Post No. 13,767
Date uploaded in London – 10 October 2024
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Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
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These blessed candles of the night
Pardon me, good lady,
For by these blessèd candles of the night,
Had you been there I think you would have begged
The ring of me to give the worthy doctor.
–Merchant of Venice
((My honour would not let me show such ingratitude to the man. Pardon me, good lady. I swear by these blessed stars that if you were there you yourself would have begged me to give the ring to the worthy lawyer.))
Here the commentators are dodgy and evasive about the word ‘BLESSED’ . Some even interpreted CANDLES as candles quoting Jesua and the Bible. Others interpreted as STARS.
Stars in Mahabharata
Matali, the space man and the pilot of the Inter Galactic Space Shuttle, took Arjuna to Indra Loka to get ultra modern weapons of war. It is in the Vanaparava of Mahabharata . Arjuna was wonderstruck when he saw thousands of stars outside and asked Matali what they were. Matali told him that these are the holy souls from the earth, who came here after death.
Hindus believed stars are souls of the holy people and named many stars after Agastya, Tri Sankhu, Dhruva, Sapta Rishis, Arndhati, Arudra etc.
So the Shakespearean word Blessed candles of the night mean only holy stars.
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I am constant as the northern star
I could be well moved, if I were as you;
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks,
They are all fire and every one doth shine;
But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.
–Julius Caesar
These lines come from Caesar’s speech in Act III, scene i, just before his assassination. The conspirators have come to Caesar in the Senate under the preteens of pleading for amnesty for Metellus’s banished brother, Publius Cimber. Caesar replies that he will adhere to his word and not change his earlier decision.
Comparing himself to the North Star, Caesar boasts of his constancy, his commitment to the law, and his refusal to waver under any persuasion. This comparison implies more than steadfastness, however: the North Star is the star by which sailors have navigated since ancient times, the star that guides them in their voyages, just as Caesar leads the Roman people.
Northern Star in Hindu Literature
Dhruva does find a mention in the Rgveda but there is no reference to the pole star. It is in the Taittiriya Aranyaka of the Krishna Yajurveda (Prapathaka 2, Anuvaka 19) that we find a clear reference to the fourteen stars in the constellation of Sisumara (whale or porpoise) which is seen in the northern sky, according to Prof. R N Iyengar who delivered a lecture in 2016. He also answered the following questions.
17 Mar 2016, 10:11:50
to bvpar…@googlegroups.com
a) Which polestar was visible during the Mahabharat war?
This question indirectly presupposes a period for the MB War! Whatever may be the period of MB several stars which have had the potential to be at the North Celestial Pole must have been visible. Hence alfa-draconis, k-draconis, i-draconis, kochab, alfa-U.minor (the current Pole Star), Vega etc must have been visible.
b) Does Mahabharat tell us about the change in the pole star?
Yes, it does. MB mentions that the star named Dhruva was moving.
dhruvah prajvalito ghoram apasavyam pravartate|| (Bhi.Parvan 3.17)
c) If so does this information help us in dating the war?
It provides information on when MB war could not have occurred. The default option for calling a star “dhruva” should have been that it was “fixed” being too close to the North Celestial Pole so as to look fixed in naked eye observations. This was possible for only alfa-Draconis which was only seven minutes away from the Pole in 2830 BC. The name for this star originally was Abhaya as per Tai.Ara. We have to infer that the fixed nature of the star was observed, and it acquired the name Dhruva during 2800-2900 BC. Once the star had such a special quality, the adjective became the name itself. So MB statement (Bh.P 3.17) above could not have been valid before 2830 BC. The Vedic tradition of Dhruva was never isolated from the constellation Shishumaara. MB is no exception.
The archery competition for Draupadis’ marriage was held in a town specially built in the north-eastern direction of the capital and it was named shishumaarapura, figuratively indicating that the constellation had changed its orientation as seen from earth, due to Dhruva moving away.
tataḥ purajanāssarve sāgaroddhūta nissvanāḥ|
śiśumārapuram prāpya nyaviśan teca pārthivāḥ||
prāguttareṇa nagarād bhūmibhāge same śubhe|
samājavāṭaḥ śuśubhe bhavanaiḥ sarvato vṛtaḥ|| MB Ādi Parvan ( Ch 176 v 15,16)
Dhruva is Sangam Tamil Literature

Sangam Tamil literature which is at least 2000 year old, mentioned the Sapta Rishi / Ursa Major/ Great Dipper Constellation and Arundhati star six times. It also mentioned both the Seven Star Constellation (Sapta Rishi) and Arundhati are worshipped by the Tamils. Dhruva is in straight line from two stars of Sapta Rishi Constellation. Hindus knew that.
The very word Dhruva means Firm, Constant. It is used in Tamil as Uruthi and Thurban in Arabic. One can notice the sound Druv in both.
When Caesar mentioned I am CONSTANT as Northern Star, he mentioned only the Hindu View. How the little boy Dhruva became Dhruva star is known to all Hindus.
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BANQUO
Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!– Macbeth
When Banquo says, ‘There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out’ in Macbeth, he means that the angels are illuminating few stars in order to economise. There’s Ulysses and old Nestor, whose wit was mouldy ere your grandsires had nails on their toes, yoke you like draught-oxen, and make you plough up the wars.
Hindu Views
Stars and angel link shows that it is echo of Mahabharata where Matali said to Arjuna the stars are holy souls. Egyptians also built Pyramids with a hole linking the stars in the heaven ( It is in my article THUBAN IS WRONG, DHRUVA IS RIGHT! (Post.8934) posted on 15 Nov 2020.
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Romeo must become a Star ; Juliet’s Wish
“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
((And when I die, take him and cut him into stars that will make the night sky so beautiful that the entire world will fall in love with the night and forget about the tasteless sun. Oh, I have bought the mansion of love, but not yet possessed it. I belong to Romeo, but have not yet been enjoyed by him.))
What does Juliet mean when she says “take him and cut him out in Little Stars”?
Here, Juliet expresses her deep love for Romeo, wishing for him to become a constellation upon his death so that his beauty can be admired forever. This metaphorically shows Juliet’s commitment and admiration for Romeo, while foreshadowing his death and its impact.13 Sept 2011
Great people become stars is confirmed once again by Shakespeare here.
—subham—
Tags- More stars, Shakespeare, Dhruva star, Northern Star, Julius Caesar, Juliet, Macbeth, blessed candles, Romeo