All posts in category Culture

350 Herbs in Charaka Samhita, 85 Plants in Matsya Purana (Post No.5480)

Compiled by London Swaminathan
swami_48@yahoo.com
Date: 27 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 18-37 (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5480

 

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

Hindu mythologies, known an Puranas, are encyclopedia of Hindu beliefs, thoughts, history and geography. Charaka Samhita, a medical treatise, has listed 350 herbs. Matsya Purana gave a list of 85 plants. Aruna Goel has given it in her book on environment. Another person has written about the usefulness of Neem tree. The towpage attachment will give you the full details:-

  

 

  

 

Useful Neem Tree

 

 

–subham–

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 27, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on September 27, 2018

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STRANGE AND RARE STORIES OF LORD KRISHNA (Post No.5479)

 

Written by London Swaminathan
swami_48@yahoo.com
Date: 27 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 13-29 (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5479

 

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

Tamil is a divine language. Probably it has more divine writings than any other language in the world except Sanskrit. Tamil Nadu is a land of the divinities. There are more Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu than any other state in India. Under Tamil Nadu Government control alone there are over 30,000 temples. One third of the 100,000 temples of the country are in Tamil Nadu. When north India suffered attack after attack from the time of Darius, South India was peaceful until fighting Pandya brothers invited Muslim invaders into Madurai in the 12th century. Until then Chozas, Pandyas and Chera Kings vied with one another in building bigger and bigger temples. Temples in Madurai, Thanjavur, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram and Rameswaram were touching the sky even before Americans contemplated sky scrappers.

Stranger is the Tamil literature which describes unknown stories of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. Neither Valmiki nor Vyasa or Sukar touched those incidents which the Sangam literature described. Later the Alvars, Tamil Vaidhnavite saints gave more stories about Lord Krishna.

 

The oldest part of Sangam Tamil literature, Pura Nanuru, which is 2000 year old, has two Rama anecdotes that are not found in Valmiki Ramayana. Kamban who adapted Valmiki in Tamil also differed from Valmiki in various places. The reason being Kamban talked about three different Ramayanas that existed in his time. Unfortunately we lost two Ramayanas and Valmiki alone survived. So we may guess that Kamban and other Tamil saints borrowed some stories or anecdotes from those two extinct Ramayanas.The incidents mentioned in the hymns of Alvars (Vaishnavite Tamil saints) also serve as missing links.

 

The strangest story is about one devotee called Dhadipandan (Yogurt/ curd potter). Krishna, known as Kannan in Tamil was stealing butter and curd from every house of the Yadava community. He also belonged to that Yadava community. Neighbors started complaining about his mischief, pranks and thefts. Yasoda, his foster mother, was furious. She was chasing him from house to house. But the clever and cunning Krishna always found a way out. Once he was about to be caught. Then Krishna begged to a cowherd to hide him. He also obliged. But when she was too close, he begged the man to hide him under a pot. So the man also cupped him with a big pot. He sat over the pot as if he was doing some work. Yasoda was fooled one more time.

When Krishna came to know that the chaser had gone he asked the man to let him out. Clverer than Krishna, the man asked him a promise from Krishna. He did not demand money. But knowing that Krishna was an Avatar (incarnation of God) he asked him to give him liberation- Moksha from the cycle of Birth and Deaths.

 

Krishna said, ‘Granted’.

But that fellow still did not release Krishna.

Now Krishna started begging,

Hey Man, I gave you what you wanted. Please get me out. That fellow became cleverer and cleverer. “Look this pot only helped me to get liberation. I must be grateful to this pot. So give Moksha to the pot as well”. Krishna had to yield to get his release. Just to get normal release Krishna had to give ‘real release’ for TWO and one among them is a solid mud pot!

 

This story which is not found in Bhagavatha (Life Story of Lord Krishna) or the Maha Bharata (The Great War of India/Bharat) is sung by several saints.

 

This is not the only story. The Bhagavatha Purana ( Biography of Krishna) is dated around Gupta period. But even before that 2000 year old Tamil literature mentioned the boyish pranks of Krishna on the banks of holy river Yamuna. The river is mentioned with the Tamil name THOZUNAI, which is the corrupted form of Dohna in Sanskrit(Akam.59). If the date of Bhagavatha Purana is correct, then Tamils can be prouder to have mentioned the pranks of Krishna on the banks of River Jamuna/Yamuna. Later lierature like the Tamil epic Silappadikaram also mentioned this.

There are a few more stories in Tamil ( I will give them separately)

 

–subham–

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 27, 2018  •  Permalink
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TAMIL POETESS AVVAIYAR’S 108 APHORISMS (Post No.5476)

OCTOBER 2018 GOOD THOUGHTS CALENDAR (Post No.5476)

 
COMPILED by London Swaminathan
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Date: 26 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 20-14 (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5476

 

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

TAMIL POETESS AVVAIYAR’S 108 APHORISMS (Post No.5476)

FESTIVALS -2 GANDHI JAYANTHI’; 8- MAHALAYA AMAVASAI; 9 NAVARATRI BEGINS’ ; 18 SARASVATI PUJA; 19 VIJAYA DASAMI (Durga Puja)

 

NEW MOON DAY- OCT.8; FULL MOON DAY- 24

FASTING DAYS/EKADASI- 5, 20; AUSPICIOUS DAYS- 19, 28, 31

PRAYER

LET US WORSHIP AND PRAISE CONTINUALLY THE GOD WHO IS DEAR TO THAT BEING WHO WEARS A GARLAND MADE UP OF THE FLOWERS OF THE ATTI TREE (GANESA IS INVOKED)

 

LET US WORSHIP AND PRAISE CONSTANTLY THE GOD WHO SITS IN STATE WEARING A GARLAND MADE UP OF THE FLOWERS OF THE ATTI TREE (LORD SIVA IS INVOKED)

 

OCTOBER 1 MONDAY

1.DESIRE TO DO VIRTUE / DESIRE TO DO CHARITY

2.ANGER SHOULD BE SUBDUED

3.DO NOT CONCEAL YOUR MEANS/ DO NOT REFUSE HELP WHERE IT IS PRACTICABLE

 

OCTOBER 2 TUESDAY

4.DO NOT PREVENT GIVING ALMS

5.DO NOT BOAST OF YOUR POSSESSIONS/ DO NOT SPEAK IN PRAISE OF YOUR GREATNESS

6.DO NOT LOSE YOUR COURAGE/ CEASE NOT TO PERSEVERE

OCTOBER 3 WEDNESDAY

7.DO NOT DESPISE NUMBERS AND LETTERS/ DO NOT NEGLECT THE STUDY OF ARITHMETIC AND GRAMMAR

8.BEGGING IS DISGRACEFUL

9.GIVE ALMS AND THEN EAT

 

OCTOBER 4 THURSDAY

10.CONDUCT YOURSELF CONSISTENTLY/ FOLLOW ESTABLISHED CUSTOMS

11.CEASE NOT TO LEARN/ DO NOT NEGLECT THE STUDY OF THE VEDAS

12.DO NOT SPEAK ENVIOUSLY

 

OCTOBER 5 FRIDAY

13.DO NOT RAISE THE PRICE OF GRAIN/ DO NOT ALLOW YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO DIMINISH/ DO NOT ALLOW YOUR RELATIVES TO DIMINISH

 

14.DO NOT SAY ONE THING AFTER SEEING ANOTHER/ DO NOT SAY ONE THING TO A MAN’S FACE AND ANOTHER BEHIND HIS BACK

 

15.BE UNITED TO YOUR RELATIVES LIKE THE LETTER OR BEND LIKE ‘NGA’ ங

THERE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT READINGS FOR THIS SAYING.

LIKE THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER ’ ங ‘ SURROUND AND PROTECT YOUR RELATIVES.

DRAW UP YOUR FORCES ENCOMPASSING THE ENEMY IN THE FORM OF LETTER ‘ ங ‘

 

STAND LIKE THE LETTER ‘ங ‘ AND FIGHT I.E. AS THE CONSONANT ‘ங ‘ TAKES AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION IN WORDS TAKE A STAND BETWEEN THE VAN AND REAR OF YOUR ARMY AND FIGHT.

BUILD THE ENTRANCE OF THE FORT IN WINDINGS LIKE THE LETTER ‘ ங ‘

 

OCTOBER 6 SATURDAY

16.BATHE ON SATURDAY (WITH OIL)’ BATHE THE BODY IN SPRING WATER, FIRST BATHING THE DEFILED MIND IN TRUTH.

17.SPEAK SO AS TO GIVE PLEASURE

18.DO NOT BUILD TOO LARGE A HOUSE

19.BE FRIENDLY ON EXPERIENCING FRIENDSHIP

OCTOBER 7 SUNDAY

20.PROTECT YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER

21.FORGET NOT A BENEFIT

22.SOW IN DUE SEASON

23.DO NOT LIVE BY LAND WRESTED FROM YOUR NEIGHBOUR/ DO NOT GAIN A LIVELIHOOD BY MEANS OF BRIBES TAKEN IN A COURT OF JUSTICE

 

OCTOBER 8 MONDAY

24.DO NO IMPROPER ACTION/ DO NOT WANDER ABOUT DELUDED BY THE SENSES

25.DO NOT PLAY WITH A SNAKE DO NOT SPEAK VAINLY

26.SLEEP ON A MATTRESS OF SILK COTTON

27.DO NOT SPEAK DECEITFULLY

 

OCTOBER 9 TUESDAY

28.DO NO DISGRACEFUL ACTION

29.LEARN FROM CHILDHOOD

30.FORGET NOT YOUR DUTY (CHARITABLE ACTIONS ARE INTENDED)

31.DO NOT SLEEP TOO LONG

OCTOBER 10 WEDNESDAY

32.AVOID UNKIND WORDS

33.FASTING MUST BE OBSERVED

34.LIVE ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF PROPRIETY

35.AVOID BASE ACTIONS

 

OCTOBER 11 THURSDAY

36.CEASE NOT TO SHOW GOOD DISPOSITIONS

37.DO NOT SEPARATE FROM YOUR FRIENDS

38.AVOID DOING INJURY

39.BE DILIGENT IN STUDY

 

OCTOBER 12 FRIDAY

40.DO NOT CONCEAL YOUR PROFESSION

41.DO NOT DESIRE TO PLUNDER

42.ABANDON SINFUL AMUSEMENTS

43.STAND IN THE PATH OF JUSTICE

 

OCTOBER 13 SATURDAY

44.ASSOCIATE WITH THE WISE/ ASSOCIATE WITH THE GREAT SO AS TO BE PROTECTED FROM YOUR ENEMIES

45.DO NOT SPEAK HYPOCRITICALLY

46.FORGET NOT THAT WHICH IS EXCELLENT

47.SPEAK NOT IN A PROVOKING MATTER

 

OCTOBER 14 SUNDAY

48.DO NOT LOVE GAMBLING

49.WHAT YOU DO, DO WELL

50.HAVING FOUND A FIT PLACE, GO TO IT/ DISCRIMINATE IN YOUR CHOISE OF PLACES

51.DO NOT BEHAVE SO THAT PEOPLE MAY SAY FIE

 

OCTOBER 15 MONDAY

52.DO NOT SPEAK SO AS TO BE FOUND FAULT WITH/ DO NOT SPEAK INDISTINCTLY

53.DO NOT WANDER ABOUT IN IDLENESS

54.ACT SO AS TO BE CALLED A WORTHY PERSON

55.DESIRE TO BESTOW GIFTS

 

OCTOBER 16 TUESDAY

56.SERVE VISHNU

57.PUT AWAY SINFUL ACTIONS

58.DO NOT GIVE WAY TO TROUBLE

59.FIRST CONSIDER, THEN ACT

 

OCTOBER 17 WEDNESDAY

60.DO NOT BLASPHEME GOD.

61.LIVE AS YOUR COUNTRYMEN DO

62.DO NOT LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF WOMEN

63.FORGET NOT OLD FRIENDS/ DO NOT FORGET ANCIENT

 

OCTOBER 18 THURSDAY

64.DO NOT PURSUE HAZARDUOUS UNDERTAKINGS/ DO NOT BEGIN TO DO THOSE THINGS IN WHICH YOU WILL FAIL

65.HOLD TO THE LAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD

66.DO AS YOUR COUNTRYMEN APPROVE

67.DO NOT QUIT YOUR STATION/ KEEP UP YOUR RANK

 

OCTOBER 19 FRIDAY

68.DO NOT PLAY IN WATER

69.DO NOT EAT DAINTIES/BR NOT NICE IN FOOD

70.STUDY MANY BOOKS

71.CULTIVATE RICE

OCTOBER 20 SATURDAY

72.WALK UPRIGHTLY

73.DO NOT GO NEAR WHAT IS DANGEROUS/ DO NOT FOLLOW WHAT IS DESTRUCTIVE

74.DO NOT SPEAK MEAN WORDS

75.DO NOT GIVE OCCASION TO DISEASE

 

OCTOBER 21 SUNDAY

76.SPEAK NOT INSULTINGLY

77.DO NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH A PERSON DANGEROUS AS A SNAKE/ DO NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH A SNAKE

78.DO NOT SPEAK WRONGLY

  1. STRIVE TO OBTAINN GREATNESS

 

OCTOBER 22 MONDAY

80.LIVE SO AS TO PROTECT THOSE WHO PRAISE YOU/ LIVE SO AS TO GET A GREAT NAME

81.TILL THE GROUND AND EAT/ DESIRE LAND

82.LOOK TO THE GREAT FOR HELP

83.PUT AWAY IGNORANCE

 

OCTOBER 23 TUESDAY

84.DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH CHILDREN

85.TAKE CARE OF YOR PROPERTY AND LIVE

86.SHUN WHAT TENDS TO STRIFE

87.DO NOT BE TROUBLED IN MIND

 

OCTOBER 24 WEDNESDAY

88.DO NOT GIVE PLACE TO YOUR ADVERSARY

89.DO NOT SPEAK TOO MUCH

90.BE NOT GLUTTONOUS

91.DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF THE BATTLE

 

OCTOBER 25 THURSDAY

92.DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THE OBSTINATE/ DO NOT FRET AND RUN AWAY WHEN PUNISHED BY YOUR TEACHER

87.DO NOT BE TROUBLED IN MIND

88.DO NOT GIVE PLACE TO YOUR ADVERSARY

89.DO NOT SPEAK TOO MUCH/ SPEAK NOT SO AS TO BE BLAMED

OCTOBER 26 FRIDAY

90.BE NOT GLUTTONOUS/ DO NOT WISH TOEAT TOO MUCH

91.DO NOT STAND IN THE FRONT OF THE BATTLE

92.DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THE OBSTINATE

93.LIVE WITH YOUR WIFE/ BE JOINED TO WIFE’S SHOULDERS

 

OCTOBER 27 SATURDAY

94.LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF THE WISE

95.SHUN THE HOUSE OF A HARLOT/

AVOID THE HOUSE OF THOSE WHO BLACKEN LOWER EYELIDS

 

OCTOBER 28 SUNDAY

96.WHAY YOU SAY, SAY RIGHTLY

97.PUT AWAY LUST

98.DO NOT BOAST OF YOUR ABILITY/SPEAK NOT HARSH WORDS

99.DO NOT SPEAK FIRST IN A DISPUTE

 

OCTOBER 29 MONDAY

100.DESIRE KNOWLEDGE

101.STRIVE TO OBTAIN HEAVEN

102.LIVE AS A GOOD MAN

OCTOBER 30 TUESDAY

103.LIVE IN HARMONY WITH YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS

104.DO NOT SPEAK SHARPLY

105.DO NOT EVIL THROUGH DESIRE

106.RISE FROM SLLEP AT DAY BREAK

 

OCTOBER 31 WEDNESDAY

107.DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH ENEMIES

108.DO NOT SPEAK WITH PARTIALITY

 

–SUBHAM-

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 26, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on September 26, 2018

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WOMEN, GOSSIP, COURTSHIP ANECDOTES! (Posr No.5464)

Compiled by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com
Date: 24 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 13-03 (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5464

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

 

 

MORE COURTSHIP ANECDOTES

 

CAME READY? GAME READY!

Aaron Burr
When American politician Aaron Burr was seventy eight Mme Jumel attracted him. One day, as he was about to lead her into dinner, he said,
I give you my hand, madam; my heart has long been yours.
Much fluttered and no less flattered she uttered a sort of No which was not likely to discourage a man like Aaron Burr.
I shall come to you before very long, he said, accompanied by a clergyman; and then you will give me your hand because I want it.

Xxx

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!
It is said that Edwin C Hill , the journalist and radio commentator, encountered upon his first arrival in New York an experience that outdoes O Henry. Looking around the city he took the sight -seeing ride on the Elevated. His eye was attracted by the charming young lady seated across the car from him. In the vicinity of Columbus Circle he had ventured to move over and strike up a conversation with her. They found an astonishing congeniality between them and pursued the conversation intensely.
At last they reached City Hall; left the train, and, going over to the City Hall, got married.

XXXX

 

H B Paul
Gossip Anecdotes

The late Maury H B Paul, better known as Cholly Knickerbocker, in the course of his career as a society columnist had frequently aroused the ire of those about whom he had written. Every so often some such individual confronted him in a public place and demanded,
Just what did you mean by what you wrote about me?
Mr Paul had found a standard answer to this demand.
He blandly retarded,
Just what do you think I meant, which invariably silenced further discussion.

Xxx

Due to the exigencies of his position as purveyor of tasty news items on the doings of the upper crust, Maury Paul, widely known as Cholly Knickerbocker, had incurred many enemies. Towards these he felt no rancour.
He once said, even when people snub me I feel like saying to them,
‘Thank you for just existing. I wouldn’t be wearing solid gold garter clasps if it weren’t for you’.
xxx

Women Anecdotes

One day at Mr Kipling’s home in Sussex he read to Edward W Bok (American Editor and author) his latest poem, and at its conclusion he said,
You can never publish that. The journal ( The Ladies Home Journal) sisters would break all your windows with the stones they would fire at you. You wouldn’t have a whole panel left.
The poem was ‘The Female of the Species’.
xxx  Subham xxx

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 24, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on September 24, 2018

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TAMIL WORDS IN THE RIG VEDA (Post No.5463)

Research Article Written by London Swaminathan

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Date: 24 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 6-31 am (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5463

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

 

Rig Veda is the oldest book in the world. Rig Veda is the oldest anthology in the world. Rig Veda has the highest number of poets, over 450 poets. Rig Veda is the first book in the world with over 20 poetesses. Rig Veda is dated between 2000 BCE and 6000 BCE by various scholars.

 

So far as the other ancient language of India, Tamil, is concerned we have got 2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature where we find over 450 poets and poetesses who composed 2500 verses.

We find lot of Rig vedic words in ancient Tamil literature and day to day use in current Tamil language. You may even say Tamil words are found in the Rig Veda, since both the languages evolved from the same source.

 

I will just give two examples

 

RAJA/ KING

MANAS/MIND

 

Both of the words are found in the Rig Veda and Sangam Tamil literature. According to world renowned linguists, both these words Raja and Manas are Sanskrit words.

 

Raja gave birth to Royal, Regal and scores of worlds.

Manas gave birth to Mind and sores of words in European languages.

What do we reckon when we see these words in ancient Tamil books?

People thought that the Tamils borrowed these words from Sanskrit.

 

It is not fully correct. Tamil and Sanskrit are the most ancient languages in the world. They belong to the same group. But foreign scholars divided them wrongly into Dravidian and Aryan languages. My theory is that both these languages evolved from the same mother tongue.

 

In course of time they branched out into two different languages. All Sanskrit and Tamil legends agree on one point- Agastya was sent by Lord Shiva from the Himalayas to Tamil Nadu to write a grammar for Tamil language. How was it possible for a northern Sanskrit speaker to write a grammar for Tamil?

It was possible because both came from the same source according to Thiru Vilayadal Purana.

Do we have any proof for this in the language itself?

Yes. We do have proof.

1.The Sandhi Rules (joining rules for words)

2.The case suffix

3.The alphabetical order

4.The word meaning

5.The similes etc.

 

Sanskrit is closely related to Tamil than any other language. Even today prose and poems can be written with Sandhi rules. No other language can be written in this way. This structure cannot be incorporated into any language because it is geographically closer. Proximity has no say in the internal structure of a language. More over, it is found in both languages for over 2000 years.

 

A language can develop in different ways. We know how Indo -European group branched out into Satam (100) and Centum (100) languages. In the same way Tamil and Sanskrit branched out.

Tamil words for One, Eight, Mind are closer to English pronunciation than Sanskrit. But other than 1,8 ,  numbers have different development.

ONE= ONDRU

EIGHT =ETTU

MIND = MANATHU

 

Surprisingly Tamils used Rajan and Mind in 2000 year old literature. Oldest Tamil Grammar stipulates that no Tamil word should begin with Sa, Ra, La.

 

So when Sanskrit words are used in Tamil they will add one of the three vowels : A, I, U

(e.g)

loka= ‘U’lakam or ulokam (earth, metal)

raja= ‘A’rasa

Same Raja (king) becomes Arasan in Tamil  AND Royal in English or Regal in English. This clearly explains how the same word is done in two or three different ways in different languages

 

What can we conclude?

In India there was only one language, may be long long ago. They branched out into Sanskrit and Tamil

Following are some examples to trace King and Mind in the Vedas and Tamil literature:–

 

Rajan in the Rig Veda

3-43-5, 5-54-7

Atharva-4-22-3-5; 8-7-16

These are just a few examples

Mind in the Rig Veda

RV 10-90 (Purusha sukta) and scores of places

 

Raja/royal,regal, (Arasan, Arasar, Arasu) in Tamil literature

Kali-27, 129, Kuru.276.

Aka-338, Pura-154

Mindi in Tamil Literature

Pura.183, Akam-231, 273, 259, 377; scores of places in Natrinai, Paripatal and kalittokai

 

My theory is not based on a few words or few rules. There are 100s of words including Kama (amour), Mukha.

 

Strangely Tamil has no word for ‘Heart’. Hrut in Sanskrit became Heart in English and hruthaya (Iruthaya) in Tamil. All the Tamil medical books used Sanskrit words freely. All the Tamil spiritual books used Sanskrit words freely,the reason being ancients never saw any difference between the two. I have already written elsewhere that if Sanskrit words are removed from today’s Tamil newspapers or 2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature, the language in them would look like virus affected software. This is applicable to all Indian languages including Tamil!.

 

Not a single chapter of Tirukkural, the Tamil Veda, would survive intact without Sanskrit. The first couplet and the last couplet stand as  proof.

N.B. Nenju in Tamil is not heart; it is chest.

–subham-

 

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 24, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on September 24, 2018

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TRUE STORY- WOMAN FROM THE HEAVEN (Post No.5459)

 

COMPILED by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 23 September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 7-32 AM (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5459

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

 

Love and Courtship Anecdotes

 

LOVER IN THE STREET

A French clergy man catechising the youths of his parish, put the first question from the catechism of Heidelberg to a girl,
What is your only consolation in life and death?
The poor wench smiled, but did not answer.
The priest insisted,
Well, then, she said,
‘Since I must tell, it is the young shoemaker of Agneaux street ‘.

Xxxx

BUST OF MYSELF

When Madame de Stael was writing her memoirs a female friend asked her how she would manage to portray herself and her amours.
Oh, answered Madame de Stael,
‘I shall only give a bust of myself.’

Xxxx

WHAT A MEMORY!

A group of actors, Samuel Foote among them, was discussing the marriage of a too well known woman about town, whose pre- marital life had been ,to say the least , adventurous.

It is a good match that she has made , one of the group observed.
And they say she made to her husband a full confession of all her past affairs.
What honesty she must have had, another remarked.
‘What courage!
Yes, put in Foote, and what a memory!’

Xxx

WOMAN FROM THE HEAVEN
Courtship anecdotes

One of the most unusual beginnings of a romance in the world is the well known case of the great Wagnerian tenor, Lauritz Melchior. When the singer was a young music student he was singing in the garden of his pension in Munich, studying a role. According to his own story, he sang the lines
‘Come to me, my love, on the wings of light’, when to his utter astonishment, a young lady literally dropped out of the sky at his feet. The heavenly visitor was Maria Hacker, a Bavarian actress who had been doing a stunt for a movie thriller. She had parachuted from a plane right into his arms. They were married.

Xxxx

WOMAN FROM THE SEA

One day Nicholas Schenck, movie millionaire, about to board Tom Meighans yacht, saw a slip of a girl standing on the edge of the wharf.
For some inexplicable reason , Mr Schenck recalls, I had an uncontrollable impulse to push her into the water. To my horror- I did.
I had no idea if she could swim. I expected an infuriating young woman. Instead, she came to the surface, blinked the water out of her eyes and smiled a brilliant smile.
By God! I said to myself, that is the girl I am going to marry!
And he did.
xxx subham xxx

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 23, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on September 23, 2018

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Bhartruhari and Valluvar on Fools! A Story from Panchatantra!

Written by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 20  September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 11-35 am (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5450

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

Sanskrit poet Bhartruhari who composed 300 verses and Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar who composed 1330 couplets agree on several topics including ‘dealing with fools’.

 

Bhartruhari says in Niti (Neeti) Sataka,

4.A man may forcibly get back a jewel from the teeth of a crocodile,
He may cross over the raging waves of sea,
He may wear an angry serpent on his head as if it were a garland of flowers,
But he cannot win over the mind of one who is foolish and obstinate.

5.A man may get oil from sand by violent pressure,
He may drink water from mirage when oppressed by thirst,
He may get the possession of a horn from the rabbit,
But he cannot win over the mind of one who is foolish and obstinate.

6.Those who try to lead evil men into the path of virtue by a few soft words, are like people who binds an elephant with a young lotus fibre ,
Or like people who try to cut the diamond with a filament of (softest) Sirisha flower,
Or like one who desires to make the salt sea sweet with a drop of honey.

All the three couplets show how difficult it would be to tackle fools or obstinate people.

 

Tamil poet Thiru Valluvar says,

 

‘One who attempts to open the eyes of a fool is a fool himself

For a fool continues to see things only his way’- Kural 849

 

‘Heeds no advice; knows nothing wise,

His life is an illness till he lives’- Kural 848

 

‘The person who cannot absorb and digest the great truths of the Vedas and of reputed scholars,

Will bring down on himself all calamities and miseries’—Kural 847

There are many stories about fools told to children in the Panchatantra fables. The popular one is the story of monkey and the weaver bird.

Here is the story:–

 

‘No sword can bend an unbending tree,

nor prevail against stone,
as Needle-bill’s good advice could not upon one

who took life easy and would not learn’ – Panchatantra

 

In a jungle there lived a troop of monkeys. On a cold winter day, the monkeys were shivering. At dusk, they saw a firefly. Believing it to be fire, they brought it with great care to their living place, covered it with dry grass and started rubbing their arms and feet to warm themselves. One monkey who felt very cold repeatedly blew hard on the firefly to make it burn more vigorously. A weaver bird called Needle-Bill, who had been watching this, flew from the tree and advised the monkeys not to do such a stupid thing and explained to them it is not fire, but just an insect. The monkeys did not listen to the bird. The bird came too close to a monkey to give the advice in its ears, and  he seized and dashed the poor bird against a rock.

And Vishnusarman, author of Panchatantra finishes this story with a saying,

‘what avails instruction to those unfit

it is like a lamp in a house that’s lit

within a jar with a lid on it’.

 

In Panchatantra we see more such stories. Even Kalidasa, the greatest poet of India, was dumb in the beginning. He was cutting the branch of a tree by sitting on top of it. Noticing his stupidity, the ministers took him to palace and dressed him like a prince and presented him in front of an arrogant princess.When she found out after marrying him that he was a rustic fool, he was thrown out of the palace. Kalidasa received the blessings of Goddess Kali and became one of the world’s most admired ancient poets.

 

–subham–

 

 

by Tamil and Vedas on September 20, 2018  •  Permalink
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NAMING YOUR BABY! Names Anecdotes (Post No.5447)

Compiled by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 18  September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 14-50  (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5447

Pictures shown here are taken by london swaminathan.

 

 

DONT YOU KNOW ME?
American actor John Barrymore, at the height of his fame, went into the shop of a swanky men’s clothier in Hollywood. He left an order and started to leave.
‘Your name please’, the clerk asked
The Barrymore’s brows arched high,
‘Barrymore’, he replied coldly.
‘Which Barrymore, please?’
Coolness turned to solid ice.
‘Ethel’, he said.

Xxx

When George Burns assumed his professional name, George Jessel remarked to him,
Well, Georgie, you can change your name to Burns but you will never get the salami out of your stomach.

Xxxx

READER’S REACTION!

Says Walter Winchell,
Shortly before your son was born, I remarked in the newspaper that if your new baby was a boy he would be named Reid Winchell, and if a girl, Sue Winchell.
To which a reader heckler telegraphed,
Boy or girl it should be called Lynch Winchell.

Xxxx

ADAM IS A SWINDLER!

A stranger in the town passed the grocery store bearing on its window the name of its proprietor,
A Swindler
Amused, the stranger entered the store and asked the grocer if he did not think that his full name would make a better impression.
No, said the grocer, it would be worse.
‘My first name is Adam’.

Xxx

 

MOUNTAIN AND MOSQUITO!

At one time both Montague Mathews and Mathew Montague were members of the British House of Commons, Mr Mathews was a big powerful giant of a man. Mr Montague was a thin and emaciated man.
The Speaker frequently confused the two
I can’t understand it, said Montague Mathews.
There’s as much difference between us as there is between a horse chestnut and a chestnut horse.

Xxxx

THINKI, SINC!

One time, talking with Lord Beaverbrook , Sinclair Lewis kept on saying,
What do you think, Max?
Beaver brook got tired of this form of address after the eighth time and suddenly snapped at him,
What do you think, Sinc?

Xxx

LONG ‘WORTH’
A man named Longworth was once presented to Longfellow, and remarked upon the similarity of their names.
Yes, said Longfellow, and I believe the advantage is yours, for as Pope has said,
Worth makes the man, the want of it, the fellow.

Xxx

NAMING A BABY

‘I have made up my mind what we will call the baby ‘, the young mother announced,
‘We will call her Eulalia’
The father did not care for this choice but he was shrewd.
‘That is fine’, he said.
‘The first girl I loved was named Eulalia, and it will evoke pleasant memories’ .
The wife was silent for a moment.
‘We will call her Mary after my mother’, she said.
XXX SUBHAM XXX

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 19, 2018  •  Permalink
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LOVER’S STATUE IN LONDON (Post No.5445)

 

 

Written by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 18  September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 11-16 am (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5445

Pictures shown here are taken by london swaminatha.

 

A few days back I was walking past this huge and famous statue of Lovers at the King’s Cross and St Pancrass station. Then I decided to take some pictures with my mobile camera and post it for you. I have been planning to take a picture of the statue for long. During my usual visit to nearby British Library, I entered the station and took the pictures. Next time you come to London don’t miss it. Here is the appreciation and criticism of the statue:-

 

NAME- LOVER’S STATUE

LOCATION- ST.PANCRSS INTERNATIONAL STATION

(ADJACENT  TO KING’S CROSS STATION)

 

SCULPTOR- PAUL DAY

HEIGHT- 30 FEET

WEIGHT- 20 TONNES

EXPENSE – ONE MILLION POUNDS

INSTALLATION DATE- OCTOBER 2007

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

PAUL DAY’S WIFE CATHERINE (38 YEARS)  IS HALF-FRENCH. SO HE DECIDED TO  SHOW THAT IT IS THE MEETING POINT OF TWO CULTURES; THIS INTERNATIONAL STATION TAKES PASSENGERS IN TRAIN TO EUROPE VIA CHANNEL TUNNEL UNDER THE SEA WHICH DIVIDES FRANCE AND BRITAIN.

 

Paul Day says it remind one of the romance of travel. first he wanted to make it in a kissing posture and he dropped the idea later fearing criticism. I like the statue.

 

EVENING STANDARD NEWS PAPER REPORTED ABOUT THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE STATUE:-

PAUL DAY began by creating small-scale clay models before constructing a full-size polystyrene copy at a studio in Chichester, West Sussex. Detailed plaster casts were sent to a foundry and turned into bronze then treated with chemicals and wax. St Pancras became Eurostar’s London terminal on 14 November,2007 when all services moved from Waterloo and 20 minutes is cut off journey times. Paris will be only 2 hours 15 minutes away, and Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes from this station.

 

CRITICISM

FOLLOWING IS A REPORT FROM THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

A 30 feet bronze statue of lovers embracing at St Pancras International railway station is a lesson in “how not to do” public art, a senior Royal Academy of Arts figure has claimed.

Tim Marlow was speaking as he unveiled a new, temporary installation at the London Eurostar terminal – a clock which will hang above the controversial lovers statue.

“Good public sculpture should seem effortless,” Mr Marlow said. “What you have here are two object lessons: one in how to do it, and the other how not to do it.”

Mr Marlow described the nearby lovers statue, The Meeting Place, as “terrible”.

“How not to do it – and with respect to the artist it’s a bad commission – is the sculpture of the two lovers,” he said. “It’s a terrible, schmaltzy, sentimental piece of kitsch.”

The statue has faced brickbats ever since it was unveiled in 2007 following a major renovation of the station.

Writer Will Self described it as “crappily kitsch” while Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller called it “barely a work of art”. And another critic recently called the statue “fatuous” adding it was “idiotic in scale, devoid of artistic life” and called for it to be melted down.

But the artist responsible, Paul Day, has consistently defended the piece, saying it evokes the romance of travel. He says he regularly receives messages from the public praising the piece.

 

 

–subham–

 

 

 

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Comparison of Sankara’s Viveka Cudamani and Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural (Post No.5444)

Written by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 18  September 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 8-57 am (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5444

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

Adi Sankara, one of the greatest Hindu philosophers, has beautifully explained the Advaita (Non Dualism) Philosophy in his masterly work, Viveka Cuudaamani, ‘Crest Jewel of Discrimination’. It has got 580 couplets in Sanskrit.

 

Tiruvalluvar, the greatest Tamil poet has dealt with 133 subjects of moral importance in his work Tirukkural. The 133 chapters have got 1330 couplets on ethics in Tamil.

It is said that ‘Great men think Alike’, which is amply illustrated in the following comparisons of the two great geniuses.

If we couldn’t get access tomorrow to important Hindu scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita or the Vedas we don’t need to worry. Tiruvalluvar has given the gist of Hinduism in fifty or so couplets.

In his first chapter on God, Valluvar says
‘None but those who have meditated constantly on the feet of god can cross the oceans of birth’- Kural 10
‘Ocean of birth and death’ is known to every learned Hindu as ‘Samsara Saagaram .

Sankara says in Viveka Cudamani (VC),
‘Having attained the Yogaruda state one should recover oneself, immersed in the sea of birth and death, by means of devotion to right of discrimination’- VC 9

Yogaruda state is when onr is attached neither to sense objects nor to actions, and has given up all desires.

Xxxx

Shankara continues,
‘Therefore, a man of learning should strive for his best for liberation, having renounced his desire for pleasures from external objects, duly approaching a good and generous preceptor, and fixing his mind on the truth inculcated by him’–VC 8

Valluvar says,
‘Of what avail is a man s learning if he does not pray to god’- Kural 2

Xxxx
Can wealth help you to reach heaven?
‘There’s no hope of immortality by means of riches- such indeed is the declaration of Vedas. Hence it is clear that works/karma cannot be the cause of liberation’ –VC 7

Valluvar also says it, but indirectly,

‘As those without riches can have no enjoyments in this world so also are those without compassion denied the belongings of the world above’.

Here Valluvar clearly associates wealth with the human world and compassion with the heaven.

Xxx

Desire and Egoism

‘Let the wise and erudite man, having commenced the practice of realisation of the Atman give up all works/ Karma, and try to cut lose the bonds of birth and death’-VC10
A child plays with its toys forgetting hunger and bodily pains ; exactly so does the man of realisation take pleasure in the Reality, without ideas of I and Mine and is happy—537 Viveka Cudamani
He who renounces the egoism of I and mine shall attain the highest heavenly bliss rare of attainment even by the gods– Kural 346

Only when one renounces the two -fold desires can one overcome births. Other wise one will be subject to the rotation of births and deaths caused by desires–Kural 349

Xxx

 

Time and Place
Though Shankara wrote a religious manual and Valluvar an ethical manual certain things are common for one who wants to achieve something or to reach a goal.

Shankara says,
Success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant; time, place and other such means are but auxiliaries in this regard’– VC14

Valluvar also acknowledges it,
‘Consider these five before deciding on an action: finance, instrument, time, proper place and the nature of action’- Kural 675

Xxx

Use of certain similes such as ‘tiger and cow’, ‘actors’ etc show that Hindu geniuses think in the same way. There is a possibility ofone influencing the other as well as both are from South India. Both of them might have spoken Tamil at home.

Tiger Simile

 

The pretentious conduct of a man who has not the firmness of mind to direct him in the path of true ascetism is likened to a cow grazing clothed in tigers skin– Kural 273

O Master, you have awakened me from sleep and saved me . I was wandering in the forest of illusion, troubled by the tiger of egoism–
VC 518

The arrow which is shot at an object with the idea that it is a tiger, does not, when the object perceived to be a cow, check itself, but pierce s the object with full force –VC452.

Xxx
Actor Simile
‘Fortune coming to one and its departure are likened to the assembling of a crowd to witness a drama and its dispersal respectively’- Kural 332

‘As an actor, when he puts on the dress of his role or when he does not, is always a man. So the perfect knower of Brahman is always Brahman and nothing else’– VC 555

 

–subham–

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by Tamil and Vedas on September 18, 2018  •  Permalink
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