They are straight from the heart, they do not pretend they know things even though many may find it difficult to admit.
In an Ocean called Hinduism., one gets doubts all the time and one is encouraged to question it.
Atharva Veda on Effort.
When I keep posting on researched articles, I find people are interested, intrigued and many have started reading Sanatana Dharma Texts, setting aside the prejudice of them being myths(propagated by the west) in anew Light.
At the same time they get some doubts and they convey it to me.
Some through direct email or by comments to the Posts .
One such comment is below.
‘Even though I am Hindu and yeah I don’t believe in idol worshipping but sometimes I doubt what was the first society or first rules made on earth whether it’s Hinduism or other Relevant religion.. Please can u light on some confusion’
It requires a Hinduism to allow you to say that you do not follow some of its tenets and yet say I am a Hindu!
Sanatana dharma does not call it as heresy.
It calls it as enquiry which it feels it ought to clarify and clear.
As to the Moral principles rules by a society for the first time in the world, it is undoubtedly Hinduism.
It is in the form of Vedas.
Vedas are nothing but the exposition of Dharma, loosely translated as righteousness.
It is much more than that.
Dharma is the Natural state of Being, unsullied by experience.
The effort of the Vedas lie in the direction of making the Pure Self to realize its pristine nature.
In this effort many deities are worshiped in the abstract form, which later became Gods with forms.
In this endeavour, Hinduism lays down rules throughout the Vedas.
Right from the Rig Veda, which states,
‘bathram karnebi srunuyaama devaa”
Let Noble thoughts reach my ears from all directions, thereby indicating what is good and what is not Good.
As disipline for a Man the Taittriya Explains the duties and responsibilities of an individual.
In Shikshavalli,
Bhriguvalli,
Narayanavalli, and Ananadavalli.
In this the responsibility of a celibate, householder,the semi renounced, and the renounced are explained in detail
Not only this.
These texts expalin the necessity of respecting nature,Plants, animals, food, air.
Shikshavaali begins with ‘Annanna Nindhyaath Tat vratahm’
Take a Vow,
Never insult food( By not taking it or wasting it or eat alone
Goes on to add,
It is because of food one lives and one is made of food.
If a religion can pay so much respect to such an intricate issue, by making it a part of Teaching syllabus at the beginning, can there be any doubt which Religion, Society gave the first Rules to the Mankind?
It is Sanatana Dharma, first through the Vedas later through the Smritis, Manu Smriti being one of them.
I shall be writing in detail on Taittiya Mantra Kosa.
Of the Four Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva,Yajur veda has two aspects.
Krishna Yajur and
Shukla Yajur.
Sage Yajnavalkya.
The Shukla Yajur Mantras are longer and more detailed.
The reason attributed is that though these Mantras have been revealed by Lord Surya, The Sun God directly to Sage Yajnyavalkya, as these Mantras were not initiated by a Guru, as recommended by the Vedas, more Mantras are provided to compensate the issue of not being initiated bya Guru.
Yajnyavalkya was a Disciple of Vaisampayana.
The Sages used to meet often to exchange views on the Vedas, much like the Academics of today.
On one such occasion, Vaisampayana asked one of his disciples(Not Yajnyavalkya) to represent him.
Yajnavalkya informed the Guru that he would represent him and he argued with Vaisampayana on this issue.
Annoyed Vaisampayana admonished Yajnavalkya for questioning the Guru, being argumentative and advised Yajnyavalkya to leave after returning the Vedas he had learnt.
Yajnavalkya is the first recorded Sage in History.
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As per the demands of his Guru, Yājñavalkya vomited all the knowledge that he acquired from his teacher in form of digested food. Other disciples of Vaisampayana took the form ofpartridge birds and consumed the digested knowledge (a metaphor for knowledge in its simplified form without the complexities of the whole but the simplicity of parts) because it was knowledge and they were very eager to receive the same.
The Saṃskṛt name for partridge is “Tittiri”. As the Tittiri (partridge) birds ate this Veda, it is thenceforth called the Taittirīya Yajurveda. It is also known as Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda or Black-Yajurveda on account of it being a vomited substance. The Taittirīya Saṃhitā thus belongs to this Yajurveda.
Then Yājñavalkya determined not to have any human guru thereafter. Thus he began to propitiate the Sun God, Surya. Yājñavalkya worshipped and extolled the Sun, the master of the Vedas, for the purpose of acquiring the fresh Vedic portions not known to his preceptor, Vaiśampāyana.
The Sun God, pleased with Yājñavalkya penance, assumed the form of a horse and graced the sage with such fresh portions of the Yajurveda as were not known to any other. This portion of the Yajurveda goes by the name of Śukla Yajurveda or White-Yajurveda on account of it being revealed by Sun. It is also known as Vajasaneya Yajurveda, because it was evolved in great rapidity by Sun who was in the form of a horse through his manes.The rhythm of recital of these vedas is therefore to the rhythm of the horse canter and distinguishes itself from the other forms of veda recitals. In Sanskrit, term “Vaji” means horse. Yājñavalkya divided this Vajasaneya Yajurveda again into fifteen branches, each branch comprising hundreds of Yajus Mantras. Sages like Kanva, Madhyandina and others learnt those and Śukla Yajurveda branched into popular recensions named after them.
It is important to note that within the hierarchy of Brāhmaṇas, certain sects believe in the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda while others practice from the Śukla Yajurveda.
Yājñavalkya married two wives. One was Maitreyi and the other Katyaayanee. Of the two, Maitreyi was a Brahmavadini (one who is interested in the knowledge of Brahman).The descendant sects of Brahmans are the progeny of the first wife Katyaayanee. When Yājñavalkya wished to divide his property between the two wives, Maitreyi asked whether she could become immortal through wealth. Yājñavalkya replied that there was no hope of immortality through wealth and that she would only become one among the many who were well-to-do on. When she heard this, Maitreyi asked Yājñavalkya to teach her what he considered as the best. Then Yājñavalkya described to her the greatness of the Absolute Self, the nature of its existence, the way of attaining infinite knowledge and immortality, etc. This immortal conversation between Yājñavalkya and Maitreyi is recorded in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Wisdom of Yājñavalkya is shown in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad where he gives his teachings to his wife Maitreyi and King Janaka.[6] He also participates in a competition arranged by King Janaka about the selecting great Brhama Jnani (knower of Brahman). His intellectual dialogues with Gargi (a learned scholar of the times) form a beautiful chapter filled with lot of philosophical and mystical question-answers in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. He was then praised as the greatest Brahmajnyani by all the sages at the function organised by king Janaka. In the end, Yājñavalkya took Vidvat Sanyasa (renunciation after the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman) and retired to the forest..
Satahapatha Brahmanas.
This deals more with the Karma Kanda, performance of Rituals.
The Shatapatha Brahmana (शतपथ ब्राह्मणśatapatha brāhmaṇa, “Brahmana of one hundred paths”, abbreviated ŚB) is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda.[1] It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina (ŚBM, of the vājasaneyi madhyandina śākhā) and Kanva (ŚBK, of the kāṇva śākhā), with the former having the eponymous 100 chapters (adhyayas), 7,624 kandikas (parts) in 14 books, and the latter 104 chapters, 6,806 kandikas in 17 books.
Linguistically, the Shatapatha Brahmana belongs to the later part of the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit (i.e. roughly the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, Iron Age India).[2]
Jan N. Bremmer dates it to around 700 BCE.[3] According to Julius Eggeling, the final version of the text was committed in 300 BCE, although some of its portions are “far older, transmitted orally from unknown antiquity”.
Among the points of interest in the text are its mythological sections, including the myths of creation and the Deluge of Manu.The creation myth has several similarities to other creation myths, including the use of primordial water (similar to the Bible), the explanation of light and darkness, the separation of good and evil, and the explanation of time. The text describes in great detail the preparation of altars, ceremonial objects, ritual recitations, and the Soma libation, along with the symbolic attributes of every aspect of the rituals.
The 14 books of the Madhyandina recension can be divided into two major parts. The first 9 books have close textual commentaries, often line by line, of the first 18 books of the corresponding samhita of the Yajurveda. The following 5 books cover supplementary and ritualistically newer material, besides including the celebrated Brhadaranyaka Upanishad as most of the 14th and last book.
The Shatapatha Brahmana of Madhyandina School was translated into English by Julius Eggeling, in the late 19th century, in 5 volumes published as part of the Sacred Books of the East series. The English translation of Kanva School was done by W.E. Caland in 3 parts.
I have received a perceptive comment on the Gods worshiped in the Vedas.
This is it. Vedic Gods Abstract ,Hinduism.
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After completing the Shruti texts, I moved onto the Smritis – the Itihaas and the Purans when my daughter, while reading the draft, commented : No portion of the Veds (including the Upanishads) really talk of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Ganesh, Devi etc. How did the transition take place.?
The Agams do provide a clue but to my mind there are several missing links – especially in the practices as seen from Uttar Pradesh where I come from. Can you throw any light on this?’
I kept the comment pending lest I forget it.
The Vedas as rightly said do not mention the Trinity Brahma , Vishnu And Shiva as much as the other deities as Indra, Varuna , Agni.
Shiva is not mentioned at all, excepting in Sri Rudram as Sivaaya Ca, Sivadharaya ca.
No mention of Brahma either.
But we have references to Vishnu and Narayana.
Example.Narayna Suktham ,Vishnu Suktham.
Devis Lakshmi and Durga are mentioned , Sri Suktham and Durga Suktham.
Vishnu is mentioned six times, in the Rig Veda
Ganapati Upanishad is found in the Atharva Veda.
As to how the Trinity and other deities we worship today came into play is the human necessity of having a fixed an object for realization with specific attributes that are identical with human attributes.
Vedas speak of Para Brahmanas Nirguna, with out Attributes.
Saguna, Gods with attributes were limited to what we now consider as minor deities, like Indra, Varuna and the others.
More of karma kanda was followed and Bhakthi Bhavam the Path of Devotion does not find a place in the Vedas as much as in the post Vedic period.
Vedic karmas were performed as per the Vedic procedure, were more mantra oriented( the deities are bound by the Mantras) and the Deities like Agni were used as conduits in carrying the oblations and these deities were considered to be the benefactor of human needs.
Howver as the number of these deities were numerous, there was a necessity of establishing much more powerful deities, who are are in control of these deities.
Thus were the Gods Brahma and others.
As for as Shiva is concerned there are references to Siva in the South. Pre Sanatana Dharma period where He is described as Adhi Shiva and a First Siddha.
I have published a couple of articles on this and more to follow.
So many of the Gods we worship today were not mentioned in the Vedas.
That does not necessarily mean they are Illusions or lies.
As I have mentioned in my earlier Post that Hinduism does not believe in personal God but understands the Human Mind;s necessity og having one.
So it allows the worship of these deities.
As Krishna says,in The Bhagavad Gita
“I shall grant the boons to one who prays in the Form he worships and in the same manner that Deity would’
Thereby implies the Nirguna Upasna can be supplemented by Saguna worship.
Deities mentioned in the Rig Veda.Numbers indicate the number of times the Gods were mentioned.
Indra 289
Agni 218
Soma 123 (most of them in the Soma Mandala)
The Asvins 56
Varuna 46 [1]
the Maruts 38
Mitra 28[1]
Ushas 21
Vayu (Wind) 12
Savitr 11
the Rbhus 11
Pushan 10
the Apris 9
Brhaspati 8
Surya (Sun) 8
Dyaus and Prithivi (Heaven and Earth) 6, plus 5.84 dedicated to Earth alone
Apas (Waters) 6
Adityas 6
Vishnu 6
Brahmanaspati 6
Rudra 5
Dadhikras 4
the Sarasvati River / Sarasvati 3
Yama
Parjanya (Rain) 3
Vāc (Speech) 2 (mentioned 130 times, deified e.g. in 10.125)
Vastospati 2
Vishvakarman 2
Manyu 2
Kapinjala (the Heathcock, a form of Indra) 2
Minor deities (one single or no dedicated hymn)
Manas (Thought), prominent concept, deified in 10.58
Dakshina (Reward for priests and poets), prominent concept, deified in 10.107
Jnanam (Knowledge), prominent concept, deified in 10.71
Purusha (“Cosmic Man” of the Purusha sukta 10.90)
Aditi
Bhaga
Vasukra
Atri
Apam Napat
Ksetrapati
Ghrta
Nirrti
Asamati
Urvasi
Pururavas
Vena
Aranyani
Mayabheda
Tarksya
Tvastar
I have taken as a frame of reference as it is the oldest and regarded as most authentic.
During the course of research about the spread of Sanatana Dharma throughout the world, I have come across some curious facts.
Sanatana Dharma was in place in the South of the Vindhyas, even before Sarasvati Valley ,Harappan civilization.
While the Rig veda is dated around 5000 BC, there is a site with artifacts of advanced Tamil Culture, near Chennai and it is dated to be around a Million Years!
The Thiruvannamalai temple ,also in South is dated around a Billion years.
This Olmec king with Africoid facial features, rediscovered in 1858 at the Tres Zapotes archeological site in the Mexican state of Veracruz, is convincing evidence of the 3,000-year presence of Africans in Mexico but was omitted from the Oakland Museum of California exhibit
Olmech King with Tuft? The Olmec king’s Africoid hairstyle with braided hair is further evidence that Africans came to Mexico at least 3,000 years ago.
Tirupati arch is dated to be 2100 Million years old.
Agastya’s crossing to South India is dated with the help of Astronomy around 5000 BC.
The ancestor of Lord Rama, Satyavrata Manu migrated from the South to Ayodhya, where his son Ikshvaku founded the Ikshvaku Dynasty.
Lord Rama performed Pooja to Lord Shiva at Rameswaram after he killed Ravana.
The Tamil origins have been observed in the case of,
Sumerians.
Babylonians,
Minoans,
Mayans,
Aztecs.
Incas,
Polynesians and
Chinese.
But as things stand now, two ancient Histories seem to have been erased memory.
One is Arabia, where one does not have much to know, by being informed that before the arrival of Prophet, the Arabs were savages!
I have posted articles to disprove this by providing information about the connection between Tamils, Tamil God Idol excavation in Oman,Tamil practices and the existence of Shiva Temple in Mecca,
But the African connection is mired in obscurity.
I have few posts on African connection to Sanatana Dharma.
Now I have come across information that the The African ancestors, Olmecs,who later moved on to America,incidentally these Americans, were also from Tamils, were Tamils.
Features, Language origins point to this.
Ancient Tamil Texts, Tholkaappiyam onwards mention Kumari Kandam, a land mass , since gobbled by a Tsunami, had Africa a part of India as we have it now.
O it could be the other way around.
Though some migration from India, then called Bharatavarsha was through the Northern parts of India, through Afghanistan, Iraq, there was also Migration from the South.
The migration of Hindus to Greece, Africa is from the south , considering th remains found in these areas are mostly that of Gods more venerated in the South, Shiva, Ganesha and Murugan(Subrahmanya)
Now Read On.
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During the 17th century, the famous orientalist Edward Pococke noticed a disturbing similarity between classical Greek and Sanskrit. In his book,India in Greece, he showed that nearly all the place and tribal names of the Greeks had their similar correspondences in Northern India, especially in Afghanistan. The 18th century English scholar, William Jones, discovered the similarity of Sanskrit with many European languages, including Greek and Latin. Godfrey Higgins also supported their views in his two volume work,Anacalypsis. They and other distinguished linguists of the time concluded that non-Africanoid mankind probably originated in India, the Near East, and Siberia. These 17th and 18th century scholars were able to show that place, tribal, and religious names tended to stay the same, no matter how far certain ancient tribes dispersed themselves in different parts of the earth.
In the 1900s, Mexican scholars noted that the Nahuatl language is derived from Sanskrit. Even the word Nahua derives from the Sanskrit word for "sailor:" Nava or Navaja. Like their brother Allemans in Germany, the Olmecs could pronounce "V" only as "W."
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In ancient Northern India, a religio-political savant was known as Ma-gul, Mo-gul or Ul-mag, which meant "The Great God Ul." The syllables were interchangeable.
They were also called Eu-lama or Eu-rama (Aram), according to the different tribes' ability to pronounce "R" and "L." Eu = "Great." Rama/Lama = "Priest." Even today, among the Moslems, an Ulama or Ulema is a religious scholar and leader. There was even an ancient Near Eastern nation named Elam.
These distinguished priest scholars were additionally called Ul-man, Olman, or Ul-manu. meaning "Deified Sovereigns of the Earth."
When the non-Africanoid races of mankind left India for other parts of the world, the Ul-mags continued to call themselves Alleman (Germans), Aramean or Aramaic, and Olman, Ulmak or Olmek, in ancient Mexico. It is significant to note that the Phoenician sailor-traders had many names, one of which was Aram (Aramean). The Huichol Indians of Nayarit, Mexico call the port of San Blas Aramara, named after the India-Indian port they left on their voyage to America. Could this account for the name of the Nahuas?
The bible mentions that Solomon imported Almug trees from Sophir which was part of the northwestern coast of India: Sauvira. Scholars tell us that the Almug was really the Sandalwood tree. I'm not disputing that, but I am wondering why the Olmecs called the rubber tree Ulama(k). Just as the India-Indian Almug tree was held to be extremely sacred among the ancient Hindus, so also did the Olmecs revere the sacredness of the Ulama(k) tree.
A Sanskrit name for a particularly viscous sap is Urj. The Olmecs called the sap of their Ulama(k) tree Olli/Ulli. Olli was regarded as a sacred substance of life, like blood. Often, Olli sounded like Ollin because the Nahua-speaking people tended to nasalize the last syllable.
As I have stated, the Olmecs probably could pronounce "R" only as "L." The double "LL" in Spanish is regarded as a separate letter, sounding like Elye or Eljeh, according to the dialect being spoken. For instance, the Argentinians pronounce "Y" plus a vowel, as "J." For that reason, what the ancient Ul-mags or Mo-guls of Afghanistan called Urj, the Olmecs pronounced as Olji/Ulji.
Ulama - the ball game of life and death
The Olmecs played a type of sacred ball game, the name of which was the same as their sacred tree: Ulama. This holy ball game was played by all the Indians of the American Southwest, as far as the northern borders of South America itself...
The term Dravidian comes from the Sanskrit term Dravida, historically referring to Tamil Indians. There are three subgroups within the Dravidian language family: South, Central and North Dravidian which correspond to these regions of the Indian subcontinent.
The story goes back even further than this. As a leading proponent of the popular “alternative history” theory, Dr Hromnik contends that Mpumalanga was settled by ancient sea-faring Hindus some 40,000 years ago. They came for the ivory, the gold and the iron and erected temples and astronomical observatories on mountain tops. They built strong stonewalled cities from which they hunted, mined and traded throughout Southern Africa.
Dr. Hromnik believes that these people, who were mainly speakers of Dravidian languages and early Shivites by religion, were responsible for the ancient gold mines found in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe…
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The legacy of the Hindu empire is still reflected in local place names. Based on 15 years of research and his knowledge of Dravidian history, Dr. Hromnik believes that before the time of Christ, Indian traders named Komates, crossed the Indian Ocean in sailing boats manned by their Indonesian slaves. Like the Dutch East India Company who came later, they were driven by Monsoon trade winds blowing towards Africa and would return on reverse trade winds to India with their gold and ivory. This is supported by Biblical records which tell of the existence of gold and of the ancient gold trade in Africa.
The Komates settled with their Indonesian slaves in these regions, and then gradually moved further inland from the river mouths, seeking gold, and building their temples known as litaku. They mixed with the local !Kung (Bushmen), “the real people,” who are also called the !Kung-San. This gave rise to the Ottentotu (Hottentot).
The legacy of this Hindu empire is still reflected in many local place names. Between Natal, and Mpumalanga, South Africa, near the Swaziland border with South Africa, one finds the name Komati everywhere. This is also the region where Shebe, the richest gold mine in the world, is situated. Komati Gorge, Komati River, Lomati River, Komatiland and Komatipoort. It’s not much of a stretch to see that Komati is a contraction of the name Komates.
It is estimated that there are over 20,000 ancient stone ruins scattered throughout the mountains of southern Africa……
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The Komatis are said to have originally lived in large numbers along the Godavari River, which the locals called Gomati or Gomti. TheSanskrit Gomati was rendered into Telugu as Komati.
Hanumantha Rao noted that the merchant classes preferred Jainism for gaining social status and respectability, and the erstwhile Baniasbecame Gomati or followers of the Gomata cult in medieval times. The story of Vasavi, the caste goddess of the Vaishyas narrated in the Vaishya Purana is said to have definite Jain overtones.
According to Rao, there is an alternative etymology for the word Komti, as the “derivation of the word from gomata, the great Jaina saint, which implies that they were followers of Gomata cult or were originally Jains”.
Dwarakanath Gupta says that “These tradesmen (Beharulu) who hailed from Gouda Desa took to Jainism and adopted the ‘Gomata’ cult. The word Gomata got distorted slowly as Gomatlu, Kommathulu, Komattulu. In the Tamil and Malayalam languages the word ‘Komati’ is in use. These Jain Vysyas slowly gave up Jainism and embraced the Vedic religion during its revival.
There was a comment for my Post Hanuman sheds Tears, Real Life Story in Facebook that the Idol of Lord Hanuman at Banswadi, a suburb of Bangalore sheds tears on Hanuman Jayanthi Day.
I sought information from the writer.
Hanuman, Banswadi, Bangalore.
No sooner than I posted the reply, I realised that I could Google for the information.
I did just that.
For the web search term ‘hanuman tears banaswadi’, I could get information.
This included the one from Bangalore Tourism .
I am providing the excerpt from the site.
But for Video search, the search returned with the only Video.
The catch is that the Video has been blocked by the Government Of India!
‘Every year on the eve of Hanuman Jayanthi which falls between December 16 to January 14 usually on a full moon-day in the month of Chaitra, this deity is attracted by a miracle; it so happens that tears come out from the idol and people flock from all parts of Bangalore to witness this miracle.
The Most important prehistory of this temple was constructed in dravidian fashion, it is 100 years old. and it has small small temples to denote their prehistory themselves and dedicated to Lord Rama, Shiva and Ganapathi within the walled compound.
Atharva Veda on Effort.
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