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
xxxx
WHAT IS COSMOLOGY?
It is a branch of astronomy that deals with the structure and evolution of the universe as an ordered whole.
WHAT IS BIG BANG?
The hypothetical explosive event that marked the origin of the universe as we know it. It took place about 10-20 billion years ago. The big bang explosion threw the compact material outwards, producing the expanding universe. The cause of the big bang is unknown.
All of us know that it happened in the sky with a big noise. Then there was gusty wind and fire everywhere. Then came the water. From water, life evolved.
The above sequence is right if we take our earth as the model.
Since Hindus are the only people who consider TIME is cyclical not linear, our poets sing about Big Shrink as well.
Appar (600 CE) in a decad/Pathikam on Shiva at Pullirukku Velur, also known as Vaitheeswaran Koil near Mayuram says,
His form in fulgurant; He is ONE in the ether,
TWO fold in wind that blows a main , THREE fold
in the form of ruddy fire , FOUR fold in the water that flows
downward and FIVE fold in the expanse of earth;
he is of the eternal form……………………….
Hindus gave certain qualities or virtues to the
Panchabhtas /five elements.
They are called Tanmaatraas . the five tanmatras are sound, touch, form, taste and smell. In Sanskrit
Sabda- ether
Sparsa- air
Rupa- fire
Rasa – water
Gantham – earth.
1.Ether is pervaded by sound.
1,2.Air by sound and touch.
123.Fire by sound, touch and form.
1234.Water by sound, touch, form and taste.
12345.Earth by the above four and smell.
We see it in Dasavatara as theory of evolution: Fish, amphibians, land animals, half man and half animal, full man with a weapon, Exemplary man (Rama), man with tricks (Krishna).
Earth was Firey ball with gusty winds in the beginning and then rain and water came. When water receded, we saw earth and land animals evolved on it and at the peak of Land animals stood Man.
Purananuru verse 2 and 51 mentioned it. Puram poet Mudi Nagarayar praised the king with all the qualities of Five Elements.
Nammaalvaar also sang about this.
****
What is the science in it?
First there was a sky with sound;
Then came wind and fire;
That created rain and water;
From water came Life forms.
Hindus told it to the layman in a story format:
Lord Vishnu was lying in the vast water in half sleep/sleeping but conscious.
Then came Brahma/creator;
From him came all the living beings.
The water that Vishnu was lying is the Potential energy/Shiva
All the activities mentioned above was the Kinetic energy/Goddess Shakti.
Hindus beautifully named Goddess as Power, in Sanskrit ,Shakti, used in all the Indian languages.
***
Great Saivite poet and saint Manikkavasagar who lived before Appar said,
Tiruvasagam
பாரிடை ஐந்தாய்ப் பரந்தாய் போற்றி Earth with Five qualities
நீரிடை நான்காய் நிகழ்ந்தாய் போற்றி Water with Four qualities
தீயிடை மூன்றாய்த் திகழ்ந்தாய் போற்றி Fire with Three qualities
வளியிடை இரண்டாய் மகிழ்ந்தாய் போற்றிAir/Wind with Two qualities
வெளியிடை ஒன்றாய் விளைந்தாய் போற்றி Space with one Quality
He used the Five Elements in the reverse order. Manikka vasagar used the same numbers to praise Lord Shiva
***
Appar (600 CE) Tevaram in Tamil:
Tevaram
மின்னுருவை விண்ணகத்தில் 1 ஒன்றாய் மிக்கு
வீசுங்கால் தன்னகத்தில் 2 இரண்டாய்ச் செந்தீத்
தன்னுருவின் 3 மூன்றாய்த்தாழ் புனலின் 4 நான்காய்த்
தரணிதலத் 5 தஞ்சாகி யெஞ்சாத் தஞ்ச
Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 above.
மன்னுருவை வான்பவளக் கொழுந்தை முத்தை
வளரொளியை வயிரத்தை மாசொன் றில்லாப்
Coral, Peral, Diamond, 24 carat Gold (gems and gold)
பொன்னுருவைப் புள்ளிருக்கு வேளூ ரானைப்
போற்றாதே ஆற்றநாள் போக்கி னேனே
***.
2000 year old Purananuru Poem
மண் திணிந்த Earth நிலனும்,
நிலம் ஏந்திய Sound /Sky விசும்பும்,
விசும்பு தைவரு Wind, வளியும்
வளித் தலைஇய Fire தீயும்,
தீ முரணிய நீரும், , Water, என்றாங்கு
ஐம்பெரும் பூதத்து இயற்கை போலப்
Here the poet Muranjiyur Mudi Naagaraayar changed the order just to fit the verse in Anthaathi genre.
Anthaathi means last word of each line must be the first word of next line. The five qualities are attributed to the King, who Hindus worshipped or venerated as god.
***
Three Interpretations
Divya Prapandham
Nammaalvaar, a Vaishnavite saint, who lived later, used the five elements in the same order and attributed them to Lord Vishnu:
1 ஏக மூர்த்தி 2 இரு மூர்த்தி 3 மூன்று மூர்த்தி 4 பல மூர்த்தி- ஆகி, 5 ஐந்து பூதம் ஆய் இரண்டு சுடர் ஆய் அருவு ஆகி, நாகம் ஏறி நடுக் கடலுள் துயின்ற நாராயணனே உன்- ஆகம் முற்றும் அகத்து அடக்கி ஆவி அல்லல் மாய்த்ததே.
English translation of verse 4.3.3:
You assumed a single form, then two, three and many, The form you took of the senses five, the Sun and the Moon; Formless, you did everywhere, as Internal Controller, pervade, Repose you did, Oh, Nārāyaṇa, in mid-ocean on serpent-bed And now your body and all it needs you have compressed Right in my mind and thus feel fully relaxed.
Notes; Another interpretation:
(ii) Single Form: This refers to the state of affairs prior to creation, when the Lord alone subsisted, containing within Himself, in a subtle state, all sentient and non-sentient beings; there was no scope then for differentiation, by name and form.
(iii) Two forms: Keen on creating the Sportive Universe, the Lord assumes the twin forms of ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Mahān’
(iv) Three Forms: The triple ‘ahaṅkāras’ of Sattva, Rājas and Tāmas;
(v) Many Forms: The wonderful variety (i.e.) variegated forms of creation arising through inequalities among the three ‘Guṇas’, referred to in (4) above, the five sense-organs, the five elements etc.
***
Another interpretation
3147. O Narayaṇa! 1 You are the only god. 1,2 You are the two gods—the sun and the moon. 1,2,3You are the three gods—Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma (all)and you are all the gods.
5 You are the five elements—water, fire, wind, earth and sky. You are formless. You climbed on the heads of Kalingan and danced. You sleep on the middle of the ocean. I kept you in my heart and all my troubles went away.
My Comments
The above two re wrong interpretations because Appar and Manikkavasagar who lived before Nammalvar have given us the correct interpretation.
Moreover, we can clearly see the influence of Maanikka vaasagar in Nammaalvaar poems. He clearly used MAANIKKA and VAASAGA in innumerable stanzas.
–subham—
Tags- Big Bang, Five elements, Five qualities, Appar, Nammalvar, Manikkavasagar, Tevaram, Tiruvasagam, Divya Prapandham , Purananuru
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
xxxx
Badavilinga, Hampi
Tamil version will be posted tomorrow
Brahma Vishnu Shiva are the three gods forming Hindu Trinity.Lord shiva is worshipped in 64 forms according to Sivapurana . He is worshiped in linga form as well; it is a formless, shapeless stone or metal. It rests on a pedestal; such structures are seen from Kedarnath to Kedeeswaram in Sri Lanka. And we find ancient Lingas in South East Asian countries too. Of late Hindus have built modern Shiva temples in all the countries in the world. Naturally formed Kailash mountain in the shape of a huge linga has been in our literature for at least 2500 years.
God is with form or without form. Linga means a mak or a symbol. Sanskrit students learn grammar from the age of five with words like akaaraantha pull Lingah Rama Sabdah, ,Ekaarantha stree Lingah ….etc. In some places image of Shiva is shown inside Shiva linga and it is known as Lingodbhava Murti
in Madurai and other places, big temple are erected over lingams two thousand years ago. If thousand mini lingas re sculpted over a linga statue it is called Sahasra Linga.
In Amarnath and other places even naturally formed ice lingas are worshipped. If they appear naturally then they are called Swaambu / spontaneous ingas.
It is a common adage that Siva is fond of bathing as Vishnu is fond of decoration. And so there is aways a copper vessel with a hole at the bottom hanging over the linga with dripping water. And the base or the pedestal of the linga is designed in such a way the water is drained off. The base is called Yoni in Sanskrit and Aavudaiyaar in Tamil.
Shiva abhishekap priyah
Vishnu alankaara priyah
Linga is considered as a symbol of Brahman. The quadrangular bottom of the shaft represents Brahma and the octagonal middle Vishnu and the circular upper portion Siva.
Sometimes a single linga is called Sahasra/ thousand linga. It is divided into 25 facets each of these latter having miniature representations of forty lingas and making up thus the number one thousand .
Sahasra = Aayiram in Tamil ; thousand in English
Huge lingams are found in Thanjavur, Gangakonda Cozapuram in Tamil Nadu.
Chenkal in Kerala
Twelve Most Famous Linga Temples in India
1. Mallikarjunam in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
2. Mahakalam in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
3. Kusmesam near Aurangabad, Maharashtra
4. Omkareswar in Omkaram on Narmadha, Indore (M.P)
5. Vaidhyanatham in Bihar
6. Bimasankaram in Maharashtra
7. Trayambakeswar in Maharashtra
8. Kedarnath in Uttar Pradesh
9. Visveswar in Benares, Uttar Pradesh
10.Rameswaram in Tamilnadu
11.Nagesam in Dwaraka, Gujarat
12.Somanatham in Saurastra, Gujarat
***
Karnataka- Cambodia Sahsralingas
“Sahasraliṅgeśvara temple located near sirsi and is situated on the banks of the river shalmala, where a thousand lingas are found.
We have similar sahsralingas in river in Cambodia as well.
***
Badavilinga Temple (or Shree Badavilinga Gudi) is a small but incredible temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Known for its impressive monolithic Shivalinga, which stands at about 3 meters (10 feet) tall, Badavilinga Temple attracts devotees and tourists around the year. It’s the largest Shivalinga in Hampi.
The colossal Shivalinga here is carved out of a single black rock stone and the statue is submerged in water.
Badavilinga Temple is on Hampi’s outskirts, close to the popular Lakshmi Narasimha Temple.
Bhojeswar Temple
The Mysterious link between Karnataka and Cambodia
Old article written 14 years ago by me and posted in this blog.
It is very interesting to find out a mysterious link between the Indian state of Karnataka and a South East Asian country Cambodia. This is an ancient link but existing till today. In both these places we find the sculptures SAHASRA LINGA, literally translated one thousand Lingas. Linga is the shapeless form of Hindu God Shiva.
Cambodia is famous for its Angkor Watt temple. This is the largest Hindu temple in the world outside India. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and full of beautiful sculptures. It is a historical fact that the Hindus ruled various parts of South East Asia for 1300 years from 1st century AD. But not many people noticed the mystery of Sahasra Linga.
Sahasra Linga is located seventeen kilometres from Sirsi In the northern part of Karnataka known as Uttara Kanara. One can see hundreds of Shivalingas carved in stones and rocks in the middle of the river. The river is called Shalmala. All the statues are washed by this holy river water for ever. During Hindu festival Shivratri thousands of pilgrims visit this place and offer pujas. One advantage of visiting this place during Shivratri is the water level in the river is low and most of the Lingas are visible with their bases called Yonis. No one knew when and who carved them. People visit this spot for its scenic beauty as well. This place is situated in the middle of forest in the Western Ghats.
There is another place in Cambodia with the same name Sahasra Linga and there also the carved Shiva Lingas are in the middle of a river. The only difference is nobody worships it in Cambodia but tourists visit his place out of curiosity and to enjoy nature.
Bhuteswar, Chattisgarh
Cambodian Sahasralinga is located 25 kilometres from Angkor watt. There are statues of Hindu gods Lakshmi, Rama and Hanuman in addition to the Lingas. The place is called Kbal Spean and its meaning is ‘the Head Bridge’. Unlike Karnataka this place is not easily accessible. Tourists have to climb very hard and rough rocks. They have to go via a stone bridge. Animal figures are also carved on the side rocks. The river Slung Kbal Spean is flowing from Kulen mountains. There is a fifty feet high water falls which adds beauty to this holy spot. Long ago the kings used to come here for holy bath. No one knew who carved these lingas and for what purpose. But the tourists are told that the Lingas are symbols of creative energy and the river water that flows on the lingas will make the Cambodian paddy fields more fertile. A lot of Hindu symbols were destroyed during the civil war in Cambodia. But these Sahasra Lingas were not affected because of the surrounding thick forest. Those who wanted to travel to this place leave from Banteasy Srei and travel 12 kilometres and then walk for 45 minutes through rough terrain. The area is closed for tourists around 3 pm.
One of the remarkable sculptures here is of Maha Vishnu and Brahma emerges from his belly on a lotus flower. It is very heartening to see Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, all the three greats of the Hindu Trinity at the same place.
Any one who wants to see the pictures can see them on You Tube and images through google websites. Just type Sahasralinga in Karnataka and Sahasralinga in Kbal Spean you will see the beautiful images and videos.
Now the question is how come the same name and the same sculptures exist in two different places which are wide part by thousands of miles? Who and Why did they carve them? Neither the Indians nor the Cambodians knew. But if we dig deeper we can find the answers. I have shown somewhere
that Agastya was associated with the Pandyas in many copper plate inscriptions of the Pandyas and the famous Raghuvamsa Kavya of Kalidas. He led the Pandyas and other South Indian kings to South Asian countries two thousand years ago. He was the torch bearer of Hindu culture. Since those people were without a religion and culture Sage Agastya civilised them. This was not invasion but cultural expansion. As a token of gratitude Agastya statues were installed by the local people in different countries in South East Asia. Even before the British reached these areas French archaeologists and historians went to do a lot of research and published books on the temples. Anyone who has access to those French books can see the pictures of Agastya statues.
It is a well recognised fact that all the South East Asian scripts are evolved from Indian Brahmi. All Indian scripts also evolved from the same Brahmi. The Pallava script contributed to most of the S E Asian scripts. If one places the pictures of Pallava temples and S E Asian temples the similarity can’t be missed . And if one places more pictures from the Central American Maya temples the link can be easily established. So we can assume that the culture travelled from South India towards S E Asia and then to Central and South America.
Thanjavur Brihadeeswar
There is even mention of 1000 pillar Hall/Mandap in the Maya culture.
There are more Sahasralingas in India. For instance Pathan in North Gujarat has one Sahasralinga. But because of the foreign invasions followed by destructions only a 48 pillar mandap exists today with few lingas.
Sahasralinga also means one thousand linga forms on the face of a single big linga. The best of the Sahasralingas of this type is seen in Parasurameshwara Temple in Bhuvaneswar,Orissa.
Amazing Facts about Shivalinga
Post No. 12,924
Date uploaded in London – – 16 JANURARY 2024
Where is the tallest Shiv linga in the country?
Maha Mrityunjay Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva, situated in Nagaon, Assam, India. This Temple is special in its architectural sense as it is built in a form a Shivling. It is the World’s largest Shivalinga, at the height of 126 foot.
xxxx
What is the meaning of Linga Worship?
“ God is Omnipresent and All-pervasive. By the very nature of these qualities, He cannot have any form. He is, therefore, formless (Arupa). But in order to bless us, He assumes innumerable forms (Rupa). The Linga form in which we worship Isvara is symbolic of both His formlessness and form. It is symbolic of form because it has a particular shape; It is symbolic of formlessness because it has neither head nor limbs. The very conception of a Linga denotes something which has neither beginning nor end; the literal meaning of Linga is symbol.(Kanchi Paramacharaya 1894-1994)
xxxx
Why do we see Lingodbhava Murti in all Tamil Temples?
Isvara assumes various forms in pursuance of His Divine Leela. The prime manifestation with a form of the formless Isvara, is known as the Lingodbhava Moorthi, and He made his appearance in that form exactly at midnight on Sivaratri. That is why all devotees keep vigil during the night of Sivaratri, and worship Isvara at midnight.
xxxx
How Big is the Linga in Thanjavur Big Temple?
29 ft; It is 8.7 m (29 ft) high, occupying two storeys of the sanctum. It is one of the largest monolithic linga sculptures in India. Linga itself is 12 feet tall.
xxxx
Where is the tallest Shiv linga in Kerala?
Maheshwaram Shiva Parvathi temple, which houses the tallest Shiva lingam in Kerala, having a height of 111 ft, is located in Chenkal village. It is near Thiruvananthapuram .
xxxx
Shiva linga in Water Springs
In many places Shiva Linga is in the midst of a water spring or a tank. This is because Shiva is called ABISHEKA PRIYA (bathing) and Vishnu is called ALANKARA PRIYA (decoration).
Thiruvanaikkaa near Trichy has Jambukeshvar Shiva temple where the Linga is in a water spring. There are similar temples in Sirkazi, Thiruvedakam near Madurai etc.
Xxxx
Natural Wonder- Ice Lingas in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
Amarnath is the place in Jammu Kashmir state where a Linga is formed naturally inside a cave. It is made up of ice and it appears in and around August every year and then disappears.
Similar Ice Lingam is formed in a cave near Manali in Himachal Pradesh. It is called Amarnath of Himachal Pradesh. The 25-foot high Shiva lingam made of snow and ice is at Anjani Mahadev Temple.
xxxx
kotilingeswara temple
Ashta / Eight Famous Lingas in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu
The names of the Ashtalingams are:
Indra Lingam (East)
Agni Lingam (South East)
Yama (Ema) Lingam (South)
Niruthi Lingam (South West)
Varuna Lingam (West)
Vayu Lingam (North West)
Kubera Lingam (North)
Esanya Lingam (North East)
During every full moon day lakhs of devotees go round the hill at Tiruvannamalai and they worship all the above eight Lingas in eight different directions.
xxxx
Sun Light falls on Lingas
Kings of Choza Dynasty were great Shiva Bhaktas. They had clever civil engineers who built temples with many wonders. One of the wonders is to make the sun light enters into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple so that Sun worships the idol. And Chozas belonged to Sun Race (solar race)
One such temple where the sun rays enter and falls on Shiva Linga in the Garbha Griha is in Karaikurichi near Ariyalur. Sun light falls on the Linga twice a year in Uttarayana and Dakshinayana periods. Every year it happens on the same day in Hindu Calendar.
xxxx
Ghee Linga in Thrissur in Kerala
Since Lord Shiva is ABISHEKA PRIYA (fond of bathing), people pour various liquids on the idol . Thrissur Vadakkunathan temple has the famous Ghee Linga. For centuries , devotees have been bathing the god with clarified butter. Now the linga has disappeared because of the solidified layers of Ghee on the idol. People take the ghee as Prasad.
xxxx
Linga with holes on the top
Every temple has a special feature in Tamil Nadu. We see Shiva lingas with some peculiarities and stories are told about them. In Thirunallur and Needur we see Lingas with holes on top. In one place it is attributed to Saint Bhringi. He took the form of a beetle and made the whole. In Another temple also similar story is told.
xxxx
Kailash and Shivlinga Mountain
In the Himalayan range we come across hills which look like huge Shiva Lingas. Hindus give importance to such places. We have Linga shaped Mt. Kailash and mountain shaped like Linga in the Himalayas. It is called Shivling Mountain.
xxxx
Koti Linga and Sahasra Linga
We come across innumerable Lingas in certain places and they are called Koti Lingas. If they carve 1000 squares with Linga figure in one single shiva stone, it is called Sahasra Linga. Many temples have Sahasra Lingas.
—subham—
Tallest Shivalinga Near Trivandrum (Thiru Anantha Puram)
During my visit to India in March- April 2024, I had a busy Wedding schedule. I attended one wedding in Chennai and celebrated another wedding in Kovalam beach near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
Kerala now has one of the tallest Shiva lingams in the country after the India Book of Records certified the 111.2-feet structure of Maheshwaram Sri Shiva Parvathy Temple at Chenkal in Thiruvananthapuram district.
The cylindrical structure has eight floors, six of which represent chakras or energy centres of the human body. Temple authorities are now hoping the shiva lingam will enter the Limca and Guinness Book of Records.
Pilgrims would be able to see a ‘kailasam’, a replica of Himalayas, and idols of Shiva and Parvati from the top of the shiva lingam. The pathway is adorned with murals and statues with 108 shiva lingams on the base floor.
It is the only temple in the world, where devotees can worship 12 Jyothirlingams of Lord Shiva and 32 forms of Lord Ganesha at one place.
—subham—
Tags-Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English; படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம் -Part 25, Linga, Shivalinga, Jyotirlinga, Sahasralinga
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
xxxx
Part 22
Snake Goddess Manasa Devi (manasaa)
Manasā (मनसा).—Name of a daughter of Kaśyapa, sister of the serpent king, Ananta, wife of the sage जरत्कारु (jaratkāru) and mother of the sage अस्तिक (astika); so मनसादेवी (manasādevī).
Indus Valley Seal of Sarpa Rajni (Rig Veda Poetess name in Tenth Mandala Hymn 189)
Snake Goddess is worshipped during Vedic time and in Harappan Civilization. She is also seen in Egypt, Greece and in the Middle East.
Manasa Devi is worshipped mainly in Bengal and adjacent states of Bihar and Assam. She is another form of Parvati, wife of Shiva.
Manasa is greatly revered in Bengal , where she is believed to ward off poisonous snakes. She is the daughter of Kasyapa and Kadru and sister of Ananta or Vasuki according to local legends. Lord Vishnu lies on the snake bed in the middle of milky ocean, and he is said to rest between cosmic emanations.
Manasa stands upon or is shaded by a seven headed snake. Her symbols or attributes are snake and water jar.
She is the wife of Jarat kaaru . she is also called Jagad gauri, Nityaa (eternal) and Visha -haraa. Visha haraa means one who has the special power of counter acting the venom of serpents.
Snake worship originated in India. All the words for snakes in ancient languages are derived from Sanskrit and Tamil (Naga-S/Nake, Sarpa- Serpent), Oviyar- Ophis, Uraga, Pannaga). All Hindu Gods and Goddesses have snakes as their ornaments. Egypt followed Hindus and we see snakes over the heads of Pharaohs. Snake and Garuda are seen with Vaishnavite Naamam symbol in Wedget/Udget .
***
Stories of Manasa Devi are told in different ways in Bengal. The gist of the stories is one gentle man ignored Manasa Devi worship and he lost his children due to snake bites. Ultimately they were saved through the worship of Mansa.
From Rig Veda, Indus Valley to Sabarimalai in Kerala, we see snake worship.
The greatest wonder is Brahmins worship snakes with reverence in daily oblation Sandhyavandana with a mantra beginning with Narmadaayai Namah….
(Mandhata’s son Purukutsa married Devi Narmada and the latter was the sister of Nagaas of Rasatala. Nagaas were afraid of Gandharvas as some six crore Gandharvas resided in Rasatala tormenting Nagaas by hunting their ‘Ratnas’(jewels) from their hoods. The Nagaas prayed to Bhagavan Vishnu and the latter assured that the son of Mandhata viz. Purukutsa would destroy all the Gandharvas at the instance of Narmada Devi. As professed, Purukutsa eradicated Gandharvas and the Nagaas gave a boon to Narmada that whosoever bathed in the River or even recited the following would be safe from ‘sarpa-visha’ or the poison of serpents; the relevant Shloka or stanza to be recited states:
(Devi Narmada! My salutations to you in the day or night, do safeguard me from the fear of Serpents and their poisonous bites!) The full mantra includes the names of great seers Jarat kaaru, Aastika and the King Janamejaya)
The Harappan seal with a goddess surrounded by snakes on either side shows Snake Goddess was worshipped from 2000 BCE or before that, because Nagaraani is in the Vedas as well.
***
Story of Manasa Devi (from old article)
Chand was a merchant who did not believe in the Goddess Manasa devi. As a result, he lost all his sons due to snake bites. But yet he was very obstinate and never paid reverence to the Goddess. He got one more son who was the apple of his eyes. He was still obstinate in not worshipping Manasa and Manasa Devi was also relentless and she bit his son on his wedding day in spite of his precautions. His newlywed wife Vehula did not allow his body to be cremated. She was fasting till her body became a skeleton but never stopped her prayers to Manasa. She begged to Manasa for the restoration of his husband’s life. At last Manasa relented and gave his life back.
It is the belief of many that a person supposed to be dead by a snake bite, really lives in a state of suspended animation for a long time after.
Bengalese plant a milky white plant (Euphorbia Lingularum) on these days on a raised mound of earth in the courtyards of their houses and worship Goddess Manasa Devi. They worship her to get immunity from snake bites or avoiding bitten by snakes. If anyone has died due to snake bite in the family all of them join in worship and they pour milk in the ant hills where snakes live.
Hindus, by not killing the snakes, the vital animal in the food production chain, increase the production of food grains. The snakes keep even frogs and toads in control which freely enters every home during rainy season.
Villagers don’t fear snakes even when it enters a house; they simply trap it in a box or pot and release it in the field. They know the value of it.
Manasa Devi
The serpent worship is universal. There is no ancient culture without a serpent God. Whether it is Egyptian or Mayan, Indus or Vedic, Minoan or Babylonian we see serpents with Gods and Goddesses. But Hindus are the only race in the world who maintains this culture until today. We have Naga panchami celebrations celebrated throughout India where live snakes are worshipped. Hindus respect Nature and Environment and use the natural resources to the minimum.
Snake Goddesses such as Manasa Devi and Naga Yakshi are worshipped in India. The Vedas has an authoress named as Serpent Queen. She was one of the 27 women poets of Rig Veda and her poem is in the Tenth Mandala (10-189). Her name is SARPA RAJNI (Serpent Queen)
We have two more references to this lady in Taitriya and Aitareya Brahmanas. Sarpa Vidya (science of snakes) is mentioned in Satapatha and Gopatha Brahmanas. (see Vedic Index of name and subjects by authors AB Keith and AA Macdonell, page 438 for more details).
Aligi is the name of a kind of snake in the Atharva Veda (V-13-7) and Viligi, another snake, is also mentioned in the same hymn. Earlier scholars like AA Macdonell and AB Keith mentioned them as snakes in their Vedic Index Volumes. Bala Gangadhara Tilak did lot of research and told us that these were from the Akkadian languages. He dated the Vedas to 6000 BC. Modern research by scholars Dr Bhagawatsharan Upadhyaya and Dr Naval Viyogi showed that they were not snakes, but kings of Assyria- Aligi (Alalu) and Viligi (balalu) of 3000 BC.
Garuda with Vaishnavite Naamam on head.(left); Snake/Naaga (on left); Eye in the middle . Egyptian Symbol Wedjet
Atharva Veda in Sumeria 3000 BC
Taimata is twice mentioned in Atharva Veda (V-13-66; V-18-4) as a species of snake according to Whitney and Bloomsfield. Once again, the old Vedic translations are wrong. Actually Taimata is nothing but Tiamat found in Babylonian literature as a Goddess. May be it is the corrupted form of Sanskrit DEVA MATA (Goddess).
More research shows many Sanskrit words in Sumerian and Babylonian literature such as Berorus (Vara Ruci), Ottaretas (Urdhwaretas), Mesopotamian god Dumuzi/Tammuz/Sammata (fish God). They are pure Sanskrit words. One and the same god was called in different names by different cultures at different times and that too in corrupted forms. When we read Sumerian names we have to remove prefixes Nan, Nin,Sin. They are equal to Sri, Sow etc. Future research will prove that they have migrated from India in the remotest time.
Naga Yakshi worshipped in all the Ayyappan temples including Sabarimalai and other goddess temples found in the Middle Eastern countries around 3000BC. We see them in Indus valley and the Vedas as well.
My conclusion can be summarized as follows:
1. Vedic translations of Aligi, Viligi and Taimata are wrong and they were all really people, may be people with snake totem (Nagas). 2. Since Atharva Veda mentions Kings who lived around 3000 BC, it must be dated around that period. Rig Veda is (linguistically) older than Atharva Veda. 3. We see snake gods or goddesses in all ancient cultures. In India, we see it from Vedic days. They are worshiped until today proving that Indian culture is the oldest living culture. 4. Last but not the least; such continuity is possible only when this worship originated in India. So we can safely conclude that Hindus went to different parts of the world taking their culture. Like we lost the whole of South East Asia after 1300 year Hindu rule, we lost the Middle East long before that.
Tamil Version follows…………..
To be continued……………………………..
Tags- Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English; படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம்- Part 22 , Snake Goddess, Manasa devi, Alii, Viligi, Harappan, Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Tiamath
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
xxxx
Scholars are attracted to the topic Plato and the Upanishads and there are three books published with the same topic in the past 50 years.
I read all the three books recently and almost similar topics are discussed by the three authors. Indian authors on Upanishads also compared them.
***
Plato and the Upanishads by Vassilis Vitaxis was published by Arnold Heinermann Publishers (India) Private Limited New Delhi at the price of Rs 20 in 1977.
The review in The Weekly Mail said,
“It has been established that there was contact between India and Greece even long before Alexander’s campaign. Eusebius (315 CE) speaks of a tradition which he attributes to Aristoxenus, the well known wrier on harmonics and a pupil of Aristotle that certain learned Indians actually visited Athens and conversed with Socrates. The similarities between the Greek philosophy and early Indian thought are very close.
The attempt of the author is to show how the philosophy of Plato has much in common with the philosophy of the Upanishads. The quest of the leaders of the Eleatic school for ONE REALITY underlying material phenomena is very much the same as the metaphysical quest of the Upanishadic seers of that ‘knowing which everything else becomes known.’
The Socratic irony may be matched by a passage in the Kena Upanishad which declares with reference to the TRUTH “it is not understood by those who understand; it is understood by those who do not understand”.
1
The author finds many parallels between the Upanishads and Plato both in method and substance; the dialogue forms are used by both the Upanishads and Plato. Moreover, this serves as a suitable instrument or vehicle of teaching.
2
Indian philosophy insists that the sphere of logical thought is far exceeded by that of the mind’s possible experience of reality. Similarly, Plato sees ‘Supreme Truth cannot be orally thought or committed to writing. It can only be an object of some inner experience.
3
In the Phaedrus, the image of the chariots used by Plato is almost the same as in Katha Upanishad. Both the Upanishads and Plato use sleeping state as a metaphor to signify the conditions of life lacking philosophy or enlightenment.
4
The sun is used by the Upanishads and Plato as the cause of light and so of vision and visibility. The light of the sun directed at man that is a beam turned towards the inner self, is platonic. This principle “know thyself“ was the foundation on which Plato erected his theories. It is needless to add that it is Upanishadic method also.
5
There are however several differences between Plato’s object and that of the Upanishads. One of them is that Plato seems to believe in the existence of many souls. His is in consonance with certain schools of India philosophy like Sankhya , but not with Advaita which is the major principle expounded by the Upanishads.
6
Further there are many passages in Plato’s RUPUBLIC wherein he refers to God as if He were a person. Nevertheless, he has also evidence that this is only an image or a way of speaking and His true concept about the Absolute and infinite, that Real Being is anything but a personal God .
7
Both Plato and the Upanishads regard self -perception as a source of purity in information, and stress the importance of thought and need for reflection and contemplation.
8
Plato also speaks of two kinds of knowledge, the lower leading to opinion and the higher leading to knowledge, which is similarly mentioned in the Mandukya Upanishad and the Katha Upanishad.
9
There is also the touch of the principle of MAYA in Plato who states that the empirical world is thought of as a shadow of reality. “our senses perceive only ghosts and appearances, which are in a state of continuous flux. Only the mind (NOUS) can reach the TRUTH by the communion of the soul through whatever immortal quality it possesses with the unchangeable and the real within the world of form which exist in a super celestial state beyond the substance. Both Plato and the Upanishads agree about the impossibility of defining the Absolute.
10.
These and many other parallels, quoted by the author, are of great interest to the students of comparative religion and philosophy. The ultimate emphasis of Indian thought has always been liberation or Moksha. The ultimate emphasis of Greek thought has always been to expand the norms and forms of life in whatever manner possible.
–Mail Newspaper Interview by S Y K.
***
Two more books
Plato and Vedic Idealism
Swami Paramananda
Anmol Publications, New Delhi, 1990
***
Hindu Influence on Greek Philosophy
J Lomperis, Department of Political Science, Duke University
All the three books mentioned here are available at University of London Library at SOAS, London.
Research paper written by London Swaminathan Research article No.1421; Dated 19th November 2014.
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the Hindu Triad. Of the three gods Brahma has amazing science behind him. We know about the cosmic rhythm in the dance of Shiva. We see the nuclear explosion in the description of Visvarupa Darsanam of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. In fact it is Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of Atomic bomb, who compared Krishna’s Visvarupa Darsanam to the explosion of the first atomic bomb. Now I see the science of Black Hole in the same Visvarupa Darsanam! But no one has looked into the scientific aspects of Brahma like they did in the case of Dance of Shiva or Visvarupa Darsanam.
The story of Brahma is more interesting than a science fiction story. Hindu’s great scientific achievements and developments are weaved into his story. Brahma is the God of Cosmology God of Astronomy God of Mathematics God of Creation and Evolution
Scientific Fact 1 Only now we know that there are billions of stars and there may be millions of earths with possible extra terrestrial civilizations. The time scale is very different from our earth. What we spend as 100 years on earth may be one second or a fraction of a second for them. Human years are different from them. Satya Loka, the abode of Brahma, is a place where time moves very slowly. His life is hundred heavenly years, each of 360 days and nights. Each day or Kalpa is equal to 4,320,000,000 earthly years. Brahma’s current age is said to be 51 and each of his years the universe is destroyed and rebuilt. Hindus see the time in a different way from the westerners. When the world did not even learn to count 1000, we the inventors of decimal system went far ahead in numbers. All the yuga or kalpa calculations are in magical numbers; added together it will be 9. Ancient Sumers took it from us put all their pre dynastic kings age in the same way!
Scientific fact 2 He created the world; but he created himself from the primeval waters using the power of his desire. He thought a seed into existence which grew into a golden egg. The two halves of the shell became heaven and earth, within which he fashioned the sky. This is actually the description of Big Bang, though the word earth may be inappropriate here. Hindus knew that everything in the universe is globular. But the western word waited for a Copernicus and Galileo to “discover” it. Brahma’s name itself is Golden Egg= Hiranya Garba.
Till this day science could not explain why the Big Bang happened. Hindus only explain the Big Bang as God’s desire. Bible has taken this concept and used it in the lines “ In the beginning the word was there and the word was with God”. Bible and other Semitic scriptures did not explain about the cyclical nature. They concluded it as one off event.
Scientific fact 3 Foreign scholars took great delight in describing the “incest” of Brahma: He had a daughter by name Satarupa and through incestuous intercourse he created the world. She was very beautiful and Brahma turned to the direction where she went and got five heads. This is a symbolic story to tell about the evolution. If a teenager asked his mum or dad whether man or Woman came first they cannot answer this chicken and egg question. Actually Brahma’s story explains a scientific fact. In the beginning bacteria multiplied by splitting into two and then unicellular organisms appeared. Higher the ladder, there were hermaphrodite animals where both sexes were there in the same species (Like Artdhanaree of Shiva). Male and female species appeared separately at a later age. At one stage dominant male should have separated from the female. This story was used by the Bible saying that God created a woman from the left rib of Adam. In other words Eve is the “daughter of Adam”—came out of the same body. But both of them had sex. So the “story of incest” is the story of evolution.
Scientific Fact 4 Only now the cosmologist and astronomers write about the Big Bang (expansion) and Big Crunch (contraction). But Brahma’ life span explained the Big Bang and Big Crunch thousands of years ago.
Scientific fact 5 Vishnu’s Avtars (incarnations) as Fish, Tortoise, Pig, Man Lion shows the progressive evolution. In the Vedic literature the first three Avatars appear as Brahma’s Avtars. Later it was transferred to Vishnu. So Brahma is the God of Creation and evolution.
Scientific fact 6 Some Puranic (mythology) stories described Brahma coming out of the lotus which grew from Vishnu’s naval. In fact it is the story of continental drift. Continents were formed after millions of years of movements of earths plates. In the beginning there was only one big land mass called Pangaea. Though the books describe it as a Greek word actually it is Sanskrit Pangaya meaning Lotus. Like lotus blooming, earth also slowly bloomed and the continents drifted. Women are also said to give birth to children from their “lotuses”.
Scientific fact 7 Amazing number and the calculation of Yugas, eras, eons – all adding up to number 9 shows the amazing mathematical skill of the Hindus. They saw completeness in Number Nine. The calculation of big numbers itself show their knowledge and interest in mathematics .
Scientifc Fact 8 Brahma has 29 names in Amarakosa, first thesaurus in the world. He is a water born god. All the life forms appeared from Water in the beginning — is scientific fact. Without water molecules life forms cannot originate.
***
My Visit to Brahma Temple in Tamil Nadu
French Stamp on Brahma from Indo China
Date: 14 April 2019; Post No. 6264
Brahma
It is said that Brahma hasn’t got many temples in Tamil Nadu. They say Pushkar in Rajasthan and a few places got temples for Brahma, one among the trinity. But to my surprise I saw a huge statue of Brahma thronged by a big crowd in Thiruppattur Brahmapureeswar temple in Tamil Nadu. Though the main shrine is devoted to Lord Shiva, Brahma was the sought after god there. The reason being people believed that He will rewrite your bad fate in your favour.
Lot of devotees came with their horoscopes written in note books and others came with A 4 size notes or Foolscap size note books. If some astrologers have written something bad will happen to you during such and such period, you may give your written prediction to the priest there. He collects and takes all of them to the God (in the form of statue) and return them to the respective devotee after Puja. Scores of note books of horoscopes changed hands during my short stay at the temple.
Apart from this belief, the statue itself was big and beautiful with sandal paste applied all over.
Where is Tiruppattur?
It is near Trichy. It is 34 kilometres from Trichy.Sa amyapuram is in between Trichy and Tiruppattur. When you google for this place you will be misled easily to other two Thiruppathurs in Tamil Nadu.
What is there?
In addition to a huge Brahma statue, there are 12 lings believed to be installed by Brahma himself. He worshipped Lord Shiva to get out of the curse.
Everyone must visit this beautiful temple. It was sung and praised by Saint Sundarar, one of the great Four Saivite saints.
***
‘KA’ is Brahma – Interesting Info. from Panini and Kautilya
Post No. 8239; Date– 25 June 2020
Eight years ago, I wrote about the God ‘Ka’ (Prajapati, Brahma) in this blog. All Sanskrit scholars raised their brows without understanding or pretending not to understand the word ‘Ka’ in the Rig Veda (RV 10-121). The hymn itself ends with praising Prajapati (Brahma). Ka means ‘who’ as well in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit there is no interrogation mark. These half -baked scholars put interrogation mark at the end of each mantra in the hymn and started wondering or misinterpreting. But in Hindus mind, Ka is Prajapati/Brahma. If you remove the interrogation marks and read the poem/hymn it coincides with the last word Prajapati.
I have also shown that Egyptians borrowed it from us and made a hieroglyph out of it. Ka symbol means God and he is shown as the son of Pita (Ptah in Egypt).
Tamil and Sanskrit dictionaries give the meaning Prajapati. Probably Indian Rishi Mahadeva ( in Egypt he is Imhotep-Imho=Maha; tep=Dev )taught them about Vedic Mudras and Vedic Gods (Please see my 20+ articles on Egypt)
Interesting information from Panini
Kautilya who came a few centuries after Panini, proposed to Maurya Chandra Gupta a few interesting ideas.
Use religion to make money.
First, celebrate religious festivals ; second, make Gods’ dolls, idols and statues for sale, out of which government can make money.
Kautilya’s wonderful ideas work until today. We Hindus buy dolls of Krishna, Ganesh and Devi until this day to do Pujas on respective festival days. Religious tourism is not only popular in India, but also in other parts of the world. Mecca, Vatican City, Jerusalem and Lourdes are big businesses for Air lines, Hotels and Tourist Industry. The mementos , books and pictures they sell in these places mean huge money.
Let me come back to Panini.
Panini wrote only a grammar book with 4000 couplets in Ashtadhyayi. That and the complimentary works that came after it give encyclopaedic information about Hindu life 2700 years ago.
Panini mentions the following Vedic deities –
Agni, Indra, Bhava, Varuna, Sarva, Rudra, Mrida,
Vrishakapi, Pusha, Aryama, Twashta, Nasatya.
Mostly in 4th and 6th chapters .
I will touch only the controversial gods.
1.Vrishakapi is one of the names of lord Vishnu in Vishnu Sahasranama. When it came in humorous dialogue poem in the Rig Veda, foreigners deliberately translated it as ‘sexy monkey’ but Panini mentioned it as a god (4-1-37) along with other Gods; no fuss is made.
Second interesting thing is about
Nasatya (6-3-75); Two Ashwini Devas are known as Nasatya. The name is derived by Panini from Na Asatyaah- who are the opposite of non-truth. The other interpretation mentioned in Mahabharata and Nirukta is one who are born out of Nasa (nose) of Samnjaa, wife of Surya. Panini rejected this and went for the first one which is originally given by Aurnavabha. He lived before Yaska of Nirukta.
Third interesting thig is about ‘Ka’.
Panini refers to Prajapati under the symbolical name of Ka. Patanjali says Ka is not a pronoun (who), but the proper name of a deity.
Mridaani is not found later. This shows Panini lived nearer to Vedic times.
He also gives information about the worship of Month, Year, Season and Stars/Nakshatras.
He shows that Bhakti movement was there 2700 years ago. Particularly Vasudeva bhakti (Krishna Bhakti).
Temples were also there for public worship. There were temples for Kesava, Rama and Kubera (1-43-6)
Kubera worship makes interesting reading.
The reference to the bhakti of Maharaja or Kubera proves on the other hand that Panini surely had religious bhakti in mind (4-3-97).
An important sutra 5-3-99 ‘jiivikaarthe chaapanye’ proves Panini knows images of deities in his time .
There may be images installed in temples which are not of individual ownership, and hence not for anyone’s livelihood/jiivika, or for sale/panya, but for worship/puujaartha.
If it is for sale ‘kan’ suffix is added
Siva becomes sivaka
Skanda becomes skandaka .
Both ‘chala’ and achala images with the devalakas/owners of shrines would serve for worship/puujaartha, be a source of livelihood to their care takers/owners , but not for sale/apanya.
All these are the object of Panini ‘s rule , and they would be named as siva, skanda without ‘ka’ suffix.
Greedy Maurya kings
Patanjali adds more interesting information.
Mauryan kings , ‘greedy of gold’ /hiranyaathibhih, had ordered to set up , and most probably , to sell images . it served three purposes- jiivika, panya and puujaa .
Kautilya supplies the much needed commentary on this extraordinary Mauryan measure to replenish their exchequer.
The Devtaadhyaksha , officer for religious worship, is directed to raise money by manipulating the worship of divine images and exploiting the credulousness of the people, such as organising fairs and festivals in the holy shrines of deities – daivata chaitya- , improvising shows of miraculous Naga images with changing number of hoods, and spreading the news of other miracles etc
—Arthashastra 5-2
Kautilya got three birds in one stone – Jiivika/livelihood, Panya/sales and Puuja/divine worship. He is indeed a clever Brahmin!
–Source book – India as known to Panini, VS Agrawala, University of Lucknow, 1953 (with my inputs )
***
Tamil Hindu Encyclopaedia- Brahma
Post No. 11,489
Date– 30 November 2022
Brahma is often confused with two other words Brahmana and Brahman.
The three words have different meanings.
1.Brahma is one of the Hindu Trinity, i.e. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
2.Brahmana or Brahmin is the name of the priestly class, one of the four Vedic castes
3.Brahman is god in the Upanishads, Hindu god is genderless.
***
Brahma is given the job of Creation. He was born on a lotus that came out from the belly button of Vishnu lying in the sea bed on 1000 headed snake.
Ancient Tamils called him with different names based on the Hindu Puranic stories.
Following names for Brahma are found in Sangam Tamil Literature
பிரம்மா Brahma,
படைப்போன்- Padaippon- Creator,
பூவன்- Poovan – Mr Flower
நான்முகன்- Naan mukan- Mr Four Faced
ஆதி அந்தணன்- Aadhi Anthanan – First Brahmin
முதியவன்- Muthiyavan – Eldest/ Oldest,
வாய்மொழி மகன்- Vaaymozi Makan—Veda (mouthed) man
தாமரைப் பூவினுட் பிறந்தோன் – Person born in Lotus
மலர்மிசை முதல்வன், – First man on flower
உலகு படைத்தோன், – Creator
படைத்தோன், – Creator
முதுமுதல்வன் Old and First man
****
பிரம்மா பற்றிய அறிவியல் உண்மைகள்
அறிவியல் உண்மை 1 கடந்த நூறு ஆண்டுகளாகத்தான் பில்லியன் கணக்கில் நட்சத்திரங்களும் அதைச் சுற்றி மில்லியன் கணக்கில் பூமி போன்ற கிரகங்களும் இருப்பதை உலகம் அறியும். அதில் பல்லயிரம் கிரகங்களில் வெளி உலகவாசிகள் (Extra Terrestrials) வசிக்க உள்ள வாய்ப்புகள் பற்றியும் விஞ்ஞானிகள் அறிவர். ஆனால் சத்ய லோகத்தில் வசிப்பதாகக் கருதப்படும் பிரம்மா பற்றிப் படிக்கையில் அவர் ஒரு வெளி உலகவாசியோ என்று வியக்கத் தோன்றும். அவருடைய வாழ்நாளின் காலம் நாம் இந்தப் பக்கத்தில் எழுத முடியாத அளவு பெரிய எண்ணிக்கை. மற்ற கலாசாரங்களுக்கு 1000, 10,000 என்ற எண்கள் கூடத் தெரியாத காலத்ததி , நாம் உலகமே வியக்கும் ஆயுளை பிரம்மாவுக்குக் கொடுத்தோம் அது மட்டுமல்ல இது ஒரு பிரம்மாவின் ஆயுள். அவர் போன பின், அடுத்த ப்ரம்மா வருவார் என்றும் சொன்னோம். இன்னும் விஞ்ஞானிகளுக்கு — காலம் என்பது சுழற்சி உடையது— Cyclical வட்டமானது என்று கூடத்தெரியாது. இப்பொழுது கருந்துளை ஆய்வுகள் நிறைய நடப்பதால் நமது கொள்கையை வெகு விரைவில் உலகம் ஏற்கும்.
பிரம்மாவின் ஒரு நாள் என்பது 4,320,000,000 ஆண்டுகள். இது போல அவர் 100 ஆண்டுகள் வாழ்ந்த பின்னர் புது பிரம்மா வருவார். இப்பொழுதுள்ள பிரம்மாவுக்கு வயது 51. ஏதோ அறிவியல் புனைக்கதை (Science Fiction) படிப்பது போலத் தோன்றும்.. இது கதை என்று யாராவது நினைத்தாலும் முதலில் அறிவியல் புனைக் கதை எழுதிய பெருமை நமக்கே கிடைக்கும்.
அது மட்டுமல்ல. யுகம் பற்றிய எதைக் கூட்டிப் பார்த்தாலும் ஒன்பது என்ற எண் வரும். இதை சுமேரியர்கள் கூட நம்மிடமிருந்து எடுத்துக் கொண்டு பிரளயத்துக்கு முந்தைய சுமேரிய மன்னர்களுக்கு இப்படி ஆட்சி ஆண்டுகளைக் கொடுத்துள்ளனர்!!
அறிவியல் உண்மை 2 பிரம்மாவுக்கு ஒரு பெயர் ஹிரண்ய கர்பன். அதாவது தங்க முட்டை! உலகம் உருண்டை என்பதைக் கண்டுபிடிக்க மேலை நாடுகள் ஒரு கலீலியோ, ஒரு கோப்பர்நிகஸ் தோன்றும் வரை காத்திருந்தது. ஆனால் நாமோ துவக்க காலம் முதல் பிரபஞ்சத்தில் உள்ள அனைத்தும் கோள வடிவானவை என்பதை அறிந்து, அண்டம் ( முட்டை வடிவானது), பிரம்மாண்டம், பூகோளம் (புவியியல்) என்று பெயரிட்டோம். அதுமட்டுமல்ல. அந்த ஹிரண்யகர்ப்பன் ஒரு நாள் திடீரென வெடித்து வானமும் பூமியுமாகப் பிளந்ததென புராணங்கள் பகரும் இதையே இப்பொழுது மாபெரும் வெடிப்பு Big Bang Theory — பிக் பேங் – என்று சொல்லுகின்றனர். இது ஏன் ஏற்பட்டது என்று விஞ்ஞானிகளால் விளக்க முடியவில்லை. நமது சாத்திரங்கள் மட்டுமே கடவுள் ஒரு சொல்லை நினைத்தார் — அதைச் சொன்னார்- உலகம் உருவாக்கப்பட்டது என்று சொல்லுகிறது. இதை பைபிள் அப்படியே நம்மிடமிருந்து எடுத்துக் கொண்டது. ஆனால் அதற்கு மேல் விளக்கவில்லை.
நாம் அதற்கும் மேலாக ஒரு படி சென்று மாபெரும் வெடிப்பு —ஒரு நாளைக்கு பலூன் போல ஊதிக்கொண்டே போய் பின்னர் முடிவில் வெடிக்கும் —அப்பொழுது காற்றுப் போன பலூன் போல பிரபஞ்சம் சுருங்கும் Big Crunch — மீண்டும் பலூன் போல ஊதும் — என்று – ஸைக்ளீகல் Cyclical —வட்டமான சுழற்சி உடையது என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறோம். இந்த பிக் க்ரஞ்ச்Big Crunch – கொள்கையை இப்பொழுதுதான் விஞ்ஞானிகள் ஏற்கின்றனர்.
அறிவியல் உண்மை 3 தசாவதாரத்தில் முதலில் மீன், பிறகு ஆமை, பிறகு பன்றி, பிறகு பாதி மனிதன் –பாதி சிங்கம் என்பதெல்லாம் டார்வீன் சொன்ன பரிணாமக் (Theory of Evolution) கொள்கையை ஒட்டி இருப்பதை நாம் அறிவோம் ஆனால் முதல் மூன்று அவதாரங்களும் உண்மையில் ஆதி நூல்களில் பிரம்மாவின் பெயரிலேயே (பிரஜாபதி) உள்ளன. ஆக அவரே படைப்புக் கடவுள்—பரிணாம வளர்ச்சிக் கடவுள். இதை சதபத பிராமணம் (Satapata Brahmana) முதலிய நுல்கள் விளக்கும். பின்னர் இதை விஷ்ணுவின் அவதாரங்களாக புராணங்கள் எழுதின. இதை இன்னொன்றாலும் அறியலாம்.
அறிவியல் உண்மை 4 வெளிநாட்டுக்காரர்களுக்கு கிளுகிளுப்பூட்டும் ஒரு விஷயம் நம் இலக்கியங்களில் உண்டு. அதை எழுதி, எழுதி நம்மை நக்கல் செய்வது—பகடி செய்வது—கிண்டல் செய்வது அவர்களுக்குப் பொழுதுபோக்கு. அது என்ன ‘’பலான’’ கதை என்கிறீர்களா?
பிரம்மா ஒரு மக:ளைப் பெற்றார். அவள் பெயர் சதரூபா (நூறு உருவம்)—அவல் அழகைக் கண்டு பிரம்மா அவளையே உற்று நோக்கினார். அவளுக்கோ வெட்கம் பிடுங்கித் தின்றது- வேறு திசையில் ஓடி ஒளிந்தாள் அங்கேயும் பிரம்மா திரும்பினார். ஒவ்வொரு திசையிலும் ஒரு முகம் வரவே அவருக்கு நாலு முகம் தோன்றி அவர் நான்முகன் ஆனார். அவளோ வெட்கப்பட்டுக் கொண்டு மேலே போனாள். அங்கு ஐந்தாவது முகம் உதித்தது. அவளுடன் ஒன்று கூடிப் (Incestual Intercourse) பின்னர் உலகத்தைப் படைத்தார். இதைச் சொல்லிச் சொல்லி வெளிநாட்டினர் மகிழ்வர். உண்மையில் இந்தக் கதையை நம்மிடமிருந்து பைபிளும் இரவல் வாங்கி முதல் அத்தியாயத்திலேயே எழுதிவிட்டது. ஆதாம் என்பவரின் இடுப்பு எலும்பை கடவுள் முறித்து ஏவாள் என்ற பெண்ணை உருவாக்கவும், ஆதாம் அவளுடன் கூடி (Incest?) மனித இனத்தை உருவாக்கினார் என்பது அக்கதை. ஒரே உடலில் இருந்து ஒருவரைப் படைத்தால் அந்த ஏவாளும் சதரூபா போல ஆதாமின் மகள்தானே!!
இதில் உள்ள அறிவியல் உண்மை என்னவென்றால் முதலில் பாக்டீரீயா போல இருந்த உயிரினம் ஒரு செல் உயிரினங்களாக மாறி நீரில் நீந்தி பிறகு ஒரே உடலில் ஆண் பெண் உறுப்புகளுடன் பிறந்தன (ஹெர்மாப்ரோடைட் Hermaphrodite). பின்னர்தான் ஆண், பெண் என தனித்தனி உயிர் இனங்கள் தோன்றின. இதை அர்த்தநாரீஸ்வரர் என்னும் சிவனின் வடிவத்துடன் ஒப்பிடலாம்.
முதலில் ஆண் தோன்றினானா? பெண் தோன்றினாளா? முதலில் முட்டை வந்ததா? கோழி வந்ததா? (Chicken and Egg question) என்ற கேள்விக்கு விடை கூறும் கதை இது. பெரிய விஞ்ஞான உண்மைகளை, சுவையான கதைகளாகத் தருபவை நம் புராணங்கள்!
அறிவியல் உண்மை 5 பிரம்மாவின் தோற்றம் பற்றிய கதை பெரிய பூகர்ப்பவியல் ( Geology ஜியாலஜி) கதையாகும். அவர் நீரில் படுத்து இருந்த நாராயணனின் தொப்புள் கொடியில் இருந்து உதித்த தாமரை மலரில் இருந்து தோன்றியதாக ஒரு கதை உண்டு. இது காண்டினென்டல் ட்ரிப்ட் Continental Drift எனப்படும் கண்டங்கள் நகர்ந்த கதை ஆகும். முதலில் பூமி என்பது ஒரே நிலப்பரப்பாக இருந்தது பின்னர் அது தாமரை மலர்வது போல மெதுவாக நகர்ந்து இன்றுள்ளது போல ஆசியா, அமெரிக்கா, ஆப்பிரிக்கா எனப் பிரிந்தது. இதையே தாமரையில் பிரம்மா தோன்றி உலகைப் படைத்தார் என்போம். புராணத்தில் கூட பிரம்மாண்டம் என்று இருப்பதைக் காணலாம். ‘ப்ரு’ என்னும் வடமொழி வேர்ச் சொல் மூலமே ‘’பெருகுதல், பிரிதல், பெரிய, ப்ருஹத், ப்ரம்ம’’ — முதலிய சொற்கள் வந்தன.
கிரேக்க மொழியில், முதலில் இருந்த சூப்பர் கான்டினென்ட்டை ‘’பங்கேயா’’ Panagaea என்பர். பங்கய என்றால் தாமரை எனப் பொருள். இது பங்கஜம் என்ற வடமொழிச் சொல். பிற்காலத்தில் இந்தப் பொருள் அறியாதோர் கிரேக்க மொழியில் புதுப் பொருள் கண்டனர் ( பேன்+ கயா ). பெண்கள் குழந்தை பெறுவதையும் தாமரை மலரில் இருந்து குழந்தை வந்ததாக வடமொழி இலக்கியங்கள் வருணிக்கும்.
அறிவியல் உண்மை 6 கணித விஷயத்தில், ஒன்பது என்ற எண்ணின் வியப்புறு குணங்களில் பல ஆராய்ச்சி செய்து அதன் பெயரில் பிரம்மாண்டமான எண்களைக் க(ல்)ற்பித்து (கல்பம் என்பதே பிரம்மாவின் ஒரு நாள், பரம் என்பது அவரது 100 ஆண்டு) உலகம் அறியாத புதுமைகளைச் செய்தனர் இந்துக்கள். ஒன்பது என்ற எண்ணின் பரிபூரணத் தன்மையை மனதிற் கொண்டே 108, 1008 என்ற அஷ்டோத்திரம், சஹஸ்ரநாமம் ஆகியவற்றைப் படைத்தார்கள் இது பற்றி நான் இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் எழுதிய எண்கள் 18, 108, 1008 பற்றிய கட்டுரையில் விரிவாகக் கொடுத்து இருக்கிறேன்.
அறிவியல் உண்மை 7 நாரா (நீரா) அயனன்= நாராயணன், பிரம்மா மற்றும் முதல் இரண்டு அவதாரங்கள் எல்லாம் — நீரில்தான் உயிரினங்கள் தோன்ற முடியும், பரிணாம வளர்ச்சி பெற முடியும் —- என்று காட்டுகின்றன. இன்று வெளி கிரகங்களிலும் நீரின் மூலக்கூறுகள் (water molecules) இரு கின்றனவா என்று விஞ்ஞானிகள் தேடிக் கொண்டிருப்பதை நாம் அறிவோம்.
Brahma in Sumerian Civilisation
அறிவியல் உண்மை 8 உலகின் முதல் அகராதி (Thesaurus/ Dictionary நூலான அமரகோசம் வழங்கும் பிரம்மாவின் 29 வடமொழிப் பெயர்களை மற்றொரு கட்டுரையில் தருகிறேன்.
பிரம்மா என்பவர் வானவியலை (Astronomy/ Cosmology) விளக்கும் கடவுள் பூகர்ப்பவியலை (Geology) விளக்கும் கடவுள் உயிரியல், பரிணாம வளர்ச்சியை (Biology / Theory of Evolution) விளக்கும் கடவுள் கணிதம், பிரம்மாண்ட எண்களை (Mathematics and Amazing Numbers) விளக்கும் கடவுள் பிக் பேங், பிக் க்ரஞ்ச்(Big Bang and Big Crunch) முதலிய அதி நவீன கொள்கைகளை (Ultra Modern Theories) விளக்கும் கடவுள்!!
—-சுபம்—
Tags-Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English; படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம்- Part 21 ,பிரம்மா , அறிவியல் உண்மைகள், Science behind Hindu God Brahma! Brahma Third part.
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
xxxx
BRAHMA- First Part
God of creation; one of the Trinity, Brahma Vishnu Shiva.
Temples at Pushkar, Rajasthan, Brahmapureeswar in Tamil Nadu; all South Indian Saivite temples have Brahma’s statues.
No proper worship; like Archana, Sahasranama, Puja etc.
Sung by saints in all Saivite hymns as one searching for Shiva’s head along with Vishnu in Boar form searching for His feet; but both failed.
Brahma lied and so he was cursed that he won’t be worshipped on earth.
His abode is Satya Loka up above the earth. He has an end unlike Shiva and Vishnu. A new Brahma takes over.
But his life span in human years is very huge.
His wife is Sarsvati, Goddess of Wisdom and Education.
Brahma is portrayed as Prajapathi in the Vedas.
Now he is shown with four heads because one of his five heads was chopped off by Lord Shiva according to Tamil verses.
His references are in Tamil Sangam literature, Tirukkural, Tevaram, Tiruvasagam etc.
When he insulted others, Shiva cut off his fifth head. That happened at Tirukkandiyur near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu according to Sthala Puranas (local temple legends). His beautiful figure is at that place.
When he failed to tell the meaning of Aum- Pranava mantra—he was imprisoned by Skanda, Shiva’s son; later released at the request of Devas.
He created Sapta Rishis from whom humans were created.
Tamil Encyclopaedia Abhidhana Chintamani of Singara velu Mudaliyar gives 67 points about Brahma.
His vehicle is swan (Hamsa);
He came from the belly of Vishnu on top of a lotus flower. In Tamil Tirukkural as Malarmisai ekinaan.
He gave boons to lot of Devas and Demons.
***
More about Brahma’s appearance
Brahma , distinct from Brahman, the all pervading Eternal Spirit, is the first member of the Hindu Triad. His principal function is Creation. Independent shrines dedicated to him are rare. Still figures of Brahma are commonly found decorating one of the niches in the north wall of the central shrine in Siva temples. Images of Brahma are sometimes seen on pillars, ceilings and other parts of the temple. But he is not worshipped as a chief deity except one or two temples in India.
According to Maanasaara, one of the standard works on sculpture, Brahma is represented with four hands. He has, however, one body with four heads. The image may be standing or seated. The form of the left lower hand exhibits the posture of conferring boons (Varada Mudra) while the right lower indicates protection (Abhaya mudra). The corresponding upper hands hold the water pot (Kamandalu) and the rosary (Akhsamaalaa) or sometimes the sacrificial ladle (Srik) and spoon (Sruva).
***
The following ornaments are seen in the finished picture of Brahma:
Earrings or pendants fashioned like the face of a crocodile.
The sacred thread, Yajnasutra, hanging right across the body from the left shoulder;
The scarf (Uttariiya) thrown round the neck so as to stretch down to the knees;
The utarabandhana, or literally girdle going round the belly;
Necklace and torque;
Armlets, arm-rings, wristlets, anklets, waist zone, finger rings set with gem stones etc.
His hair is made up in the fashion of Jataa-Makuta and he is attended by two goddesses Sarasvati on the right and Saavitri on the left.
Another representation shows Brahma riding a chariot drawn by Seven Swans (hamsa). He is seated on a full blown lotus flower (Tamil Tirukkral refers to it) , his eyes closed in a meditative posture. Goddess Saavitri is seated on his left thigh. There are various other representations of Brahma drawn purely from the imagination of the sculptor or painter, sometimes also based on puranic legends.
To be continued……………
Tags- Brahma, First part, Sarasvati, lotus flower, ornaments, Four heads, Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English; படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம் – Part 19
Gnanamayam Broadcast comes to you EVERY SUNDAY via Zoom, Facebook and You Tube at the same time .
London Time 1 PM (British Summer Time)
Indian Time 5-30 pm (evening)
Sydney, Australia time 11 pm (Night)
*****
PLEASE JOIN US TO LISTEN TO SPECIAL PROGRAMMES via Zoom, Facebook and You Tube at the same time.
****
Prayer -MRS JAYANTHI SUNDAR TEAM
***
NEWS BULLETIN
VAISHNAVI ANAND from London presents World Hindu News in Tamil
****
MRS Brhannayaki Sathyanarayanan from Bengaluru speaks on
DEVA PRAYAG TEMPLE
****
Talk by Prof S Suryanarayanan
Topic- Some Interesting Facts
***
SPECIAL EVENT-
Talk on Keezadi Excavations
Keezadi and South India
By
N Ganesh Raaja, Amateur Historian and Author
Ganesh Raaja. N hails from Tamil Nadu. He completed his engineering in 2003 and has more than twenty years of experience in the software industry.
He was attracted towards ‘History of India’ after noticing a defaming article in an Indian magazine. He has spent more than eight years researching on this subject. He has read vast number of books related to ancient Sanskrit literature, ancient Tamil literature, scientific evolution etc. written by eminent Indian and foreign scholars.
Each book he referred to catered to a specific aspect of Indian life. After understanding them, a natural interest arose in him to reconcile and chronologically arrange them in a ‘holistic’ and ‘interesting’ way. This is a first attempt at narrating India’s story ‘as-it-happened’.
The result is the book, titled, “The Jambū Island”. This book chronologically organizes the Rishis, kings, literaryevolution, people’slives, and scientificprogress based on Sanskrit and Tamil literature. It aims to eliminatemyths, interpolations, and exaggerations. It strives to present the story in a logical and captivatingnarrative, with many pictures.
This book covers the period from roughly 6000 BCE to 3138 BCE, narrating significant events including the rendering of the Vedicmantras by the Rishis, the Aryan clan split towards Iran resulting in the formation of the Zōrōastrians, the atrocities and defeat of the Haihaya clan, fusion of Nāgās and other native tribes into the Vedic religion, Āryancolonization of SouthIndia, and the Bharata battle at Kurukshetra.
Post launching his book, Ganesh has started an Youtube channel in Tamil to share his learnings. The goal of this channel to spread awareness about the greatness of our country and Hindu religion, to create a counter-narrative to the popular Dravidian ideology of Tamil Nadu.
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
xxxx
இந்தக் கட்டுரை நாளைகுத் தமிழில் வரும்
Sudarsana Chakram is one of the main symbols of vaishnavas- Vishnu devotees. Vaishnava worship it separately in Vishnu temples under the name chakra perumal. It is in a separate shrine inside the temple.
Silpasara book describes Sudarsana to be brilliant as fire with sixteen arms holding thw weapons conch, discuss, bow, axe ,sword, arrow, trident,noose, goad, lotus, thunderbolt, plough, pestle, club and spear.
The figure has protruding teeth, fiery hair and three eyes . it is fully decorated and stands in front of a shatkona or hexagon. Dancing thus amidst flames of the discuss, the Sudarsana is supposed to kill all enemies. sometimes the image may be represented with four or eight arms holding the discuss in all of them.
At Tirupati the Sudarsana has sixteen arms but instead of hexagon an equilateral triangle is at the back. Within that a seated Narasimha is in Yogasana posture with flames of fire proceeding from his crown. This form of Narasimha is popularly known as Jvaalaa Narasimha.
The famous Chakrapani temple at Kumbakonam is dedicated to the discus Sudarsana of Vishnu.
The Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शनचक्र, Sudarśanacakra) is a divine discus, attributed to the god Vishnu in the Hindu scriptures. The Sudarshana Chakra is generally portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu. In the Rigveda, the Sudarshana Chakra is stated to be Vishnu’s symbol as the wheel of time according to one scholar.
IN THE EPICS
The Ramayana states that the Sudarshana Chakra was created by the divine architect, Vishvakarma. Vishnu slays a danava named Hayagriva on top of a mountain named Chakravana, seizing the discus from him.
In Mahabharata we find it in the hands of Krishna.
He beheads Shishupala with the Sudarshana Chakra at the Rajasuya yajna of Emperor Yudhishthira. He also employs it during the fourteenth day of the Kurukshetra War to obscure the sun. The Kauravas are deceived, allowing Arjuna to slay Jayadratha, avenging the death of his son. Vishnu used it to kill the crocodile which caught the leg of Gajendra. It is in the story of Gajendra Moksha sculpted from Gupta days.
Ahirbudhnya Samhita, Vishnu emanated in 39 different forms.[10] The Samhita is characteristic for its concept of Sudarshana. It provides mantras for Sudarshana, and details the method of worship of the multi-armed Sudarshana.
The Puranas also state the Sudarshana Chakra was made by Vishvakarma, featuring a legend regarding its origin: Vishvakarma’s daughter, Sanjña, was married to the sun god, Surya. However, due to her consort’s blazing light and heat, she could not approach him. When she informed her father regarding this, Vishvakarma diminished the brilliance of the sun so that his daughter could be with him. From the splendour of the Sun, Vishvakarma produced three divine objects: the aerial vehicle Pushpaka Vimana, the Trishula of Shiva, and the Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu.
IN HISTORY
A Vrishni silver coin from Alexander Cunningham’s Coins of Ancient India: From the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century (1891)
The chakra is found in the coins of many tribes with the word gana and the name of the tribe inscribed on them.
Vrishni copper coins dated to later time were found in Punjab. Another example of coins inscribed with the chakra are the Taxila coins of the 2nd century BCE with a sixteen-spoked wheel.
A coin dated to 180 BCE, with an image of Vasudeva-Krishna, was found in the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum in the Kunduz area of Afghanistan, minted by Agathocles of Bactria.[18][19] In Nepal, Jaya Cakravartindra Malla of Kathmandu issued a coin with the chakra.
The Chakra Purusha in Pancharatra texts has either four, six, eight, sixteen, or thirty-two hands
The Chakra Purusha in Pancharatra texts has either four, six, eight, sixteen, or thirty-two hands.
***
The Sudarshana Homam is performed by invoking Sudarshana along with his consort Vijayavalli into the sacrificial fire. This homam is very popular in South India.
***
IN TEMPLES
Though Chakraperumal or Chakratalvar shrines (sannidhis) are found inside Vishnu’s temples, there are very few temples dedicated to Chakraperumal alone as the main deity (moolavar):
Sri Sudarshana Bhagavan Temple, Nagamangala
Chakrapani Temple, Kumbakonam – located on the banks of the Chakra Bathing Ghat of the Kaveri river. Here, the god is Chakra Rājan and his consort is Vijayavalli.
Jagannath Temple, Puri, where Jagannath (a form of Vishnu-Krishna), Subhadra, Balabhadra and Sudarshana are the main deities.
The temple of Chakraperumal in Gingee on the banks of Varahanadi is now defunct
***
form of Shatrughna
In Kerala, Sudharsana Chakra is worshiped both directly and in the form of Shatrughna, one of four sons of King Dasharatha, and brother to Lord Rama, considered an avatar of Sudharsana Moorthy.
Alathiyur Pavelikkara Narayanathu Kavu Sudarshana Temple, Triprangode, Malappuram. A rare sudarshana temple complex in Kerala dedicated to Lord Sudarshana. Along with the main deity, Badrakali, Shastha and naga are worshipped here. The temple is also the paradevatha of mangalassery.
Thuravoor Sree Narasimha Moorthy Temple, Alappuzha- One of the rare temple complexes in Kerala, where two sanctum sanctorums are situated within a single Nalambalam (temple structure), one of the sanctums in dedicated to Lord Narasimha and the other to Maha Sudarsana Moorthy. The Sudarsana Moorthy Temple is believed to be 1300 years old.
Sreevallabha Temple, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta – One of the oldest and largest temples in Kerala and one of the 108 Divya Desams, Sudharsana Moorthy is worshipped along with Sreevallabha in this temple. The temple for Sudarshana Chakra was built by Sreedevi Antherjanam of Sankramangalathu Illam, and was rebuilt by Queen Cherumthevi in 59 BC.
Thrichakrapuram Temple, Puthanchira- The main deity is Sudharsana Moorthy.
Ayyarvattom Sree Maha Sudharshana Temple, Eravannur, Kozhikode
Pallikkara Sri Mahavishnu Sudharsana Temple, Kozhikode
The Chakraperumal shrine inside the Simhachalam Temple is home to the rare 16-armed form.
Other temples with shrines to Sudarshana Chakra are Veeraraghava Swamy Temple, Thiruevvul; Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna; Thirumohoor Kalamegaperumal temple, Madurai; and Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram.
—subham—
Tags- Vishnu, discus, Sudarsana, Chakra, weapon, temples for Sudharsana, Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English; படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம்-16
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
xxxx
Vishnu desceing from heaven; prison in Mathura
Part Fifteen
Yesterday I gave the concluding remarks for Mahabharata Wayang Puppet show of Indonesia in Tamil. Let us look at some matter in bullet points
Who are Pandavas? Yuthisthiran, Bhima, Ajuna were born to Kunti and Nakula ,Sahadeva were born to Madri and both the queens were wives of Pandu, the King who was ruling Hastinapura. Because he was cursed by Kindama Rishi he went to forest and died there.
Kunti got her children through the grace of (Yama) Dharma, Vayu and Indra where as Madri got her children by the grace of Asvini Devas. But Kunti’s eldest son was Karna who was born by the grace of Sun god. When she wanted to hide her first birth all the things started going wrong. Karna was floated in a basket in the river which was recovered by a chariot driver.
In the Indian Olympic Games , Karna wanted to participate but was prevented by the Pandavas saying he was not a king. Immediately Duryodhana proclaimed him as the king of Anga desa. This shows Duryodhana as great statesman.
Kunti could have said Karna was also a Kshatriya, but she did not say it.
Duryodhana and his 98 brothers were suffering from jealousy. At no time neither Gandhari nor Dhritarashtra corrected them. Shakuni was an evil person poisoning everyone’s mind. He spoiled all peace deals proposed by Lord Krishna
And when Yudhisthira lost everything including their wife Draupadi in the gambling, Dushasana, eldest of the Duryodhana gang disrobed her in the assembly. But Krishna saved her modesty by magically producing more and more saris.
When the war started Krishna used all his cunning plans and used Arjuna as his pawn. But Arjuna lost his beloved son Abimamyu too. At the end Aswathtama also killed all the children of Draupadi. This shows war is cruel and both sides suffer. Krisna’s policy was End justifies Means; so he adopted all treacherous schemes.
There is another lesson; not only jealousy destroyed Duryodhana gang; but also showing disrespect to woman also another reason for the destruction. When Dussasana disrobed Draupadi she made a vow she would never decorate her hair until Duryodhanadhis were destroyed. Bhima fulfilled her vow. He killed Dusasana in a cruel way. The hand which touched Draupadi in the assembly was plucked out from his body and he was beaten to death with the same hand.
This is another lesson. If you molest a woman, you will be destroyed.
Third lesson was untruth will cause destruction. Kunti never revealed that Karna was her eldest son. If she were honest in the very beginning, Mahabarata war would not have happened. Karna’s life saving metal jacket/armour was also removed treacherously by Krishna. He asked Indra to go in the guise of a Brahmin and he asked Karna to donate his armour.
Yuthisthira should have stopped the game of dice at one stage. He never stopped it. It was his biggest weakness. Another weakness was that he can be easily manipulated by others. Krishna wanted him to tell a lie in the battlefield about Elephant Aswatththama’s death. He made the announcement in such a way that Drona thought his son Aswaththama was killed .
Kunti met her sons.
Conclusion
Kunti’s dishonesty regarding Karna, Yuthisthira’s weakness of dice game, Kaurava’s jealousy and Krishna’s cunning plans were the reasons for war and destruction.
At the end all of them, both Pandavas and Kauravaas, had miserable death .But yet we got Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu Sahasranama and Yaksha prasna and several stories about ancient women too from the Mahabharata .
Of these, Thalaiyaalankaanam battle is celebrated much.
As I mentioned earlier Tamil kings fought among themselves and killed each other. Bards sang about the victorious kings or chieftains or the commanders and got prizes. No where in the world we such a long fighting. They fought for 1500 years continuously among themselves. We will see more in Pura naanuuru.
Of these, Venkatam is famous because of the Venkata achala pathi Vishnu temple, which is the world’s richest temple. Neither Vatican nor Mecca attract such a large crowd in the world. The oldest book Tolkappiam said Tamil language was spoken only up to that point.
வடவேங்கடம் தென்குமரி
ஆயிடைத்
தமிழ்கூறு நல்லுலகத்து
(தொல்காப்பியம், சிறப்புப்பாயிரம்:1-3)
Another interesting historical reference is to the Mauryan Invasion of Tamil Nadu. The words used by the poet Maamuulanaar is the mountain that was levelled by Mauryans. It shows that the Mauryan army laid road route across that hill. We have references from Jain books that Chandra Gupta Maurya spent his last days in Karnataka as a Jain devotee. This reference, coupled with Asoka’s reference to Tami kingdoms, give a clear history for the Tamil Kings from Third Century BCE.
Kolli Malai was also famous in those days for the presence of Kollip Paavai, a goddess who had mysterious powers.
The name Agastya is not at all mentioned in Sangam Tamil Literature. But the word Pothiyin Malai shows that it became famous because of Agastya’s residence there. In other verses the hill is compared with Himalayas in reverence. It is part of the 1000 mile long Western Ghats called Sahyaadri in Sanskrit.
Tamil words Malai, Kundram and Sanskrit words Achala, Adri , all meant mountain.
Tirupparam Kundram is famous until this day because of Lord Skanda (Murugan in Tamil) temple.
Imayam, i.e. Himalaya is mentioned in several places. They used the Sanskrit word Hima (snow) in many places in addition to Vada Varai (Northern chain of mountains).
Sirumalai is famous for its sweetest, smallest banana fruits till this day.
Parambu Malai became most famous hill in Sangam Tamil Literature, because of the philanthropist chieftain Paari. Three Tamil kings ganged themselves and killed him. Brahmin poet Kapilar, the greatest of the 450+++ Sangam poets gave us lot of interesting information about this Parampu hills. When the jealous Tamil kings laid a siege, Kapilar trained the birds to bring grains for the people. Moreover Kapilar says that Paari gave all the three hundred towns to the poor. This statistic is very important. If a a small Parambu area has 300 towns 2000 years ago, one could imagine how many towns Tamils had in the vast area of Chera, Choza, Pandya kingdoms!
Muthu kundram hill is known as Vriddhachalam and Chirappali is called Trichy nowadays.
***
97.
Tamil Forests
in Tamil is Kaanam or Kaadu. கானம், காடு is forest
Of these Aalangkaanam is famous because it was a battlefield.
***
98.Holy Towns
Tamils have been great Hindus, and they worshipped all the Six Gods mentioned by Adi Shankara and in addition they worshipped local heroes as Village Gods.
Arangam is Sri Rangam with very big Vishnu Temple and Venkatam also. Alaivaay/Tiru Chendur and Parankundru/Tirupparamkundram are famous Skanda/Murugan temples.
Dhanushkoti via Rameswaram is famous because one of the 12 Jyotirlinga Shrines.
Of these Kartikai and Panguni are Sanskrit words used for Tamil months. In fact all Tamil months in the present day calendar are Sanskrit names. Most of these festivals are celebrated until this day.
The 12 month system shows that Tamils knew zodiac for at least 2000 years. Purananuru mentions zodiac signs. It shows that we followed our own Hindu system and not the Greek one.
Tamils being Pukka Hindus treated all the water sources as holy and took ritual baths in the rivers and seas. The safest point for anyone to take a holy dip is called Thurai in Tamil and Ghat in Sanskrit.
Rig Veda, the oldest book in the world has the highest number of hymns in praise of water. The greatest wonder is that Brahmins around the world recite those Water Mantras three times a day. In all Hindu ceremonies water filled pot is a must. It is called Poorna Kumbha; even in death ceremonies they break water pots to show that the soul has merged with water and earth.
Tamil Akananuru mentioned at least 16 Ghats/Thurais. Following are important:
Aanporunai / Tambrbarani river Thurai, Uraiyur Kaviri Thurai, Thozunai (River Yamuna) Dhanuskodi, Thondi, Koodal and Korkai. The last three are not used anymore because of natural changes.
We will see more wonders in the next part
To be continued………………………
Tags- Ancient Tamil Encyclopaedia- Part 15; One Thousand Interesting Facts! – Part 15 , Tamil festivals, Tamil shrines, Tamil holy rivers, Akanauru wonders,
_Eye_of_Horus_pendant,garuda%20namam%20naga.jpg)
Tamil and Vedas 
