ancient presence of Vaishnavism and Shaivism (along with related Devi Worship) can be found at at the root of every ancient cultural group on the planet. The Indians that have traveled the world as ambassadors of these traditions represented the lineages that maintained these traditions.

Thus they were able to revive the natural Vedic culture that is inherent in all Bharaters (Brothers) or People of Bharata, this Blessed Planet Earth.The universal appeal of Vedic culture is obvious as millions of people from around the world are now following in the footsteps of their Vedic ancestors. The fact is Vedic culture has never relied upon exclusively one race or nationality. India is fortunate to have retained the essence of ancient Vedic culture and the links to its past have remained strong. Thus today India’s Hindu culture is at the forefront of restoring the ancient world’s Vedic Heritage. While it is only India that is today called Bharat, this entire planet, including China, was once known as Bharat Varsha. Source : Hindu Today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 17:14:00 +0000

HAPPY KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI

By. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Ashtami is from 02.06 am on 28.08.2013 to 04.10 am on 29.08.2013.

Krishna Took Birth At Midnight On The Ashtami Or The 8th Day Of The Krishnapaksha Or Dark Fortnight In The Hindu Month Of Shravan (August-September). This Auspicious Day Is Called Janmashtami. Indian As Well As Western Scholars Have Now Accepted The Period Between 3200 And 3100 BC As The Period In Which Lord Krishna Lived On Earth. Read About The Story Of His Birth.

The Devotees Of Lord Krishna Observe Fast For The Whole Day And Night, Worshipping Him And Keeping Vigil Through The Night While Listening To His Tales And Exploits, Recite Hymns From The Gita, Sing Devotional Songs, And Chant The Mantra Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

Krishna's Birthplace Mathura And Vrindavan Celebrate This Occasion With Great Pomp And Show. Raslilas Or Religious Plays Are Performed To Recreate Incidents From The Life Of Krishna.

Krishna was the 8th son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Based on scriptural details and astrological calculations the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, is 19 July 3228 BCE and departed on 3102 BCE. Krishna belonged to the Vrishni clan of Yadavas from Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva.

Why Celebrate Krishna’s Birthday?

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Krishna. Ashtami, the half-moon, indicates a perfect balance between the seen and unseen aspects of reality; the visible material world and invisible spiritual realm. Krishna’s birth on ashtami signifies his mastery of both spiritual and material worlds. His teachings are most relevant to our times in the sense that they neither let you get lost in material pursuits nor make you completely withdrawn. To celebrate Gokulashtami is to imbibe extremely opposite yet compatible qualities and manifest them in your own life.

Krishna simply means the most attractive -- the Self or the Being. Radheshyam represents infinity. Radhe is individual life and Shyam is infinite life. Krishna is the Self of every being and when our true natural Self shines through our personality, skills and abundance follow.

It is said that Krishna used to steal butter. What does this signify? Butter is the final product of a process: the milk is first made into curd and then the curd that is well churned becomes butter. And like milk or curd, life is the process of churning through so many events, happenings and instances. Finally butter comes out, which is the saintliness in you.

The whole essence of it is to maintain that balance, to be joyful, happy and centred. You can have a big smile when everything is smooth in your life; if you can smile even in adversity then you have achieved something in life. It is like how Krishna stands with one foot firmly on the ground, the other is raised, poised; this is how dance can happen. This depicts the way to live life in perfect balance. When you are buried in the mind, dance cannot happen. Witnessing the disturbances of the mind helps us to rise above them. So whenever you are disturbed, instead of thinking that this should never have happened, simply surrender.

In the Bhagwad Gita Krishna says, “Why is it that so many are not able to know me? The reason is that they are constantly stuck between their cravings and aversions.” One who intensely craves for someone or has too much hatred for someone, falls into the trap of moha, attachment. When such a person has a problem in his life, be it regarding money or relationships, for example, then his mind is completely engrossed with the problem and he spends his days and nights, even years, worrying over it, but he is not able to overcome it.

For this, Krishna says, ‘Those whose punyas, meritorious deeds, begin to bear fruit are freed of all their sorrow, and they begin to get drawn towards me. Those whose sins are not cleansed remain stuck in ignorance and delusion”. If you walk towards the light, the darkness of ignorance automatically starts to disappear. But sin is that which does not let you move towards the light. And this is what causes misery, pain and suffering. When a person completely understands that I am not the body, I am pure Consciousness, then such strength dawns in him. Once you have faith in the Divine, then that is it. Then you should not doubt it one bit. This is what knowing the Divine truly means.

Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities, the total blossoming of all aspects of the human, and the Divine. Janmashtami is the day when you enliven that virat swaroop, the cosmic nature of Krishna in your own consciousness once again. Letting your true nature manifest in your day-to-day life is the real secret of Krishna’s birth.

Download Free Ebook: Karma and Reincarnation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 18:46:00 +0000

KARMA AND REINCARNATION

GET A FREE E-BOOK NOW!!

KARMA AND REINCARNATION

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Subscribe for free and get a free ebook here.

Pongal Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:56:00 +0000

Pongal is celebrated to mark the day of harvest which falls in the month of Thai which usually falls in the month of January. It represents celebration of "fertility and renewal" and is observed either for three days or four-days, after the end of the monsoon season and rice (paddy) crop is harvested. As the entire world economy was agricultural based, this festival was celebrated all over the world.

This day marks the transition of the Sun into Makara rasi (Capricorn) on its celestial path. So it is also known as Makara Sankranti. Traditionally, this has been one of many harvest days in India.

This day is also marks the rise of star cluster called Pleiades on the horizon. The Pleiades is known to cultures all around the world, including the Maori, Aboriginal Australians, the Persians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Maya, the Aztec, and the Sioux and Cherokee. In Tamil culture this star cluster is attributed to Lord Murugan (Lord Murugan raised by the six sisters known as the Kārthigai Penngal and thus came to be known as Kārtikeyan), in Sanskrit he is noted as Skanda.

Boghi Festival

The Pongal Festival is celebrated over four days period, the last day of the Marghazhi month and the first three days of the month of Thai. The first day (the last day of the Marghazhi month) is known as Bhogi. Bhogi festival is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, "the God of Clouds and Rains". Lord Indra is worshiped for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and prosperity to the land.

It is the time to clean up the house and burn the rubbish. But today, the people mistakenly take this day as to destroy and burn the old things. That is not what it was meant for. The farmers who toil in the farm from morning to night would not have time to clean their house. So on this day farmers will gather together and clean up not only their houses but also the village. Cleaning up and burning of this pile of rubbish is celebrated as festival because it is done as a community project. All trashes and agricultural wastes will then be burnt in a bonfire which marks the height of the Boghi festival. The fire made of wood and cow-dung cake is also to keep warm during the last lap of the winter.

Newly harvested rice is boiled together
with milk and other items until it boils.

Pongal Day (Surya Pongal)

On the next day of Pongal, (the first day of the Thai month), which is known as the actual Pongal Day, the farmer's wives will gather together and boil the first harvest rice with milk and offer to the Sun God to express their gratitude do the yield.

Village women cooking Pongal in a earthen ware called claypot

Besides rice and lentils, the ingredients of the sweet dish Pongal dish include cardamom, jaggery, raisins, and cashew nuts. Cooking is done in sunlight, usually in a porch or courtyard, as the dish is dedicated to the Sun God, Surya. The cooking is done in a clay pot called kollam which is decorated with coloured patterns. There are two versions of pongal, one sweet the other salted. The prepared dish is served on banana leaves. Apart from Pongal Day celebrations, cooking pongal is a traditional practice at Hindu temples during any Temple Festival in Tamil Nadu. The community will convene to cook pongal rice, partake of it and distribute it to those present.

Maattu Pongal

The second day of the Thai month is dedicated to the farm animals an known as Maattu Pongal. Though the name of the festival is specific to Tamil Nadu, in India, it is also celebrated in other southern states such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is for celebration of the cattle, particularly cows and bulls that play a vital role by working hard to help the farmers to raise crops on their fields

Sweetened food is served including the animals.

Kanni Pongal

Since the harvest is the time when the farmers makes their income, they organise their children's marriage during this month. Thus the month of Thai is known as auspicious month for wedding ceremonies. The last day of Pongal is used for this particular reason. On this day which is know as Kanni Pongal or the Virgins Pongal, the teenagers will have many activities together. This practice was introduced because girls usually stay in the house and not exposed to the world. During the activities, the boys and girls can get introduced. Once the family of the groom to be sees a girl to their liking they will then send a proposal group to find out more info on the girls and the marriage talk will begin.

The boys will show their strength in controlling the bulls to
impress the girls on the 3rd day in the game of Jallikattu

This practice has been found in the history and may well be more than 1000 years old although some are of the view that the festival is older than that. Epigraphic Evidence suggests the celebration of the Puthiyeedu during the Medieval Chola empire days. It is thought that Puthiyeedudoodle meant the first harvest of the year.

Girls will show their talents in "Kolam" competition
to impress the boys on the day of Kanni Pongal.

Recently the Tamil Nadu DMK government who is known for segregating certain factions for their "Divide and Rule" political system declared that Pongal Festival as "Tamizhar Thirunaal" or Tamizhan's Festival. This declaration is absurd as this day does not occur in the beginning of the Tamil year. This day was not derived based on any mathematical or astrological calculations. As such Tamils worldwide should not consider this date as a new year.

Meditation: What is it

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Meditation: What is it

Teaching you the benefits of meditation and how to perform one. Very helpful to the fresh and young beginners but good to be watched by all.

Why Do We Pray At Temples?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 15:55:00 +0000

What are temples and why do we built such place to worship Gods? If we look at the issue generally, in any religion, there is a need for people to gather and worship their God. By doing so they are able to teach and educate the rest about their God. Preaching the teachings and also help built the community has been the main purpose. For these purposes one need no specific building structures or rules but in Hinduism the scope is not limited to these reasons.

Universal Energy - Sleep, Meditation And Idol Worshipping

In Hinduism, the science takes precedence rather than belief. Our bodies are consists of 5 elements which are Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Ether. The first 4 elements mainly for the body are easily available on Earth. Our body is able to refresh itself through various acts like eating, drinking and activities. But for the 5th element which is for the soul, is only available from the sky. This element, Ether is also known as the universal energy or the Cosmic energy is the most important of the elements.

According to the "Law of Attraction" if one focuses on certain needs and pour in the complete emotion as if it has been fulfilled, it will trigger the Universal Energy to fulfil it. So in Hinduism we meditate on such requests. Meditation not only gives us energy and solution for achieving our desires, it also has many medical benefits.

These medical benefits are derived from the influx of Universal Energy and it works the chakras in the body thus healing the body and mind. This Universal Energy also known as God by itself as all energy can't be produced but can be only harnessed from the existing source.

We can absorb this Universal Energy by 3 ways.

1. By sleeping we naturally absorb this energy but the amount is very little. Most of the time, the energy will be exhausted within the day. A proper time of sleep is required. The best time to acquire such energy through sleep is at around 9pm to 12am. If we sleep during these hours, we will able to receive energy equivalent to 3 hours of rest for every hour of sleep. From 12am to 3am, we will be able to harness energy equivalent to 1½ hours and from 3am to 5am, we will be able to get 1 hour of energy for each hours. But this energy will start to drain if we sleep further after 5am. As such we notice that we feel very tired in the morning even when we wake up late. To avoid such incidents, in Hinduism, we start our prayers early in the morning and we set many rituals to be done at early hours not only because it’s the right time but also to make sure we get of the bed.

2. The best way of harnessing the "Universal Energy" is through meditation. By meditating, we are able to perform many miracles. Meditation allows us to set our mind vibration to equal the vibration of atoms. Once we achieve this, we able to communicate our desires to the universe and all our wishes can be achieved. But this is not an easy thing to achieve. Furthermore one can easily lose their mind in the universe if they are not properly trained by a guru.

3. Meditators can easily lose their focus and concentration. To help them temples are built in such an intricate way. ”Moorthi”s (idols) are built in the temples. These Gods are given shapes and stories to accompany such designs. But these stories not always were created. Many stories are based on true accounts and history

Unlike other religions that stand firm against idol worshipping, Hinduism neither prescribes nor proscribes worship of idols. In Hinduism, it’s about worshipping the God through the Idols not the Idols itself. The Puranas and the Agamas give descriptions of idol-worship both in the houses and in the temples. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Idols are defined as images or sculptures not only physically but also that of mind. Everyone needs to hold an image in mind when they pray, like Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind and the Muslims keep the image of the Ka’aba. Such practices are considered as idol worshipping in Hinduism.

"IT IS MUCH DIFFICULT TO FOCUS ON GOD AS THE UNMANIFESTED THAN TO FOCUS GOD WITH FORM, DUE TO HUMAN BEINGS HAVING THE NEED TO PERCEIVE VIA THE SENSES."

- BHAGAVAD GITA, LORD KRISHNA

Worship is the expression of devotion, reverence and love to the God. Idols are shining channels through which the heart of the devotee is attracted to and flows towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee feels the presence of the God in it and pours out his devotion unto it. It is the appalling ignorance of the modern sensual man that clouds his vision and prevents him from seeing Divinity in lovely and enchanting idols of His form.

In temples, the Gods are believed to be brought alive by priests using special mantras and place these powers into idols called ”Moorthi”s. These idols often times given 4 to ten hands and weapons are entrusted into each hand. What these weapons are for? In many cases they accompanied by stories like the killing of a specific demons.

Brahmamuhurtha And Its Significant Effects.

What are these weapons really for? These represent certain qualities of the Gods that are warranted by the worshippers. Let’s compare this situation to a human figure. If a child is asked to draw a lawyer, the child will draw a man in a black robe and holding a roll of paper which appears to be the court orders. If the same child is requested to draw a doctor, the child will draw a man with a stethoscope in a white robe. The characteristic of the man might just be the same but what distinguishes the profession is the apparel worn and what is hold by the person. This goes same to Gods. If a person goes to temple to pray so someone needs to be cured of some disease, he needs to pray to God that represents that character i.e. Amman. Goddess Amman holds a bunch of herbs in hand that represents medicine to cure sickness.

By focusing on the herbs on an idol, we will be able to trigger the Law Of Attraction of wishing the cure for the disease. Same goes to a person who is facing some difficult situation, He needs to focus himself getting out of such entanglement. This is shown in knot held by Lord Ganesha. This knot represents the problem. He also hold the Moodaka which represents the reward once the problem is solved. So when we pray to remove the problem, we should focus on the knot and imagine that it unties by itself and once it unties, we should image that we acquire the reward. This way of focus allows us to achieve our desired results. To further enhance the result, rituals are performed. In this case we have to perform "Toppukaranam". Please refer to the previous post on the subject.

(http://theindianheritage.blogspot.com/2009/03/thopukkaranams-super-brain-yoga.html)

TEMPLE STRUCTURES AND RITUALS

In regards to the temple shapes, temples are designed with golden tops and shaped as a "Gopurams" with ”Moorthi”s right in the center. This is to harness the energy from the universe. Gold is the best conductor of electricity. By placing it on the top of the temples, these domes are able to absorb the energy and channel it to the “Moorthi”s right in the center. The energy is stored in the “Moorthi”s. Please note that black colour has the highest absorption powers.

A TYPICAL HINDU TEMPLE WITH A GOLDEN TOP
(GOPURAM) IN RAMESHWARAM, TAMIL NADU.

When the priests perform Deepaaraadhana, this energy is transferred to the worshippers through the fire. When the worshippers put their hands on top of the fire and places them on their foreheads, the energy transfers from the fire to the body through the Pineal Gland which is also known as the "3rd eye".

Not only that, these temples is located strategically at a place where the positive energy is abundantly available from the magnetic and electric wave distributions of north/south pole thrust. The main idol is placed in the core center of the temple, known as "Garbhagriha" or Moolasthanam. In fact, the temple structure is built after the idol has been placed. This Moolasthanam is where earth’s magnetic waves are found to be at the maximum. We know that there are some copper plates, inscribed with Vedic scripts, buried beneath the Main Idol. What are they really? No, they are not God’s / priests’ flash cards when they forget the slokas. The copper plate absorbs earth’s magnetic waves and radiates it to the surroundings. Thus a person regularly visiting a temple and walking clockwise around the Main Idol receives the beamed magnetic waves and his body absorbs it. This is a very slow process and a regular visit will let him absorb more of this positive energy. Scientifically, it is the positive energy that we all require to have a healthy life.

Further, the Moolasthanam is closed on three sides. This increases the effect of all energies. The lamp that is lit radiates heat energy and also provides light inside the Moolasthanam to the priests or poojaris performing the pooja. The ringing of the bells and the chanting of prayers takes a worshipper into trance, thus not letting his mind waver. When done in groups, this helps people forget personal problems for a while and relieve their stress. The fragrance from the flowers, the burning of camphor give out the chemical energy further aiding in a different good aura.

The effect of all these energies is supplemented by the positive energy from the idol, the copper plates and utensils in the Moolasthanam / Garbagraham. Theertham, the “holy” water used during the pooja to wash the idol is not plain water cleaning the dust off an idol. It is a concoction of Cardamom, Karpura (Benzoin / Camphor), saffron, Tulsi (Holy Basil), Clove, etc... Washing the idol is to charge the water with the magnetic radiations thus increasing its medicinal values. Three spoons of this holy water is distributed to devotees. Again, this water is mainly a source of magneto-therapy. Besides, the clove essence protects one from tooth decay, the saffron & Tulsi leafs protects one from common cold and cough, cardamom and Pacha Karpuram, act as mouth fresheners. It is proved that Theertham is a very good blood purifier, as it is highly energized. Hence it is given as prasadam to the devotees. This way, one can claim to remain healthy by regularly visiting the Temples. This is why our elders used to suggest us to offer prayers at the temple so that you will be cured of many ailments. They were not always superstitious. Yes, in a few cases they did go overboard when due to ignorance they hoped many serious diseases could be cured at temples by deities.

A Hindu Temple Are Designed According To A
Human Body To Maximize Its Potentials.

When people go to a temple for the Deepaaraadhana, and when the doors open up, the positive energy gushes out onto the persons who are there. The water that is sprinkled onto the assemblages passes on the energy to all. This also explains why men are not allowed to wear shirts at a few temples and women are requested to wear more ornaments during temple visits. It is through these jewels (metal) that positive energy is absorbed by the women. Also, it is a practice to leave newly purchased jewels at an idol’s feet and then wear them with the idol’s blessings. This act is now justified after reading this article. This act of “seeking divine blessings” before using any new article, like books or pens or automobiles may have stemmed from this through mere observation.

Energy lost in a day’s work is regained through a temple visit and one is refreshed slightly. The positive energy that is spread out in the entire temple and especially around where the main idol is placed, are simply absorbed by one's body and mind. Did you know, every Vaishnava (Vishnu devotees), “must” visit a Vishnu temple twice every day in their location. Our practices are NOT some hard and fast rules framed by 1 man and his followers or God’s words in somebody’s dreams. All the rituals, all the practices are, in reality, well researched, studied and scientifically backed thesis which form the ways of nature to lead a good healthy life.

The scientific and research part of the practices are well camouflaged as “elder’s instructions” or “granny’s teaching’s” which should be obeyed as a mark of respect so as to once again, avoid stress to the mediocre brains.

பாசுரம்: திருப்பாவை THIRUPPAVAI PAASURAM

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:57:00 +0000

The Thirupavai is a collection of thirty stanzas (paasuram) in Tamil written by Andal, in praise of the God Tirumal or Vishnu. Thiruppavai is part of Divya Prabandha, a work of the twelve Alvars, and Tirupavai important in Tamil literature.

According to Andal one should give up luxuries during this season. Sincere prayers to the God would bring abundant rain and thus prosperity. Offering Lord Krishna fresh flowers would expiate sins committed earlier and those that may be committed in future.

The Thiruppavai also includes 3 thaniyans (literally, ‘singletons’ or stand alone verses) composed by later authors to introduce older texts. The first tanniyan, ‘Nila tungastana…’ in Sanskrit was composed by Parasara Pattar, and the next two tanniyans, ‘Anna vayal pudhuvai…’ and “Choodi kodutha…” were composed by Sri Uyyakondar.

அன்ன வயற்புதுவை ஆண்டாள் அரங்கற்கு(ப்)
பண்ணு திருப்பாவை (ப்) பல்பதியம்
இன்னிசையால் பாடிக்கொடுத்தாள் நற்பாமாலை
பூமாலை சூடி(க்) கொடுத்தாளை(ச்) சொல்லு

anna vayaRpudhuvai aandaaL arangaRku(p)
pannu thiruppaavai(p) palpadhiyam
innisaiyaal paadikkoduththaaL naRpaamaalai
poomaalai soodi(k) koduththaaLai(ch) chollu

சூடி(க்) கொடுத்த சுடர்(க்) கோடியே தொல்பாவை
பாடி அருளவல்ல பல்வளையாய்
நாடி நீ வேங்கடவற்கு என்னை விதி ஒன்ற இம்மாற்றம்
நாங்கடவா வண்ணமே நல்கு.

soodi(k) koduththa sudar(k) kodiyE tholpaavai
paadi aruLavalla palvaLaiyaay
naadi nee vEngadavaRku ennai vidhi onRa immaatram
naangadavaa vaNNamE nalgu.

PAASURAM 1:
மர்ப்க்ழி (த்) திங்கள் மதி நிறைந்த நன்னாளால்
நீராட(ப்) போதுவீர் போதுமினோ நேரிழையீர்
சீர் மல்கும் ஆய்ப்பாடி(ச்) செல்வ(ச்) சிறுமீர்காள்
கூர்வேய் கொடுந்தொழிலன் நந்தகோபன் குமரன்
ஏரார்ந்த கன்னி யசோதை இளம் சிங்கம்
கார் மேனி செங்கண் கதிர் மதியம் போல் முகத்தான்
நாராயணனே நமக்கே பறை தருவான்
பாரோர் புகழ(ப்) படிந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்

maargazhi(th) thingaL madhi niRaindha nannaaLaal
neeraada(p) pOdhuveer pOdhuminO nErizhaiyeer
seer malgum aayppaadi(ch) chelva(ch) chiRumeergaaL
koorvEl kodundhozhilan nandhagOpan kumaran
Eraarndha kaNNi yasOdhai iLam singam
kaar mEni cengaN kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththaan
naaraayaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvaan
paarOr pugazha(p) padindhElOr empaavaai

LITERAL MEANING (by Dr. V. K. S. N. Raghavan)

“It is the good full Moon day of the month of Marghazhi.
Oh the well ornamented maidens!
Those desirous of taking the bath (in the YamunA) may please come on.
Oh the prosperous young girls of AaypAdi (Gokulam) that is rich and grand (in beauty and wealth)! Lord NaarAyana will surely yield to us alone the drum (paRai).
He is the son of King NandagOpa, of cruel deeds (towards the enemies), and holding a sharp spear in his hand always.
He (KrishNa) is the young lion-cub of Queen YasOdhA with very charming eyes.
He (Lord NaarAyaNa) has a dark cloud-like divine complexion, (lotus like) reddish eyes and (lustrous) face (shining) like the bright Sun and Moon.
(This Lord NaarAyaNan alone is the Saviour).
(Let us) resort (to Him) performing the Paavai-Nonbhu and get the benefit of praise from the people of the world.
(Oh dear friend, may You recite and learn this) - know the purport of this hymn}.

Mention may be made of the slOkam of Bhagavath GitA: “mAsAnAm mArgasirshOham” - X. 35)
“Lord NaarAyanan alone will grant Moksha SaamrAjyam to the individual soul” is indicated in the seventh line of this First paasuram”.

THOUGHTS ON SELECTED KEY WORDS OF PAASURAM 1:

The sacred Month of Marghazhi has Kesavan (the first of the 12 Upa-VyUha Moorthys) as the presiding deity. Therefore, any Vratham, charity (dhAnam), SnAnam, AarAdhanam performed in Marghazhi will quickly yield fruits according to Swamy Desikan (Taathparya Chandrikai). That desired fruit is Parai or nithya kaimkaryam in His SaamrAjyam (Sri Vaikuntam).

Swamy JnaanyaachAr summarizes the significance of the message of this paasuram as “PrApya PrApakangaL iraNDum NAARAYANANE”.

“yElOrempAvAi” This refrain is the Chandas for the Nonbhu according to Swamy JananAycchAr. Upanishad BhAshyakArar recognizes this Makutam of ThiruppAvai as “Paadha PoorNArtham”.

“PaRai TaruvAn”: As the Purushan with the greatest affection for His Pathivrathai wife, Sriman NaarAyaNan will bless us with the requirements (tools) for Kaimkaryam and Ubhaya anushtAnam such as Jn~Anam, Seelam and other auspicious Aathma GuNams

- (Sri Abhinava Desikan).

“NaarAyaNanE--TharuvAn”: Lord NaarAyaNan Himself, the inner meaning of Thiru AshtAksharam, will bless the ChEthanams (MakArArtha Jeevans)-- after being pleased with their AshtAkshara Japam - will perform UpAya anushtAnam for them (through a SadAchAryan).

- (Sri Abhinava Desikan).

yEkAram in “NaarAyaNanE” and “NamakkE”: This yEkAram asserts that “SadhArchanE TantharuLa Vallan; SathsishyanE PeRatthahunthavan” (The SadAchAryan ALONE can bless us; the sath-sishyan alone is qualified to receive that rarest of blessings)

- (Sri PBA Swamy).

PASURAM 2

வையத்து வாழ்வீர்காள் நாமும் நம்பாவைக்கு(ச்)
செய்யும் கிரிசைகள் கேளீரோ பாற்கடலுள்
பைய(த) துயின்ற பரமனடி பாடி
நெய்யுண்ணோம் பாலுண்ணோம் நாட்காலே நீராடி
மையிட்டு எழுதோம் மலரிட்டு நாம் முடியோம்
செய்யாதன செய்யோம் தீக்குறளை(ச்) சென்றோதோம்
ஐயமும் பிச்சையும் ஆந்தனையும் கை காட்டி
உய்யுமாறெண்ணி உகந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்.

vaiyaththu vaazhveergaaL naamum nampaavaikku(ch)
cheyyum kirisaigaL kELeerO paaRkadaluL
paiya(th) thuyinRa paramanadi paadi
neyyuNNOm paaluNNOm naatkaalE neeraadi
maiyittu ezhudhOm malarittu naam mudiyOm
seyyaadhana seyyOm theekkuRaLai(ch) chenROdhOm
aiyamum pichchaiyum aandhanaiyum kai kaatti
uyyumaaReNNi ugandhElOr empaavaai.

LITERAL MEANING (by Dr. V. K. S. N. Raghavan)

Oh People who reside in this world!
May You listen to our austerities, which we are to follow during our Paavai Nonbhu.
(We will observe this routine). We will sing in praise of the holy feet of Paraman (the Supreme Purushan) that has taken to sleep (YoganidhrA) merrily on the milky ocean.
We will refrain from consuming ghee and milk (till the end of our Nonbhu).
At the early small hours of the day (dawn), we will bathe (getting ourselves immersed) in the river;
we will refrain from applying collyrium (anjanam) to our eyes;
we will not decorate our locks of hair (lit. bind our hairs) with flowers; (we will abide by the holy text books (ShaasthrAs);
we will refrain from performing proscribed duties;
we will not speak painful untruth;
we will give liberally alms to those people, who seek for it and even to those, who do not seek for it (to SanyAsis);
we will always contemplate upon the fair method to achieve the aim of purposeful life (Bhagavath-BhAgavatha-AchArya Kaimkaryams); and we will (thus) live a contented life.

(This way, Oh dear girl, You may know our routine). {Refraining from doing wrong acts,
through the path of VairAgyA (dispassion) one should adore the feet of KshIrAbdhisAyin
(PaaRkkadaluL paiya-thyuinRa Paramandi paadi) is what is prescribed/insisted upon in this
second paasuram)}.

Aryan Invasion is Myth says Scientists

noreply@blogger.com (TheIndianHeritage) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:55:00 +0000

By: Dinesh C. Sharma (http://indiatoday.intoday.in)
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 10, 2011 | UPDATED 10:22 IST

Widely believed theory of Indo-Aryan invasion, often used to explain early settlements in the Indian subcontinent is a myth, a new study by Indian geneticists says.

The origin of genetic diversity found in South Asia is much older than 3,500 years when the Indo-Aryans were supposed to have migrated to India, a new study led by scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, says. The study appeared in American Journal of Human Genetics on Friday.

Prof. Nicholas Kazanas, Director, IMILOS Meleton Cultural Institute, Greece, delivering a lecture on 'The Collapse of Aryan Invasion Theory and the prevalence of Indigenism' at IIT-Madras on 26th February 2011.

Please refer to mu previous posting on September 2nd, 2010, titled "The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory".

The theory of Indo-Aryan migration was proposed in mid-19th century by German linguist and Sanskrit scholar Max Muller. He had suggested that 3,500 years ago, a dramatic migration of Indo-European speakers from Central Asia played a key role in shaping contemporary South Asian populations and this was responsible for introduction of the Indo-European language family and the caste system in India.

"Our study clearly shows that there was no genetic influx 3,500 years ago," said Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj of CCMB, who led the research team, which included scientists from the University of Tartu, Estonia, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chennai and Banaras Hindu University.

"It is high time we re-write India's prehistory based on scientific evidence," said Dr Lalji Singh, former director of CCMB. "There is no genetic evidence that Indo-Aryans invaded or migrated to India or even something such as Aryans existed". Singh, vice-chancellor of BHU, is a co-author.

Researchers analysed some six lakh bits of genetic information in the form of SNPs drawn from DNA of over 1,300 individuals from 112 populations including 30 ethnic groups in India.

The comparison of this data with genetic data of other populations showed that South Asia harbours two major ancestry components. One is spread in populations of South and West Asia, Middle East, Near East and the Caucasus. The second component is more restricted to South Asia and accounts for more than 50 per cent of the ancestry in Indian populations.

"Both the ancestry components that dominate genetic variation in South Asia demonstrate much greater diversity than those that predominate West Eurasia. This is indicative of a more ancient demographic history and a higher long-term effective population size underlying South Asian genome variation compared to that of West Eurasia," researchers said.

"The genetic component which spread beyond India is significantly higher in India than in any other part of world. This implies that this genetic component originated in India and then spread to West Asia and Caucasus," said Gyaneshwar Chaube of University of Tartu, Estonia.

If any migration from Central Asia to South Asia took place, the study says, it should have introduced apparent signals of East Asian ancestry into India. "Because this ancestry component is absent from the region, we have to conclude that if such an event indeed took place, it occurred before the East Asian ancestry component reached central Asia," it said.

Response by the readers: Santi Vardana

The word Aryan comes from Sanskrit and it means "one who knows the purpose and value of human life". However, the British wanting to divide and rule India, employed Max Muller, a morally bankrupt German, to cook up and mis-translate the Vedas and Puranas. This is to demoralize the Indians so that they would lose faith in their scriptures and their religion. The purpose is to convert all Hindus to Christianity and to rule India.

The British presented themselves as ‘new and improved Aryans’ that were in India only to complete the work left undone by their ancestors in the hoary past. This is how the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin put it in the House of Commons in 1929:

Now, after ages, the two branches of the great Aryan ancestry have again been brought together by Providence. By establishing British rule in India, God said to the British, “I have brought you and the Indians together after a long separation; it is your duty to raise them to their own level as quickly as possible brothers as you are.”

Baldwin was only borrowing a page from the Jesuit missionary Robert de Nobili (1577 - 1656) who presented Christianity as a purer form of the Vedic religion to attract Hindu converts. Now, 300 years later, Baldwin and the British were telling Indians: “We are both Aryans but you have fallen from your high state, and we, the British are here to lift you from your fallen condition.” It is surprising that few historians seem to have noticed the obvious similarity.

In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that many of the ‘scholars’ of Indology should have had missionary links.

The Lost City of Dwarka

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:42:00 +0000

The Lost City of Dwarka

(By Rohini Gupta (http://www.epicindia.com)

Dwarka, city of legend and mystery, capital of blue skinned Krishna, the mystic golden land which arose from the ocean at his command and returned under the waters when his feet no longer walked the earth. Dwarka was Krishna’s stronghold, a fort built to be invincible. A city of mythic proportions, everything about Dwarka is as magical as the story of the man who built it.

The poets described Dwarka as a city so golden that it cast its radiance on the ocean for miles around it. Dwar means door, and Dwarka is a city of many doors or a gateway. It was an island, connected to the mainland by many bridges, and legend says that Krishna asked Vishwakarman, the architect of the gods to build him a city more beautiful than any before it.

Krishna’s story is well known. He was born in a prison and smuggled out to the peaceful pastoral village of Brindavan far away from the tyranny of Mathura. Krishna was just a teenager when he returned to Mathura and rearranged the political landscape of ancient India by killing Kamsa and putting the old king Ugrasena back on the throne.

Though he was not the king, Krishna was always the ruler. His Yadav clan is probably the first democratic society in the world and their system of government sounds very modern today. They were a federation of six tribes who elected their leader, but retained their king as head of the state with no real powers. Krishna, the elected leader was in actual control and made all the decisions.

An underwater archaeologist of the ASI examines an ancient structure off the shore of Dwaraka; a circular structure on the shore at Dwaraka; fragment of an ancient structure found underwater; remains of an ancient structure in the forecourt of the Shri Dwarakadhish temple. - (Photo courtesy ASI),

Like all leaders in a democracy Krishna struggled to keep the Yadavs together. The six clans each had it own leader, and there were factions within the council. The power struggles were endless, each faction jostling for control, sometimes stooping to slander and back stabbing with an occasional murder thrown in. Krishna’s hands were full just keeping his contentious clan together. He was such a towering personality that his leadership was never in question but it did not stop his rivals from plotting against him, trying to discredit him in the eyes of the people. In one notable instance they accused him of theft and it took him years to sort out the scandal.

When Krishna killed Kamsa and was unanimously elected the leader of the Yadavs, he was so young he had not even finished his education. He was sent to Guru Sandipani’s ashram to complete it. The ashrams of ancient India were the universities of today and Sandipani’s ashram was one of the best.

However Krishna was given little respite to study. Kamsa’s powerful father in law, Jarasandh launched attack after attack on Mathura. Krishna and Balaram, almost single handed, withstood seventeen assaults, but when Jaransadh enlisted foreign allies and planned to attack the city on all sides, then Krishna began to look for an alternative.

That he chose retreat shows his foresight. In those days the warrior classes considered retreat to be a disgrace. Krishna was accused of running away from battle many times in his life, but it was his audacious retreat that changed the fate of his Yadavas. He turned them from a broken tribe into a kingdom talked about all over the world with awe and wonder.

Krishna chose a remote location, far beyond the reach of Jarasandh. He picked distant Dwarka on the western coast of India, far from Mathura, and spent a year putting his plans into action. He built on the sunken remains of a previous kingdom, Kushasthali, which itself was built on older ruins, all underwater. Krishna reclaimed a hundred miles of land from the sea and called in Vishwakarman, the architect of the gods to give him a city that was the envy of the world.

The Mahabharat and the Bhagwad Puran and other texts, describe the wonders of Dwarka. The most expensive and luxurious materials were used. In those days of unbelievable riches, it was quite common to use precious stones, gold and silver as construction material. Royalty and rich nobles invariably used gold, those who could not afford it used silver or metal.

Dwarka was a city of rose and gold. The palaces and many of the mansions were built of gold, over which pink lotus domes towered, topped by soaring golden spires. The floors were made of emeralds. Precious stones studded the walls and crystal arches curved overhead, inlaid with gold. The houses were beautifully decorated and sculptures adorned the walls. Even the cowsheds were made of silver, brass and iron.

The gardens are specially mentioned. Lavish gardens were planted with fruit and flowering trees, shade trees lined the roads and fragrant flowers scented the air. Lakes and ponds full of lotuses and fountains and waterfalls delighted the eyes. The heavenly Parijaat tree was planted in abundance.

Colourful flags flew on the fort walls and cleanliness was extreme. The Bhagwat Puran describes a time when Krishna returned to the city. To welcome him every alley, lane and road was swept and sprinkled with scented water, garlands of flowers hung from every arch, and on every doorstep incense burned sweetening the air. From the higher floors above the road women dropped flower petals and lotus garlands on the procession as it wended its way down the streets, accompanied by music and dancing.

Dwarka was a very well planned city, following the highly developed science of town planning. The architect, Vishwakarman, first mapping out the highways, lanes, gates and parks. He sectioned off plots and divided the city into six zones, residential and commercial. He planned out the port and created the bridges and gateways and the fortifications. Everything was laid out in detail before the construction began.

Dwarka was built to be invincible. Two lines of massive fort walls built from huge stone blocks, ran all around it and the sea itself served as a moat. The island was cut off from the mainland and could only be approached by boat. Vishwakarman built several bridges which could be withdrawn in case of attack.

Like many kingdoms of the time Dwarka had a passport system. Its citizens were issued with a clay seal which had to be presented when they entered or left the massive gates. The seal of Dwarka was a mythical three headed dog and seals matching the description have been found in the undersea ruins today.

Dr. S. R. Rao (Archeologist)

The fortifications of Dwarka made it hard to reach. The walls were furnished with watchtowers and machines to fling fire, inflammable liquids and missiles. Its structure and location made it inaccessible and the only time it sustained damage was when the attack came, not from land or sea, but from the sky.

The Bhagwat Puran describes how King Salwa acquired an flying machine that could fly at great speed and high enough to be invisible. He mounted an two pronged attack on Dwarka in which his army laid siege to the fort while he waged war from the skies, at a time when both Balaram and Krishna were away.

The Mahabharat mentions the preparations for war. The city was sealed, no one allowed to move in or out. Mines were planted on land and the moats were filled with sharpened spikes. The bridges were removed, the docks closed to all traffic and the streets barricaded. The army was paid in advance, with gold, to keep their motivation high.

Most of the battle of Dwarka took place on land. Krishna’s son Pradyumna led the Yadav army to meet the besiegers and defeated them. But Salwa flew above the city and destroyed its structures and gardens from the air, swooping out of nowhere and taking the defenders by surprise. When Krishna returned he used his unique weapons to destroy both Salwa and his air chariot. The description given sounds very much like a missile. Salwa’s car was too high to be visible but Krishna flung a weapon that smashed into it and brought it tumbling down.

The story of Krishna and Dwarka is told in the epics and Purans, all of which are considered history. While most Indians believed that Krishna was a historical figure, many historians did not agree. Today even the die hards are changing their stance as ruins have been discovered exactly where the epics placed the legendary city, off the coast of western India, under the sea.

The excavations of Dwarka began in the early 1980s when marine archeologists found underwater stone walls. The discoveries made after that all confirm the description in the texts. They have found six layers of ruins, each above the other, showing signs of being submerged over periods of time, just as the texts described the older cities upon which Dwarka was built.

The harbour has been located, and massive triangular stone anchors suggest large trading ships. The river channel leading into the city has also been identified. Ships from across the ocean berthed in the outer harbour, and smaller vessels ferried men and goods down the Gomti river to the fort.

Stone blocks under the sea could be the ruins of the thick fort walls. Archeologists even describe holes in them that may have held flag poles. The epics describe the colourful flags which flew high over Dwarka’s walls.

Many objects, fragments of pottery, metal and stone have been uncovered, including a stone statue of Vishnu. A clay seal was also found, showing a three headed animal, just like the three headed dog mentioned in the texts.

In an interesting story, Badri Narayan, who was one of the marine archeologists investigating the site reported that all the crew members, including those who knew nothing about Krishna had “dreams full of strange visions on the night of the discovery. We felt we had stumbled on something great and unusual.”

Today findings indicate that the whole western sea coast of India may have sunk by over forty feet. Epic history, legend and fact are coming together as more and more discoveries are made on the sea bed.

Dwarka submerged shortly after Krishna left the earth. The city he had reclaimed from the ocean and turned into a marvel waited only until he was gone before it sank back to the bottom of the ocean.

After the Kurukshetra war there were 36 years of peace, while the Pandavas ruled in Hastinapur and Krishna returned to Dwarka. But all was not well in Dwarka. The Yadavs race has become too used to the easy life, too unruly, and too violent, and in the end they destroyed themselves just as predicted.

One day the men went to the mainland shores with Krishna and Balaram. They drank too much and began to argue. The arguments became violent. When Krishna and Balaram tried to mediate they were both attacked. Krishna and Balaram retired in disgust and the violence went on all night. In the morning the beach was a graveyard. No one lived, even those who had survived the battle of Kurukshetra died on that fateful shore.

Balaram retired to the forest and gave up his body. Krishna returned to Dwarka but only to make the last arrangements. Once he had sent his charioteer to fetch Arjun, he also retired to the forest and shortly left the world.

By the time Arjun arrived the city was in shock and panic, unable to believe that Krishna and Balaram were gone. The bodies of the dead still lay on the shore. Arjun performed all the last rites, lit the funeral pyres. Then, following Krishna’s instructions he gave orders to evacuate the city.

Today we know that an erupting undersea volcano can cause the huge tidal wave that is a tsunami. The description given in the texts matches a tsunami exactly. For weeks the signs were ominous. The sky was full of fiery meteors, clouds of dust and smoke obscured the sun and the moon. That sounds like an erupting volcano.

Animals are often the first to sense disaster and it was no different in Dwarka. Birds and animals howled, shrieked and cried. Rats and mice emerged to take over the streets. Animals are rarely caught in natural disasters, they sense then early enough to leave.

That was not all. Gale force winds battered the invulnerable walls and rivers changed their course and began to flow backwards. Tidal patterns often change before a tsunami. When the final end came it was over in minutes, which also sounds like a killer tsunami wave.

On the seventh day after Krishna, the evacuation of Dwarka began. The Mahabharat describes the caravan stretching for miles, chariots, carts, horsemen, soldiers, woman and children, all departing in haste. They were barely in time. Battered by the sea, the city began to break apart even as they scrambled to safety. When the last one reached the shore the big wave came and washed the golden city away.

Arjun saw it vanish under the waves, watching the great palaces, mansions and residences submerge. With tears in his eyes he watched Krishna’s golden palace disappear under the waters. The whole city was swallowed by the ocean in minutes and where Dwarka once stood the sea left no trace, becoming as calm and quiet as a lake. The age of the Mahabharat ended and the dreaded dark, degenerate Kali age took over the earth.

Dwarka may have sunk but the story lives forever. The epic stories have been sung by poets, told by story tellers, and kept alive all across the country for centuries. Today the excavations on the sea bed are unearthing the magic again. There are plans to build an underwater tunnel museum so that visitors can walk amid the fort walls on the floor of the ocean. Perhaps, after five thousand years, it is time for Dwarka to come alive once again.

Sri Pratyangira Devi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:09:00 +0000

The Pratyangira aspect of the Divine has been a bit of a secret for most of these past ages. Many believed that direct experience with this energy was reserved for Saints and Rishis. Seeing Pratyangira in any form was considered an enormous blessing, and an indication that you were in similar company.

Pratyangira comes from a deep, deep place within the Divine Mother; an area simply known as the Void. In the Void there are no thoughts of fear, or pain, or loss, or want, or time, or even space… just the warmth of the Mother’s love.

As Pratyangira energy manifests, it’s often a very swift and sometimes ferocious current. Many of the Saints who’ve seen it’s energetic expression have described it as half lion and half human. The lion head is that of a male and the body is that of a female, representing the union of Shiva and Shakti. In her full form, she is humongous, with 1008 heads (symbolically representing the 1008-petalled Sahasrara Chakra, the universal chakra of the cosmic energy) and 2016 hands, riding majestically on a chariot pulled by 4 lions (representing the 4 Vedas), carrying many swords for removing obstacles. The jaws of so many lions makes it very powerful for destroying negative karmas, and a great blessing for anyone on a spiritual path. However, such a current can be understandably rough, so it’s wise to approach with respect and some consideration of what our heart is asking for.

Two Rishis in the ancient times, Pratyangira and Angiras, in their deep meditation, discovered this goddess through her Moola Mantra in the ethereal waves of the sound current. And though this Mother is nameless, she honored these Rishis by giving the blessings to be named after them. She has hence been known as Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi. The beejaksharam (seed letter) of her Mantra is ksham (bliss).

Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi is all powerful and secretly protects devotees and others. She is always by the side of Her devotees. She is within each and every being in all planes of existence, and there to be awakened within.

An awareness of Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi has been only quietly known, until recently. Although the Siddha Masters and great Maha Rishis like Sri Dhurvasha Munivar and Puli Paani Siddhar have been devotees of this mother.

It is in that line of great devotion that Amma and Swami are servants to this Mother.

Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi is a powerful Devi who is said to have destroyed Sarabheswara's arrogance. Sarabheswara is a ugra avatar of Siva. She is also known as Narasimhika [in Kalisahasranama Stotram]. She who is the Ferocious Half Human Half Lion of Courage. It is said that when Narashimhika shake her Lion's Mane, she throws the stars into disarray. She is enveloped as bliss in the letter "Ksham".

Sri Pratyangira Devi is also associated with Sri Chakra. She is considered to be a powerful repellent of the influences generated by witch-craft. In Sri Chakra worship, she protects the devotees against all odds and guides him/her along the right path.

In some image she is shown as dark complexion, terrible in aspect, having a lion's face with reddened eyes and riding a lion, entirely nude or wearing black garments, she wears garland of human skulls; her hair strands on end, and she holds a trident, a serpent in the form of a noose, a hand-drum and a skull in her four hands. She is also associates with Bhairava, and she has a variant form viz Atharvana-Bhadra-Kali.

Mother Pratyangira a.k.a AdharvanaBadhrakali is associated with Mother's Narashimi form (female form, Shakthi of Lord Narashima)

DEVI PRATYANGIRA MANTRA

Om Aparajeethayeh Vithmahey

Pratyangirayeh Teemahey

Thano Ugra Prajothayaath...

Om Pratayangirayeh Vithmahey

Sathrunisoothiniyeh Teemahey

Thano Devi Prajothayaath...

OM SHAKTHI

The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:51:00 +0000

LORD MACAULAY'S ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 2 FEBRUARY, 1835

The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory

By. Shyam Narayan Shukla, Ph.D.

Before mid-nineteenth century no one had heard of Aryans coming to India from out side. One had also not heard that foreign people of “Aryan race” invaded India, conquered the indigenous people of “Dravidian race” and pushed them to southern part of India. However, now all this is part of the Indian history written by the British rulers of India.

Europeans were exposed to Sanskrit and the Hindu scriptures sometime in the seventeenth century. They discovered that Sanskrit and the European languages had many common words. Thus the western scholars arrived at a conclusion that the “Indo-European” languages must have had a common origin. Their hypothesis was that from Central Asia a section of Sanskrit speaking Aryans came to India and another section of the same people migrated to Europe.

It was Professor Frederich Max Muller of Oxford University who was responsible for advancing this imaginary “Aryan Invasion Theory”. He called “Arya” (or Aryan) a race even though the Vedas mention nowhere that “Arya” is a race. It actually means one who is well educated and well cultured.

The Rigveda says: “Krinvanto vishvamaryam” (Let us make the entire world “Arya”). It does not mean that people of Mongolian and African races be converted to Aryan race. Only many years later Muller realized his mistake and tried to emphasize that “Arya” does not denote a race but people who speak “Indo-European” languages. But the damage had already been done and his hypothesis of Aryan Invasion Theory had become a historical “fact”.

In the 1830s Lord Thomas Macaulay was appointed Governor General of the Indian provinces won by the East India Company. Macaulay was the son of a Presbyterian minister and his great ambition was to convert India to a Christian country. However, he realized that the Vedas were considered very sacred by all Hindus. Also the Brahmans, who preserved the Vedas, commanded a great respect. Yet he pioneered the English system of education in India with a hope that the effect of his new education system would be “prodigious” (his term).

He wrote to his father, “It is my firm belief that, if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence.”

In 1854, nearly fifteen years after he returned back to England, he used his influence to get some fund from the East India Company for research on the Vedas. He then contacted Horace Wilson, a Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University. Wilson told him that he was retiring the following year and so a younger colleague of his, of German nationality, F. Max Muller would be a better candidate to conduct the research. Muller himself was a staunch Christian.

In 1868 he wrote to Duke of Argyle, Under Secretary of State for India, “The ancient religion of India is doomed – and if Christianity does not step in, whose fault will it be?”

Macaulay wanted Muller to write about the Vedas in such a way that they would be considered nothing more than collections of some crude rhymes written by illiterate nomadic Aryan invaders, who came from Central Asia to India on horse backs. Macaulay thought that the attestation of an academician would look more authentic and unquestionable. Max Muller, being a devout Christian, while assigning date of the oldest Veda, the Rigveda, could not give an earlier date than the origin of the world, which according to the Bible is 4004 years before Christ. Later the scientists estimated that the earth is about 6 billion years old. Muller arbitrarily wrote that Aryans came to India in 1500 B.C. and the Rigveda was written in 1200 B.C.

According to Hindu traditions,Kaliyuga started on the day Shri Krishna breathed his last on this earth. When this happened there was a conjunction of seven planets - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, sun and moon. It is astronomically estimated that this occurred on Februay 18, 3102 B.C. The Vedas definitely existed much before this period (the Mahabharata period).

In around 1914, when the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro in the Indus Valley were excavated, the archeologists found by carbon-dating that they were at least 5,000 years old. They were beautifully planned cities with wide streets, magnificent buildings and good drainage system. The British historians were at a loss because that was going to crumble their Aryan Invasion Theory.

By that time the Aryan invasion and the Aryan-Dravidian conflict had already become part of Indian history and which had happened in 1500 B.C. Then the British archeologist John Marshal and Mortimer Wheeler ‘interpreted’ that the ancient cities excavated were the ruins of Dravidian culture destroyed by the Aryan invaders.

Eventhough Government of India has acknoledged the Aryan Myth as fake an a concoction of British Colonisation, it fails to remove the topic from the education system of the country. The Aryan Theory is still taught in everyday classes throughout India as history and fact despite the overwhelming proves against it. It also a well known fact that Max Muller had confessed of his doing during his later days.