WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN
Post No. 10,430
Date uploaded in London – – 10 DECEMBER 2021
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. it is 8-5 light years away from the earth. That means what we see in the sky is the light that travelled 8-5 years ago. Light travels at the speed of 1,86,000 miles per second. Vedic seers are the first one to record this star system. They called it two dogs. Now science also has proved it as a binary star system. Two stars Sirius A and Sirius B are revolving around each other. The time it takes to complete a round is 50 years.
Hindus named it as Dog, Svana in Sanskrit; the world followed it and called Canis in Latin; Svana in Sanskrit changes into S/C (v)anis
It is very easy to derive Canis from Svanas.
Since Hindus observed it as a binary star system they called it Two Dogs. Two Atharvana Veda (AV) Mantras and the gretatest of the modern Tamil poets Bharati have sung about it.
Before going into the Vedic poems in AV, let us look at Bharatis poem:-
xxx
SIRIUS by Bharatiyar
1.In one moment light travels, the scholars say,
Nineteen thousand Katam; such is its speed;
It is indeed difficult to comprehend it.
The sun’s light reaches us in eight minutes.
2.Westerners speak of a star called Sirius, it is reckoned
That its rays , travelling at the same speed,
takes three years to reach this mantala- the earth
If so, is it easy for thought to fix its distance?
3.Oh men,hear this! This star among innuerable stars
it is said, nearest to the earth- a mere millet
Again there is a star whose rays take
Three thousand light years to reach the earth.
4.Know that the human insects with manifold pains
Devised but defective instruments to discover these (stars).
And there are billions and billions of stars far, far awway
Which cannot be spotted through these tools at all.
5.The bird of intellect that soars returns fatigued;
The dictum that the expansive directions are boundless
Exceeds sense-perception; is beyond mind’s comprehension
Endless is indeed the vastitude of the direction.
— Tanslated from Tamil into English by Dr T N Ramachandran
In a footnote TNR adds, The Tamil original appeared in ‘India’ magazine. This poem was lost sight of by all the editors of Bharati’s works, so far. It is reproduced for the first tome by the Tamil Univessity.
(Tamil original is at the end)
Bharati gave wrong information regarding the distance of Sirius . It is not the nearest star system And modern calculation show it is 8-5 light years away. But at his times, 100 years ago, probably that was the information he received from newspapers.
Atharvana Veda has two poems on Dog Star/Sirius. One of them was reported as Sirius. Other poem was not recognised by Westerners. I only interprete it as Sirius star system.But Vedic description coincides with the modern knowledge of Sirius star system.
Here are the two Poems
HYMN LXXX ;AV; Book 6;Sukta 253
A prayer for help and protection
1.He flieth in the firmament observing all the things that be:
We with this offering will adore the greatness of the Heavenly
Hound
2.The three, the Kālakānjas, set aloft in heaven as they were
Gods
All these I call to be our help and keep this man secure from
harm.
3.In waters is thy birth, in heaven thy station, thy majesty on
earth and in the ocean.
We with this offering will adore the greatness of the Heavenly
Hound.
—Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895],
Griffith’s Foot note adds:- The Heavenly Hound- some conspicuous star, Perhaps the Dog Star, Sirius, which was called Canis by the Greeks and Canis or Canicula by the Latins, both words being closely connected with the Sanskrit Svana.
My comments
BLACK HOLES
Griffith’s footnote adds….
‘Kaalakaanjas’
meaning originally black spotted; stars of some nidentifiable constellation.
I interpret it as BLACK HOLES
As of now there is no report of black holes, but a third star in the sytem is detected. Who knows? Infuture we may hear something about Black!
Griffith adds
Mantra 3.Thy birth- the origin of the Heavenly Hound. So with the Greeks , Sirius was said to have been the dog of the great hunter Orion and the Latin Canis or Calicula was the dog ofErigoe translated with its mistress to the sky.
MY COMMENTS
Orion is the constelation which Hindus interpret it as Lord Shiva. We have Arudra, Mrgasirshsa stars there in the system. Greek stories are distorted versions of Hindu Puranic stories. We may comapre them to local sthala puranas of Tamil temples. Each god and goddess is localised by the villagers and city dwellers ith some stories.
In short , the whole world took our name for the star Svana/Dog.
now the encyclopedias concoted so many stories to justify the word Dog. They have never quoted the oldest reference in the Vedas. Greek mythologycame very late.
Even this Divya Svan, the Divine Dog or the Heavenly Hound is interpreted differently by others. Two Divine Dogs in Maitrayani Samhita is interpreted as Sun and Moon by Bloomfiled!
xxx
HYMN V; BOOK 7; AV; Hymn 5
Here in this verse, no body recognised the dog as Sirius star. Only I interpret it as Sirius. There is a clear mention of dog. And a horse is also mentioned. Persians called Sirius a white horse. Persians are the people who left Gujarat and seetled in Iran/Persia. When Muslims occupied Vedic Iran, the persian Hindus came back to same Gujarat; they are called Parsees.
HYMN V; BOOK 7; AV; Hymn 5
A glorification of sacrifice
1.The Gods adored the Sacrifice with worship: these were the
statutes of primeval ages.
Those mighty ones attained the cope of heaven, there where the
Sādhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.
2.Sacrifice was, was manifest among us: it sprang to life and then
in time grew stronger.
Then it became thedeities’ lord and ruler: may it bestow on us
abundant riches.
3.Where the Gods worshipped Gods with their oblation, worship-
ped immortals with immortal spirit,
There in the loftiest heaven may we be happy, and look upon
that light when Sūrya rises.
4.With their oblation, Purusha, the Gods performed a sacrifice.
A sacrifice more potent still they paid with the invoking hymn.
- With dog the Gods, perplexed, have paid oblation, and with
cow’s limbs in sundry sacrifices.
Invoke for us, in many a place declare him who with his mind.
hath noticed this our worship.
xxx
Griffith Note gives following information:-
Sadhyas- According to Yaska, ‘the gods whose dwelling places is the sky’.
Purusha – Explained in 10-90 of Rig Veda; that is the famous Purushasukta, recited in every temple, every day.
With Dog- no legend referring to this extraordinary sacrifice has survived.
M Victor Henry changed one word to Muurdhnaa= with the head and interpreted it as Horse head given to Dhadyang.
MY COMMENTS
Dadhyanc story is confused with this poem. The seer never meant him or horse head. Dog refrs to Sirius. If we look at in from that angle, it makes sense.
சிரியஸ் – பாரதியார் பாடல்
“ஒருநொடிப் பொழுதில் ஓர்பத்(து)
ஒன்பதா யிரமாம் காதம்
வருதிறல் உடைத்தாம் சோதிக்
கதிரென வகுப்பர் ஆன்றோர்
கருதவும் அரிய(து) அம்ம!
கதிருடை விரைவும் அஃது
பகுதியி னின்(று)ஓர் எட்டு
நிமிடத்தில் பரவும் இங்கே
(காதம்- 10 மைல்)
உண்டொரு வான்மீன் அஃதை
ஊணர்கள் ஸிரியஸ் என்ப
கண்டஅம் மீனின் முன்னை
விரைவொடு கதிர்தான் இந்த
மண்டலத்(து) எய்த மூவாண்(டு)
ஆமென மதிப்ப ராயின்
எண்டரற்(கு) எளிதோ அம்மீன்
எத்தனை தொலைய(து) என்றே
எண்டரற்கு- எண்ணுவதற்கு)
கேட்டிரோ நரர்கள், வானில்
கிடைக்கும்எண் ணரிய மீனில்
காட்டிய அதுதான் பூமிக்
கடுகினுக்(கு) அணித்தாம் என்பர்
மீட்டும்ஓ ராண்டு மூவா
யிரத்தினில் விரைந்(து)ஓர் மீனின்
ஓட்டிய கதிர்தான் இங்ஙன்
உற்றிடும் தகைத்தும் உண்டே !”
தகைத்து- தன்மையையுடையது)
மானுடக் கிருமி கோடி
வருத்தத்தால் பயின்று கண்ட
ஊனுரு கருவி யால்இஃ(து)
உணர்ந்ததென்(று) உணரு வீரால்
தானும்இக் கருவி காணத்
தகாப்பெருந் தொலைய வாகும்
மீனுள கோடி கோடி
மேற்பல கோடி என்பர்)
அறிவெனும் புள்ளும் எய்த்(து) அங்(கு)
அயர்வோடு மீளும் கண்டீர்
செறியும்இத் திசைதான் எல்லை
இலதெனச் செப்பும் மாற்றம்
பொறி தவிர்ந்(து) உரைத்த லன்றிப்
பொருள் இதென்(று) உளத்தி னுள்ளே
குறிதரக் கொள்ள லாமோ?
கொஞ்சமோ திசையின் வெள்ளம்”.
—Bharati, Tamil Poet
–subham–
tags-tags- Bharati, Atharvana Veda, Dog Star, Sirius, Canis Major, Svana
Tamil and Vedas 