Reflection Symmetry of Mainstream Science and Mainstream Media

Dwelling more on symmetry and Arthanaareeswara, a scientific point of view is available with several references https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3705693/ . While this is Lord Siva's tattva, Bhagavata provides many instances of Lord Visnu taking the feminine forms like Mohini that is more of a ploy than a tattva. That means, Lord Siva is not just making appearances to save mankind or making temporary truce between devas and asuras. He is an embodiment of the human condition.

As said many times, "Lord Siva leaves no child behind including those wrestling with bisexuality, hermaphroditism, homosexuality, gender identity disorder, gonadal dysgenesis, chromosomal defects, etc." that are often referred to as LGBTQ factors that are physiological. Freud and Jung agreed that there is neither perfect masculinity nor complete femininity based on psychological studies. That means, every jiva falls into the gray areas between the two gender extremes.

The creation after going through many maha yugas is trying to achieve perfection, like a pure diamond sans inclusions, which is akin to a computer that never fails. Sometimes the manufacturing defects are passed on to the consumer. The Law of Karma may have something to do with this.

In the symmetry debate, mainstream science only accepts certain combinations of matter or energy that lead up to satisfying conservation laws that are thought to be of paramount importance ("all laws of nature originate in symmetries"). Mathematicians are more precise by looking for invariance (changelessness) under transformations such as translation (moving from A to B), reflection (like in a mirror), rotation (like earth around its axis) and scaling (changes in multiple dimensions). And the development of supersymmetry to understand the plethora of subatomic particles MSS discovers, rather conjures up everyday. Whereas, MSS has turned from us vs. dogma to us vs. universe where contrarian views and thought experiments have lesser importance than personalities.

So that leads to my inference that Mainstream Science and Mainstream Media enjoy reflection symmetry. If I said they are a happy couple, I'd be breaking the symmetry. So I leave it upto them to figure out.

However, as hindus built temples such as Arthanareeswarar Temple in Tiruchengode, and made carvings of arthanaareeswara, is it like having a third pole? I think it is like advaita where all we see is oneness or unity. When there is no second, where is the question of the third?

I can imagine some non-savaites thinking that siva-sakti unity is a blight and a blemish. To support my claim the Wiki page (Ardhanarishvara - Wikipedia) draws parallels to Yama-Yami of Rig-Veda which in my view is incorrect. Here is from Rig Veda translated by Dr.Wendy Doniger

10.10 Yama and Yami

Yama, the first son of the sun, is regarded in later mythology as the first mortal man and king of the dead, while Manu, the sun’s other son, is regarded as the ancestor of the human race. In Avestan mythology, the primeval incest of the twins, Yama and Yami, remains an important episode in the procreation of the human race; in India, Yama rejects the erotic solicitations of his sister in the Rig Veda and is never again exposed to them, for later Indian mythology is significantly silent about the affair. The hymn is not, however, a commentary on a social charter (‘Thou shalt not commit incest’), but rather a speculation – ultimately negative – on a possible cosmogony, the male and female twins functioning as a variant of the androgyne.

The hymn begins, as is usual with those of the ‘conversation’ genre, in medias fires. Yami invokes gods of procreation and argues that the human race must be preserved; Yama counters by invoking moral gods and their laws. Unlike the similar conversation between Agastya and Lopamudra (1.179), this hymn ends with the rejection of the woman, who finally loses her temper completely.

1 [Yami :] ‘Would that I might draw my friend into intimate friendship, now that he has gone far across the ocean.{1} A man of foresight should receive a grandson from the father, thinking of what lies ahead on earth.’

2 [Yama:] ‘Your friend does not desire this friendship, in which a woman of his kind would behave like a stranger.{2} The heroes, {3} the sons of the great spirit,{4} supporters of the sky, see far and wide.’

3 [Yami:] ‘The immortals desire this, that off spring should be left by the one mortal. Let your mind unite with my mind;{5} as a husband,{6} enter the body of your wife.’

4 [Yama :] ‘ Shall we do now what we have not done before? Shall we who spoke truth out loud now whisper false- hood?{7} The divine youth in the waters{8} and the woman of the waters – such is our source, our highest birth.’{9}

5 [Yami:] ‘The god Tvastr,{10} the creator and impeller, shaper of all forms, made us man and wife even when we were still in the womb. No one disobeys his commands; earth and sky are our witnesses for this.’{11}

6 [Yama:] ‘Who was witness of that first day? Who has seen it? Who can proclaim it here? The law of Mitra and Varuna is high. Yet what will you say to men, wanton woman, to seduce them?’

7 [Yami:] ‘Desire for Yama has come upon me, Yami, the desire to lie with him upon the same bed. Let me open my body to him as a wife to her husband. Let us roll about together like the two wheels of a chariot.’

8 [Yama:] ‘These spies of the gods, who wander about here below, do not stand still, nor do they bunk their eyes. Wanton woman, go away fast with another man, not with me. Roll about with him like the two wheels of a chariot.’

9 [Yami:] ‘ She would do what he wished in the nights and in the days; she would deceive the eye of the sun for the instant of the blink of an eye. We twins are related in the same way as sky and earth. Let Yami behave toward Yama as if she were not his sister.’

10 [Yama:] ‘Later ages will come, indeed, when blood relatives will act as if they were not related. Make a pillow of your arm for some bull of a man.{12} Seek another husband, lovely lady, not me.’

11 [Yami:] ‘What good is a brother, when there is no protector?{13} What good is a sister, when destruction breaks out?{14} Overcome with desire, I whisper this again and again:mingle your body with my body.’

12 [Yama:] ‘Never will I mingle my body with your body. They call a man who unites with his sister a sinner. Arrange your lustful pleasures with some other man, not with me, lovely lady. Your brother does not want this.’

13 [Yami:] ‘Dammit, Yama, how feeble you are. I have not been able to find any mind or heart in you. Some other woman will surely embrace you like a girth embracing a harnessed stallion or a creeper embracing a tree.’

14 [Yama:] ‘You too, Yami, will surely embrace another man, and he will embrace you, as a creeper embraces a tree. Seek his mind, and let him seek yours. Join with him in proper harmony.’

Notes

1. The ocean may be the metaphorical ocean separating mortals (like Yama) from immortals (as Yami may be), in which case ‘he’ is Yama. But ‘he’ may be the avenging god whom Yama fears (vv. 2, 6, and 8), or the sun in the water (v. 4), in which case Yami is assuring her brother that he need not fear, as the spy is absent across the ocean.

2. This may mean that Yama does not wish the woman of his kind (his sister) to act like a stranger (like a woman with whom sexual contact is allowed); in caste terms, he avoids marriage within the subgroup (gotra). Less likely, but possible, is the interpretation that Yama fears that a woman not like him (an immortal) will behave like one of his kind (a mortal woman, one who may have sexual contact with him). In caste terms, he avoids marriage outside the group (varna).

3. The gods, or perhaps just the Adityas, the particular servants of Varuna.

4. Varuna, most likely, as guardian of the moral law; or Rudra, punisher of incest (in which case the ‘heroes’ would be the Maruts).

5. The word (manas) can designate mind or heart, the seat of both rational and emotional functions. But since it is later contrasted with a word for ‘heart’ (v. 13), it is here probably limited to the first connotation.

6. Here Yami implies that Yama actually is her husband, a thought which she makes explicit in v. 5; later, however (v. 7), she merely asks him to behave as if he were her husband, as her resolve weakens.

7. The word, anrta, means not merely to speak a lie but to say something that violates the moral order, to say something that may be true but should not be.

8. Probably the sun, born of the waters, but perhaps just any Gandharva.

9. Yama argues both that people born of such lofty parents should not break the moral law, and also that he and Yami, having the same parents, cannot procreate together.

10. The god of procreation, and the artisan of the gods, fashioner of the embryo in the womb. Cf. 10.184.1, 4.18.3.

11. Here and in verse 9, Yami argues that sky and earth are as closely related as she and Yama are, that their procreation was not only permitted but even archetypal.

12. ‘Bull’ is Vedic slang for a virile man, like ‘stud’ in American; cf. 1.179.1 and 1.179.4.

13. She argues that a brother should protect his sister, even if this involves incest, to keep her from going unsatisfied and un fertilized. Ironically, it is the brother who should find a husband for his sister and avenge her if she is rejected.

14. Destruction (nirrti) both in the wider sense of the destruction of the human race (as she argues in verse 1) or in the more particular sense of the destruction that comes upon a man who dies son- less.

Regards

Equivalence of Mainstream Science and Mainstream Media

I am a fan of "Telugu Alchemist" who posts videos on youtube about "mainstream science" which give me an opportunity to cogitate over vedic science. In a recent video he talked about the Law of Conservation of Energy where he translated "energy" to "sakti", perhaps a term used in academic curriculum. I will come to the Law a little later, but first I would like to clarify on "sakti" which primarily means female principle in hinduism but has other derived meanings like the connection between mind, god, etc. with matter.

It is believed that yogis possessed yoga sakti using which they could bend solid objects or travel to the place of their choice instantaneously. Whether one believes in such metamagical themes, one has to be generally receptive to the female principle and the interaction between mind and matter to appreciate the wisdom of the rishis.

For instance, what is the sakti that makes firewood useful for cooking? A rishi would say firewood has "agni tattva" whereby prayer or its equivalent such as rubbing flint stones initiates the combustion process that manifests as light and heat. Why is rubbing flint stones the same as prayer? Simply, the "agni" in flint stone was discovered by someone using their mind! If you say, the search engine told you

"The discovery of fire was attributed to Homo erectus, during the Early Stone Age. They likely first discovered fire through natural events such as lightning strikes or volcanic eruptions and learned to control it for warmth and cooking."

Therefore, there was no serendipity and a "discovery" was made, which is ipso facto mind!

To understand the female principle of sakti requires abstract thinking. In Sankhya, mentioned in Bhagavad Gita, Prakruti, which is sakti, comes in contact with Purusha, which is consciousness or spirit, to energize the Jiva. In other words, sakti is necessary for the creation and sustenance of jiva. Though Prakruti is commonly referred to as nature or matter, ultimately it is a manifested female principle.

Did our rishis miss the "energy" concept altogether? The mention of agni in hundreds of veda mantras and the various references such as sapta jihva, aapaye, indhanaya, jaataveda, vanaspataye, etc. attributed to agni, apply to energy as well. When you have a boundless entity manifesting in various forms, including terrestrial and celestial objects, what would one have to say about its conservation? The saanti mantra puts it succinctly "Aum! That is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.The infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe), It remains as the infinite alone."

But what about the law? Alchemist uses time and space symmetries of physics to explain the law. He gives an example of a compressed spring that has the same energy whether it is transported in space or measured at various times. However, tell that to people making perpetual motion machines, liquid water fuel, and replacing silicon chips with biological brains.

One thing overlooked is energy is not a vector and inert. It can't make objects move which can only be done by a vector like force, for instance, but gets consumed in motion. Simply put, unless energy is released by either a vector or a process such as combustion, it remains latent and unmanifested.

In the terrestrial frame of reference, for example, when we consider a coal fired steam engine, the energy released by burning coal, converts water to steam that moves its wheels. Suppose someone tells you to put miniature wind turbines along the railway tracks, and recover some of the energy released by the coal whenever a train passes causing wind turbulence, one would say that is ludicrous! In other words, the law was established for the convenience of fitting mathematical formulations, rather than real life.

Finally, I would like to comment on those who stick to time and space symmetries as the golden standard and there is no symmetry in "Artha-naareeswara" for why would a half-male and a half-female together give rise to a symmetric form? I think the rishis are telling us "don't be fooled by the outer appearance" and the form that seems asymmetric and self-contradictory is indeed Brahman who was described by Adi Sankara in various ways in Nirvana Shatakam that begins as:

"Mano-Buddhi-Ahankaara, Chittaani Naaham Na Cha Shrotra-Jihveh, Na Cha Ghraan-na-Netre Na Cha Vyoma Bhoomir, Na Tejo Na Vaayuh Chid-Aananda-Roopah, Shivoham Shivoham"

"I am not the Mind nor Intelligence the Ego, or the faculty of recollections. I am not the faculties of Hearing, nor that of Tasting, the faculties of Smelling or Seeing. I am not the Sky, nor the Earth, Neither the Fire nor the Air"

Regards

Cynosure of our eyes

For millennia the cynosure of our eyes is the Sun whom we worshiped and considered as the light of the universe. However, heliocentrism is relatively new in the world steeped in religious dogma. Only in the 17th century Copernicus convinced everyone that earth is a planet of the Sun. If that is so, what else are we wrong about?

In the ageing, yet crisp, voice of Sir David Attenborough (1926-), we learn that the James Webb telescope orbiting the earth proved that astronomers who based their calculations on big-bang were wrong! Webb found a galaxy that had formed 200-300 million years after big-bang, which was unexpected. It's not that they were completely wrong about big-bang, but only those conclusions based on the observations of the Hubble telescope need revision. In simple terms the space is expanding so fast that the light from some galaxies will never make it to us. So what does it imply?

The Vasishta Gita in Ramayana mentions two concepts in terms of frequency of appearance: consciousness and kaakataaliyam. The latter means as a crow alights a coconut tree, a coconut drops to the ground without a cause-effect relationship. For instance if we make an amateur remark that "as astronomers peer through Webb in a particular angle, the universe is too shy to reveal itself" it will be a kaakataaliyam. Coming to consciousness we can approximate it to the visible universe or "bubble" as David Attenborough says.

The astronomers say we are at the peak of universal consciousness with so many observable parameters made possible by technological advancements. That means, one day in the future our consciousness will shrink so much that even Sage Vyasa will be naught. People in the 22nd century will have to launch a search to find out just what the group of letters v-y-a-s-a, spelled in whatever ways, mean because their consciousness would be shrunk a little bit.

Linguists for centuries had a solution for that. They made a dictionary entry expecting people to refer to it or create a stotra for daily recitation as in the case of hindus. The Oxford English Dictionary has just 21,730 pages in 20 volumes! While it is commendable that they keep adding new words, that won't do. Because in 2025, the Oxford English Dictionary has added nearly 600 new words, including terms like "alamak," "bachata," and "bed-hopper," reflecting cultural and linguistic trends. Even search engines couldn't catch up because like light from the stars is always from the past, there is a lag between updates to a dictionary and the updates by the search engine.

If astronomers were correct, from now on our consciousness will keep shrinking which is in agreement with vedas. As many know vedas had 1132 branches barely 1000 years ago based on Adi Sankara's writings and now there are only 7. So what happened to the wisdom in the 1125 branches? In simple terms it went past our visible universe, even the most powerful telescopes would be of no help.

Coming back to heliocentric theory, is there a single source of light, let's call him Aditya, who lights all of the visible universe including our Sun? Are the non-visible universes stacked like a deck of cards or the layers of earth which can be accessed by simply "digging" or "tunnelling"? Are there several Adityas among the invisible universes? Given that our Sun is 4.6 billion years old with a 10 billion year life-span, what will be the life-span of an Aditya?

A more pertinent question is who lights up all the Adityas? The vedas say it is Brahman. Because we are still conscious of vedas, we are able to answer. How about the future generations? Already those of us who didn't have the fortune to visit the Sun Temple at Konark or Arasavilli in Andhra Pradesh, think there is no such thing as a precise sundial. A century from now, the pilgrimage sites will quietly slip out of consciousness just as the galaxies are drifting away from our visible universe.

David Attenborough draws a nihilistic conclusion that as the visible universe shrinks there will be a denouement, because he, like many of us, thinks the big-bang is the beginning of reckoning of time. The skeptics can subscribe to it. But those merging their consciousness with that of our rishis who said the creation is "anaadi" wouldn't have any trouble.

As the year is coming to an end, given that the cynosure of 2025 is Maha Kumbh Mela, what will be the cynosure in 2026? Let's hope Isro will launch a telescope that will find the krishnabhila that leads us to the invisible universes, just as Bhagavata Skandha 10 says:

"Sri Krishna's chariot crossed seven mountains, seven oceans, seven islands and entered a pitch black region. The horses were unable to see anything. Then Sri Krishna released his Sudarshana disc to light the path. They reached a city studded with diamonds called Mahakala. There they saw Adisesha with thousand gem studded hoods. On the hoods was seated the paramatma. Sri Krishna and Arjuna saluted the paramatma."

Regards

Swecha Bharat

For many hindus Panchatantra is no stranger. But how many know many of the surviving historical manuscripts of Panchatantra are found in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran; Oxford library, Indian Office Library, London (UK); Tibet and Japan, etc.? Its author Vishnu Sarma (200 BCE-300 CE) was blessed with most translations of any Bharatiya vignaan among the Indo-European and Indo-Persian language families.

As many know, "pancha" in Sanskrit means five and "tantra" is an "upaya" or a stratagem. The five being Mitra-bheda (The Loss of Friends), Mitra-lābha (The Acquisition of Friends), Kākolūkīyam (The Crows and the Owls), Labdhapraṇāśam (The Loss of Gains), Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ (The Rash Deeds).

Preceding Panchatantra was Chanakya's (350 BCE) 5 upayas: sama (persuasion), dana (offering), danda (punishment), bheda (isolation) in the art of governance that were largely superseded by the later Panchatantra because of the harshness involved in them. But you still find them among the fraternity of nations. For instance Bharat is in the last two legs vis-a-vis neighbors.

Also, there is a difference between Vishnu Sarma's mitra-bheda that means doing the opposite of Dale Carnegie's advice in his book "How to Win Friends And Influence People", and Chanakya's bheda which means isolation such as the "sanctions regime".

After independence, Bharat used Panchsheel: respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence that were called "non-alignment", later "non-aligned movement" by including more nations. In reality, Bharat favored the former USSR over the USA, the two nations engaged in cold-war.

The "Global South", "BRICS", etc. are later refinements to primarily counter the US Dollar's supremacy. So when the talk of Tariffs was going on, Bharat fell back to Mitra-Labha and the EAM went around scouting for new markets and trading partners. The foreign jaunts of nouveau riche on Bharat's Air Force 1 are reminiscent of American tycoon Carnegie's diplomacy on his yacht to engage primarily China and Bharat. While China acceded to open up trade relations and prospered, Bharat lagged behind.

If there is a stark difference between these two neighbors, it is the lingua franca induced lack of orderliness. Bharat, while proud of its English, had subscribed to sloganeering under the guise of 5-year plans such as "Garibi Hathao" (remove poverty), "Beti Bachao" (save the girl child), etc. neglecting infrastructure and overall hygiene. While the former made leaps and bounds in the recent past despite fiascos like Indigo grounding its planes, the latter never sunk deep into the citizens as they were offered more slogans like "Swacha Bharat", "Vikshit Bharat", "Atma Nirbhar Bharat", etc. instead of investment in practical tools to raise the standards of living.

For instance, whenever the world leaders visited the capital, the likes of Madanpur Khadar and Kathputli Colony, that are collectively called slums, were kept out of sight with make-shift pardahs along the surface routes. At the same time humanitarians like Mother Teresa and Mira Nair were heckled for not providing bathroom tissue to the slum dwellers instead of seeking fame and prizes.

So how to fix? While trickle-down economics by handing over public institutions to the oligarchs might work in the short-term, like Russia the GoI will bog down in unending border skirmishes throwing more "Agni Veers" in harm's way, for which the largely unemployed youth, who are enamored with government jobs that are synonymous with corruption, are to be blamed . The self-employed shouldn't be subsisting on "Pakora Stalls" without knowing nutritional value and basic hygiene, both of which can be fixed, like in China or Singapore, with incentives and repercussions rather than saddling with a GST. In other words, use Chanakya's precepts for internal affairs rather than making speeches in the General Assembly or informal press conferences by the select coterie to show "Swecha Bharat" or an utopian land of freebies from the leaders.

Regards

Are you being served?

Skill can be defined as the ability to create and use tools to gain advantage over natural resources even though it was reduced to "ability to do something well" by the linguists ignoring that language itself is a tool granted by Vakdevi, with Agni as the adhisthana devata. While humans are blessed by the Goddesses like Gayatri Devi, Saraswati Devi for learning and communication, the animal kingdom is not far behind. A crow dropping pebbles into a jar of water, a fable taught in my kindergarten, causes the water level to rise for its use. In the modern times, Jane Goodall raised the awareness about Chimpanzees that have the ability to use sticks to ferret out ants and such from the ground. A South American Parakeet was shown to remember 1700 words through training and interaction. A Golden Retriever has the skill to retrieve something like a frisbee and a Beaver can build dams across waterways.

Our Puranas mention several weapons which are tools to defend oneself made from other tools by the smithies. A skilful archer, such as Arjuna or Ekalavya, was pivotal for winning in a war. Balarama had a plough as the weapon of choice which has been repurposed from an agricultural tool. Parasurama wielded an axe or parasu in front of Lord Rama after he dismantled the Shiv Dhanus in Sita Devi svayamvara.

Even going back, the Indus Civilization was shown to be very advanced in making and using tools. The tool makers or craftsmen made ploughs, sickles, chakras, maces, spears, bows, arrows and what not. And there were early metallurgists who knew how to make iron in blast furnaces and annealing them for strength and longevity. It is believed that the iron pillars built during Chandra Gupta Maurya era didn't rust to this day!

In recent times, the jewelers of Bharat were recognized for their skill in cutting, polishing and setting stones in gold and silver ornaments around the world elevating them to artisans. Lest we forget the weavers of silk saris, such as Kanchipuram, who are considered the ultimate artists.

Where am I going with this? In the USA, there are broadly two types of schools: colleges that impart skills and universities that train scholars for speciality occupations. Of much interest are the former that apply to plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc. The so called Polytechnics and ITIs in Bharat pretty much do the same but with different degrees of sophistication. The foremost skilful tool makers and operators are the Chinese making China an industrial powerhouse and a vendor or supplier to the world. I think there is not much to say about Bharat other than upskilling, something I lamented earlier as lacking in the present environment that wants technology transfers and a production line ready for turning out widgets. For a country trying to right the wrongs committed by earlier generations there is no loss of pride.

For an American skilled worker to give up his place for an immigrant is a hard bargain. So companies want to shift entire manufacturing overseas when the goal is to make more profit. Once the automobile assembly lines were transplanted in Japan out of guilt. Later entire clean rooms used for making electronics were shipped from America's heartland to countries like China for profit. The locals quickly acquired the skills to operate the machinery and now they are at the cusp of making advanced machinery using tools they made while the Americans watch them in dismay. For instance, the electronic lithography machines that can make nano circuits were the forte of the Netherlands. Not necessarily in the coming years, if Chinese had their way.

Strangely enough a skilled scholar is a rare combination in the American landscape making the local scholars vulnerable for replacement by an immigrant for various reasons. This is where Bharat's reputation as a supplier of IT degree holders increased. There is a twist. When Cloud service providers replaced on-premise servers and their administrators, the "admins" moved on to other "jobs" like programming numerically controlled machines and operating server farms for making bitcoins and such. By the way, the influencers like Anton Kobyakov claiming the US wants to reset its debt by converting to crypto is not as simple as it sounds for the block-chain behind crypto envisaged by an anonymous Japanese tech worker was based on prime numbers that are critical for encrypted communication.

Anyhow, it is important that Bharatiya leaders shamelessly clamouring, nay begging, over American work-visas understand that a wholesome tech visa must include a fallback skill such as the aforementioned admins, something the present American system doesn't insist for whatever reasons. Back in the days when I studied on a scholarship, some students worked in cafeterias, libraries and computer labs on campus, none of which required a skill other than hand-eye coordination. Nor imparted new skills. These days the so-called OPT mills allow students to go off campus and pump gas or bag groceries, for instance, which are nothing but mind numbing tasks for a student aspiring for a tech visa. This is where they rub with the locals, such as teens and seniors, looking for "jobs" running into so-called students.

I don't think NASSCOM, the self-appointed guardian of Bharatiya IT, will ever understand the distinction between a tech worker and a skilled worker. They obfuscate and warn the Americans of ominous consequences if Bharatiya IT workers are not "sponsored" which the big tech companies buy into. Perhaps they all read Fridman's "World Is Flat" (2005; see wiki). They are purveyors of misinformation and experts at disinformation, thus maligning the credibility of all NRIs. The tech company captains, what with many of them having availed themselves of work visas early in their careers, are abettors with some foot dragging. Time to wake up and smell the coffee that just came off tariffs.

Regards

Midwife's Children

The saga of Bharat's partition in 1947 has been dealt ad infinitum by various historians and novelists. Our history books mention a Lord Mountbatten as the Viceroy and Governor-General of India who oversaw the dismemberment of the vision of Akhand Bharat with intricate borders that stupefy high schoolers and adults alike. When the dust settled, the late Queen, in 1960, made a long declaration that ends as:

"I declare My Will and Pleasure that, while I and My Children shall continue to be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, My descendants other than descendants enjoying the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess and female descendants who marry and their descendants shall bear the name of Mountbatten-Windsor"

It could be noble or inbreeding depending on which side of the pond you are dwelling on. No matter whose side you are on, you have to agree that the royal descendants were delivered in a hush-hush manner and some of the descendants bearing the aforementioned surname grew up to do hush-hush things. If one is a fusion artist like the Bengali author Nirad Chowdhuri, one sheds crocodile tears for the way the midwife's children are popping in the daily news grinder.

We all feel a thing or two for the noble Queen, but considering how she treated the betrothals as persona non grata before and after the nuptials, makes me wonder if there had been a grand plan behind all of this. Something Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes alone could figure out.

Coming back to Akhand Bharat, we are enlightened by the powers that be that LAC and LOC are not royal seals or padlocks, but something the global border police, such as the UN, take seriously. That is until they were evicted during the latest border skirmish. So what now? May be Jesus will make his second appearance in Kashmir this Christmas to enlighten us.

Meanwhile the influencers in the social media are relishing the military build up at the "Chicken's Neck" which is an euphemism for "we don't know why Bengali's die for imported Hilsa fish curry". One can put two and two together and arrive at the awareness that Bharat's border issues are actually due to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) that has not inducted the Chicken Tikka Masala into the Culinary Hall of Fame over the objections of Boston Brahmins.

Before breaking into a personal appeal about the benefits of vegetarian diet, and cruelty towards animals that deserve time and space to evolve, I would like to share the highlights of today's "History Detectives" show on public television. Apparently during WWII American military experimented with canines that could sniff out non-caucasians at the enemy lines and attack them rather ferociously. Guess what, they used the enlisted non-caucasians in the military as bait to train the canines on not-so-funny Cat Island near Mississippi!

Baghavata tells us that there are 8400000 species on earth. But they all fall into 4 broad categories: ‘Udbhija’ (sprouted from Earth like grass, vegetables etc.), ‘Swedaja’ (Krimi, Keeta and Flies that seem to appear from sweat), ‘Andaja’ (Birds, Fish etc. born out of eggs) and ‘Jarayuja’ (Animals, human beings etc. born out of physical bodies). Each of them has a soul, no matter how small or big, that deserves to evolve and achieve moksha. So we, as the most evolved, need to be aware of this.

All this tells me that one needs to travel far and wide to appreciate God's creation. I am waiting for the Akhand Bharat Passport before boarding a flight to nowhere.

Regards

The Lotus Effect

In the vast Sanskrit literature one finds this maxim " utpala-shata-patra-vyatibhéda-vat" which translates to " "Like the simultaneous piercing of a bundle of hundred lotus-leaves." Lotus leaves are very soft. Hence a stack of hundred such leaves can be pierced with a sharp needle in no time, almost instantaneously, and yet the actual process is linear or one leaf at a time.

A complete description as to why or how the maxim came into existence requires an inordinate amount of time, so much so that Kaala Bhairava, the embodiment of time, alone can determine and grant. For all practical purposes it means less than a "truti" which could be anywhere from a millionth to a billionth of a second.

Shlokavārtika says, "You say the example of lamp and light as an instance of simultaneity of cause and effect, but still there is a finite little time, just like piercing hundred lotus leaves." So we can surmise there was knowledge that light has a finite speed, just as it was known that sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth.

For comparison sake in modern computers, including smart phones, the smallest time unit is called the "clock speed" which measures the number of cycles the Central Processing Unit (CPU) executes per second, measured in GHz (gigahertz) which translates to a billionth of a second.

If you thought science beat the rishis, what if the rishi tells us the stack of leaves can be of any size? Then the smallest time to pierce is based on the method used, which ranges from a needle to a laser beam. Applying quantum tunneling, this simple thought experiment becomes intractable or mind boggling.

On the macro scale, buddhists thought completely swapping two stacks of rings around two poles, using a third pole, by transferring one ring per day means the end of time. Our rishis went beyond with larger scales of time comprising yuga, mahayuga, kalpa, brahma kaala, etc.

What about the physics lesson time is relative? The physicists subscribing to the relativity theory inspired a hollywood movie called Interstellar where they used the axiom that clocks slow down near massive objects such as black holes due to gravity. Some physicists took atomic clocks atop the tallest building then, Burg Khalifa, and concluded that clocks slowed down. Did our rishis miss this fundamental aspect? Not really. Because they were talking about time whereas the physicists are talking about clocks, both biological and physics, that are subject to quantum effects.

Of much interest to everyone: "How long will I live?" or "When will XYZ pass away?". The rishis wrestled with these never-wracking questions and incorporated them in treatises that comprised siddhanta, jyotish and samhita. Most people think the aayush calculated by vedic astrologers, say using Parasara Sutras, variously called Pinda, Amsa, Nisarga, etc. is the answer to the perplexing questions where sampurna aayush means a 120 year long life span. For illustration, the oldest human, a French woman called Jeanne Louise Calment, lived to be 122 years. So Sage Parasara who made his Sutras 5000 years ago remains credible.

A more common time related question in democracies is "How long before the ruling party collapses prematurely?" For this there are Tarot Readers, Oracles, Palmists, etc. as jyotish pertained to Kingdoms where the ruling party was an individual that could be the king, queen, prince, etc. So bobbing heads on TVs during elections claiming to be jyotish are, in a sense, doing a disservice to their audience.

Therefore, the rishis like Parasara, Jaimini and Aryabhatta based their predictions on calculations made out of observation. Did they use telescopes? One vedic scholar found evidence in a Hampi temple built before Kepler (circa 1500 AD) in the form of stone carvings showing rishis peering through "tubular" objects. Many a time our rishis predicting that there are other Suns associated with various lokas and earth has a third degree of motion, besides rotation and revolution, in the form of axis tilt, had a darshan of the terrestrial and celestial worlds in tapas. Hence they are collectively called "drashtas" in vedas.

I find no need to mock the frailty of astronomy in predicting anything credibly, even with the help of the powerful Jame Webb Telescope orbiting the earth because they dish out excellent photographs of what's happening in the universe via NASA website. There are also the "influencers" in various social media platforms who monetize such fodder, not to mention the main-stream-media tooting their horns.

In all humility, as I see scientists are trying very hard to disprove vedas which have only 7-12 extant branches left on the last count, down from 1132 during Sage Vyasa's time, possibly because of invasions on Bharat,, and many more branches that missed the Sage's edits. In sum, during Bharat's indentured period the invaders usurped the vedic knowledge and claimed it as their own by touting the observe-theorize-predict-experiment paradigm without due credit to vedas that did all the work.

Regards

Geometry of AI

When we look at Sree Chakra, without its religious symbolism, our initial impression is "rich!" which is the meaning of Sree. Within it there are triangles or two-dimensional projections of pyramids, such as the wonders of the world that are believed to be gateways to the nether world for the rich who can afford. The Chakra in Sanskrit means a "wheel" that connotes circular motion or cyclical nature of the world.

Economists, meteorologists, astrologers, statisticians et al. predict many future events based on the cycles of market indexes, weather conditions, planetary orbits, and so on. A favorable planetary transit, for instance in Hora Astrology, is indicated by a sine curve with increasing amplitude on the positive side of the horizontal axis. Whereas the same sine curve trending below the horizontal axis is considered as misfortune. The famous bell curve that segregates highly intelligent people from the rest in any given environment is a snapshot of a much larger cyclical pattern.

The geometric shapes of hindu temples have been depicted in the agama sastra. Applied to domestic conditions the same is vaastu. The idea of concentric circles has been around for ages in all cultures but recursion is its relatively new vintage that is demonstrated in the Mandelbrot fractal geometry that leads one to believe god exists in symmetry such as Artha-naareswara in a macroscale and pairs of opposite charges or spin in the subatomic scale. The endless universes traversed in Leelopakhyana of Vasishta Yoga in Ramayana could be the symmetry associated with Russian dolls or the familiar paper weights made of glass depicting snow fall on a house with a similar paper weight that could be an endless recursion. Come to that the snow flake itself is made of repetitive hexagonal patterns.

How about the current buzz in the town AI? First off, the perspicuous market watchers announced the AI companies are trading in a circular fashion feeding into each other from investment into production and back to investment. This is unlike the last century's brilliant tax incentive given to American companies that invest into their own R&D so that the time it takes to train competent people who can earn patents be compensated adequately. AI is anything but. Websites and authors clinging on to copyrights are held up high and dry by the heartless web crawlers and scrapers. The expected digital dividend never came through. In his book Metamagical Themas the author Hofstadter showed a picture of snakes swallowing tails in endless fashion which is AI as of now.

To understand this, one has to explore human nature called lobha. It is one of the arishadvargas which are: kama, krodha, mada, matsara, lobha and moha. As children we have seen adults play a game called "bracket" with their hard-earned money in the hope that a phone message from the "headquarters" would pick them to avail themselves of loans in preference over others. A member requiring an immediate surgery would be overlooked if his neighbor trying to add an extra room to his house was picked. It later morphed into "chit funds" which were regulated by the government much like banks.

In the American context extreme lobha was demonstrated by Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. The dedicated wiki page defines the Ponzi schemes as: "fraudulent investment operations that pay out returns to investors from money paid in by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned from the operation of a business". Pyramid schemes are a variation where "a business structure that pays more for recruiting new members or distributors than it does for selling actual product. Each of these new members usually pay an entrance fee, which is used to pay the people above them." A prominent example with many NRI's involved is Amway.

The list goes on with more sophisticated hawala, money laundering, insider trading, etc. We humans have perfected these so much so that it will be a miracle if AI can figure out the symmetry, specifically geometry in them. So far AI is at best hierarchical like a tree. The chain of reasoning is transferred down all the way from one's terminal to the datacenter and the response is moved up to the top. Chances are if you ask an AI what its geometrical shape is, it wouldn't know.

So to all those calling AI a bubble, one has to say they are like fish unaware of bait and switch. Once humanity is sufficiently addicted to AI, there will be hue and cry about "cartels" dispersing modicums at a speed and rate the internet allows while NIMBY people put up with data centers in their backyards.

Thus, what goes around, comes around is not only just a fancy toy but also a slap on the AI's cheek for not learning or understanding the geometric patterns given down to us from the cosmos starting with Om, Hindu Swastika, Sree Chakra, Chinmudra, Abhayahasta, Devanagari....

Regards

The tattva of Lord Siva as seen through my occult eyes

If you have to defend a lawyer married to a law firm, better start with a resignation. If it sounds silly, so is the soap opera about the Vice President (VP) of the USA who has been subject to a range of accusations from flirting with a widow in public to proselytizing the Second Lady whose roots happen to be from the same town I live in. I don't see nosy reporters or neighbors but have a feeling that as a spouse, mother and a lawyer she knows her rights better than any Juris Doctorate.

I however want to mention a few things from our scripture as seen through my occult glasses. It's quite simple if you can answer: Did Sati Devi marry Lord Siva for his good looks or tattva? It is well known that Lord Siva's tattva in few words is: "not to leave the last child behind". When Bharat was inundated with Vedic chants around the blazing fires of yagnas, who had time for the sanyasis, sadhus, digambaras, and handlers of crematoriums? Yagnas employed various priests, viz. rutvik, adhvaryu, udgata, brahma, hota, etc. Each of them had several assistants to sing, pour ghee into the holy fire, keep the fire from spreading outside the yagna platform, etc. There were others like somayaji where soma means the elixir extracted from a soma plant for the edification of gods led by Indra who was called a Subrahmanya because originally Subrahmanya meant the protector of holy vedas.

The Yagna-Economy flourished with the top of the varna system enjoying the benefits from their holy actions resulting in timely rains, bountiful harvest and overall prosperity. Then came the nagging feeling that all is not as rosy and peachy with those unemployed because vedas were not their cup of tea. A ganapaati might be a great title to possess with thousands of hours of practice reciting vedas, but it won't suit those who want to explore nature, swim in the oceans, gaze at the stars, and so on. Then there are social misfits who steal, pillage, plunder, etc. under intoxication and don't want to do an honest day's work. Some of them could actually be spreading the loot among the deserving poor.

Thus, the vedic period under the leadership of Prajapati had all of the key facets of modern agrarian economy and the concomitant problems. Therefore, it was Lord Siva who provided the last resort for the non-vedics who need someone to take them under the bosom when their atma leaves the mortal realm. There were at least two ways Lord Siva could rescue their souls: one way is to make them join his ganas or security force that protects the righteous and weak; the other way is to make them renounce everything and meditate on the Brahman. The latter are the aforementioned sanyasis, sadhus, digambaras, etc.

Coming back to the previous question, it is obvious to me that Sati Devi understood the tattva behind Lord Siva and considered him on par with or may be more than any vedic god whom her father Daksha Prajapati disapproved of. So in the swayamvaram, even though Lord Siva was not invited by Daksha, she showed her true love by laying the garland on Lord Siva's statue.

I surmise the VP has a similar tattva which is called MAGA or whatever the latest sound-byte is. He wants to change the course of the US loaded with a huge external debt, unregulated border crossings, and unbridled substance abuse to mention a few. His marriage to a telugu brahmin and the resulting progeny, though not exactly MAGA's cover page, provide the guiding star about the multi-polar world we are entering into. The discourse on the Second Lady in social media and elsewhere using epithets like "jeet" (that originated from the slang expression "Did you eat?") could do better.

A couple of closing remarks on "jeet" which means "to win" in Hindi. We have names like "Satrujeet" (conqueror of enemies), "Abhijeet", etc. So why does a Dravidian cohort think "jeet" is offensive? I think it is all posturing, a big-brotherly protective embrace, and the inherent disdain for the Indian national language.

Regards

Is it fair to ask which one of your parents you love most?

Yoga Vasihtyam of Ramayana is a paraphrasing by Maharshi Valmiki of Sage Vasishtya's wisdom. It weaves deep philosophies of the yore with stories and biographies of the Sage's acquaintances. While the stories are mostly about people like Janaka (not Sita's father), Prahlada et al., interestingly there is an exception when the Sage narrates his meeting with Bhushundi who is neither a human nor an animal we know. So the biography of Bhushundi stands out as a metaphor to us just as Vishnu Sarma's Panchatantra allegories.

Bhushundi is born of a crow called Chanda who is a vahana (vehicle) for a goddess in the servitude of Lord Siva called Alambusha. There is no need to confuse with the phrase Chanda-Sasana which means a draconian law or rule passed by Chanda. Nor kusala-chanda and damma-chanda in Budhism which apply to the desire to act. Bushundi's mother is a swan which is a vahana of Goddess Saraswati. Needless to say Bhushund's birth was meant to make history as there was none like him in the netherworld. In the American context, one can loosely translate to offspring from an inter-racial marriage.

Most of all Bhushundi could talk like a human and handle enormous information stored in his memory. Sage Vasishtya meets him atop Vindya mountain in a secluded area under a tree with golden leaves. Bhushundi tells the Sage how he managed to survive devolutions of the worlds at the end of dozens of Kalpas withstanding the powerful elements like fire, wind, etc. He says not just Lord Brahma, even Lords Vishnu and Siva also created the universe in various kalpas. The significance of this needs to be elaborated in the modern context.

When we boot our computers or smartphones there is what is called an operating system (OS) between us and the hardware. It is called by various names like Windows, Android, IOS, etc. It is both real and unreal because it has no physical existence except when its makers want to tweak it and give a newer version supposedly for better man-machine interface. These are what are called software updates that get installed on our machines and phones using internet or wireless connections in the background unbeknownst. The creator, similarly, creates a new Kalpa by tweaking the earlier one presumptuously to make the jivas' lives more happier than sorrowful. If we are lucky enough, our prior karma gets wiped out just as those of Lords Vishnu, Siva and Brahma.

Coming to Bhushundi, he was a master yogi who could do Pranayama (breathing exercises by modulating Pana or inhalation and Apana or exhalation with Rechaka, Kumbhaka, etc.). So the Sage diligently passes on the information to us for longevity and healthfulness. Bushunda, essentially lonely and hopeless without a mate or offspring, thinks the creator gave him a unique birth to serve a higher purpose and wants to fulfill it.

A surprising twist to the story is Bhushundi claims that he met the Sage several times before in each prior Kalpas sharing his story to be told in the Valmiki's Ramayana. He also enlightens the Sage that Lord Rama descended on earth several times in his long life. In other words, like the saying history repeats, some aspects of creation just repeat for no apparent reason presumably for the sake of beings like Bhushundi who were sidelined and serve as mascots of the creator's greatness in tweaking only the minor aspects of the creation keeping the prejudices or biases the same. Call it an old wine in a new bottle or an OS with the same bells and whistles with nuanced colors.

A deeper message is that a highly revered swan or called "hamsa" in Sanskrit, a la the modern day Sage Ramakrishna Parama Hamsa, and an ordinary crow feeding on refuge can generate offspring who are not just participants in making new history but witnesses of the world and most dear to the creator. For how else can the creator meld and weld the genetic codes that seem to come from a random mixing of species in a rave party (that's where Bushunda's parents got intoxicated as narrated by the Sage) and Darwin's theories of survival of the fittest just scratch the surface? As Frost said "Miles to Go" before the societies like America, divided along racial and color lines, have the forbearance to read and analyze the story of Bhushundi.

Regards

Wendy Doniger Rig Veda on Death - V

Table Of Contents

CREATION
CREATION - II
Death
Death - 2
Death - 3
Death - 4

సృష్టి
సృష్టి -- II
మృత్యువు
మృత్యువు -2
మృత్యువు -3
మృత్యువు -4

10.154   Funeral Hymn

10.154   చరమ గీతము

The hymn begins with a distinction between levels of spiritual attainment and then asks that the dead man be sent to live among those who are distinguished in one way or another.

ఈ ఋక్కు ఆధ్యాత్మిక పథములో ఉన్నవారాలలోని తారతమ్యాల గురించి వివరిస్తుంది. మృతుని ఉత్తమ పురుషుల వద్దకు పంపమని ప్రార్థిస్తుంది.

1 For some, the Soma is purified; others sit down for butter.¹ Those for whom honey flows² – let the dead man go away straight to them.

1. కొంత మందికి సోమ రసము శుద్ధి చేయబడుతుంది. మరికొందరికై నెయ్య ¹ చేయబడుతుంది. ఇంకొందరికి తేనె ప్రవాహము ² కలుగజేయబడుతుంది. అట్టి వారల వద్దకు మృతుని పంపమని ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాము.

2 Those who became invincible through sacred heat,³ who went to the sun through sacred heat, who made sacred heat their glory – let him go away straight to them.

3. ఎవరైతే తీవ్రమైన ఉష్ణోగ్రతను ³ అధిగమించేరో, సూర్యుని తీవ్రతని సహించేరో, తీవ్రమైన వేడి తమ పరమావధిగా భావించేరో, అట్టి వారల వద్దకు మృతుని పంపమని ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాము.

3 Those who fight in battles as heroes, who sacrifice their bodies, or those who give thousands to the priests – let him go away straight to them.

3. ఎవరైతే వీరోచితంగా యుద్ధాలలో పోరాడేరో, తమ శరీరాలను ఆహుతి చేసుకొన్నారో, లేదా పురోహితులకు సమృద్ధిగా దక్షిణలు ఇచ్చేరో, మృతుని వారి వద్దకు పంపమని ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాము.

4 Those who first nursed Order, who had Order and made Order grow great, the fathers full of sacred heat, O Yama – let him go away straight to them.

4.యమ ధర్మరాజా, ఎవరైతే క్రమ పద్దతిని సంరక్షించేరో, తమలో క్రమాన్ని పాటించేరో, క్రమాన్ని ఉన్నతమైనదిగా చేసేరో, అట్టి పవిత్రమైన తాపము గల పితృదేవతల వద్దకు మృతుని చేర్చు.

5 Those inspired poets who know a thousand ways, who protect the sun, the seers full of sacred heat, O Yama -let him go away to those who are reborn through sacred heat.

5. ఉత్సాహవంతులు, వివిధములైన పద్దతులు తెలిసిని కవులు, సూర్యుని సంరక్షించేవారు, పవిత్రమైన దేహోష్ణము గలిగి, తద్వారా పునర్జన్మ పొందేవారల వద్దకు మృతుని పంపమని ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాము.

NOTES

వివరణ

1. A distinction between the foods of the gods and the dead fathers. Cf. 10.14.3. and 10.135.1. Though both groups eat both foods, Soma is ambrosia for the gods, while butter is human food for the semi-divine fathers.

1.దేవతలు ఆరగించే ఆహారము, మరణించిన పితరులు గ్రహించే ఆహారము మధ్య తేడా సూచింపబడినది (10.14.3, 10.135.1). ఇరువురూ రెండు రకాల ఆహారము భుజించిననూ, సోమ రసము దేవతలకు, నెయ్య మొదట మానవులు, అటు పిదప పితృదేవతలైన వారలకై సూచింపబడినది.

2. As honey (Soma) is better than butter, the dead man hopes to go to the gods.

2. తేనె (సోమ రసము) నెయ్యకన్నా ఉత్తమమైనది కావున మృతుడు దేవతల వద్దకు చేరవలెనని ఆశిస్తాడు.

3. Tapas, the heat generated by religious activity. Cf. 10.190.

3. తపస్సు అనగా తాపము కలిగించే క్రియ సూచింపబడినది. (10.190).

Atheism in Yoga Vasishtyam?

Sage Vasishta in Book 5, Chapter 13, Verse 9-10:

They who place their reliance upon faith in gods and depend upon them to fulfill their desires and future rewards are perverted in their understanding and cannot be heirs to immortality.

He is saved from misery in this ocean of the world by reliance on his own reasoning and resignation, and by his spiritual vision of the Supreme Spirit.

The above verses clearly are advocating atheism. Assuming these are translations from Sanskrit, we can blame it on the author. The larger point most people miss is Sanskrit is prone to serious misunderstandings with its complex grammar. I am not a scholar, but let's say in the last century when messages called telegrams were sent with Morse code, we received a message "Sita vets Rama". On the first glance it is clear to us the verb "vet" doesn't apply here as neither of them is a veteran nor a veterinarian. How about "wet"? Plausible but there is no need for urgency in communicating an ordinary occurrence. So we think "weds" is the proper meaning of the message with some degree of probability.

Applied to our scripture, many Sanskrit verses are like Morse code messages. The founder of an online Applied Vedic Sciences university claimed millions of interpretations for a single vedic verse. Even befuddled Sanskrit scholars while reading vedas, use a guide-book called Niruktam written by Sayana Maharshi, for arriving at proper interpretation. So a case can be made that there is no atheism in Yoga Vasishtyam in particular. So what is the correct interpretation?

Lord Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita many times that he is not a demi-god but won't condemn demi-god worship (verses at the end) or vedic rituals. Notice the difference between Lord Rama, to whom Sage Vasishta was teaching in the above verses eons ago, and Krishna who was addressing Arjuna in MahaBharata. It is possible that there were no demi-gods like Indra, Varuna, etc. in Treta yuga when Ramayana took place millions of years ago. Nor even vedas that are as young as 5000 years (though smriti could be much older) and came into existence with Sage Vyasa's compilation.

Now a few words about the economy of gods. Lord Krishna basically said "You worship any demi-god you want but I am the one granting you the karma phala". Let's say you spend a hundred rupees to travel to Tirupati mainly as a pleasure trip and to visit Lord Venkateswara's temple in Tirumala. On the way you visit Kanipakam Vighneswara, Kalahasti Isvara, etc. If you think each of the deities grants you hundred rupees, then an economist would say "Since you increased the velocity of money you deserve a larger return, but can't tell you how much". Lord Krishna, on the other hand, might have contracts with each of the deities thereby granting you a pre-destined result that is net positive in your account.

All this temple business makes an atheist leap up and say "See I told you this is a racket and exists only to make money by the temple trustees, purohits and management". I think Sage Vasishta would agree and Lord Krishna would claim even an atheist following "swadharma" comes under his patronage.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 10.2) “I alone am the origin of all those celestial beings (demigods) and sages.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 3.10-11) “In the beginning (of creation), (by My arrangement) Lord Brahma manifested the progeny of the world, along with sacrifices. He instructed them thus: ‘Take shelter of this religious principle of sacrifice (yajna); prosper and flourish. May such sacrifice be the granter of all the things you desire. Satisfy the demigods by sacrifices, and may they satisfy you by bestowing upon you your desired ends. In this way, by mutually satisfying one another, you will be the gainers of great auspiciousness.’”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 3.12-13) “Satisfied by sacrifices, the demigods (My worldly representatives, the limbs of My universal form) will bestow upon you the ends you desire to enjoy. One who (selfishly) enjoys what is granted by the demigods without making (corresponding) offerings to them, is a thief. Virtuous persons are liberated from all sins arising from exploitation of other living entities by subsisting (solely) upon the remnants of sacrifices (that they make to the demigods). Yet those who prepare food (partake of the fruits of their actions) for their own selfish pleasure (alone) partake only of sin.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.21) “I (as the Supersoul dwelling within their heart) make firm the faith of any devotee who desires to faithfully worship any of the demigods (as all demigods are forms of Myself).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.22) “Being endowed with firm faith (by My grace), such devotees worship the demigods (of their choice) and obtain all their desired ends (from those demigods) by My arrangement (as I am also situated as the Supersoul within the hearts of the demigods).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.23) “Those who devote themselves to the demigods have only meagre intelligence and obtain (only) fruits that are temporary (invariably subject to destruction). The worshippers of the demigods go the (abode of) the demigods, but My devotees come to Me (My supra-mundane abode).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.20) “Persons whose conscience (jnanah) is stolen away (hrita) by material desires (kama) worship various demigods (gods other than Myself) and follow the particular rules and regulations (niyamas) of worship which correspond to the ends they desire, being governed by their own (conditioned) natures (prakriti).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 4.12) “In the human world, persons who desire the fruits of their actions worship the various demigods (by making sacrifices unto them). (This is because) within the human world fruits produced by actions (such as enjoyment, entrance into heaven and so forth) materialize very quickly.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.25) “The worshipers of the demigods go to (the planet of) the demigods, the worshipers of the ancestors go to (the planet of) the ancestors, the worshipers of ghosts go to (the plane of) the ghosts and those who worship Me come to Me (My supra-mundane abode)”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.20) “Persons who perform sacrifices described in the three Vedas (the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas) worship Me (in My forms as the various demigods). They drink soma after completing their sacrifices, become purified of sin and pray to ascend to the heavenly planets (the abodes of the demigods—svarga-loka). As a result of their piety, they reach the abode of Indra and the other demigods (surendra-loka) and enjoy all the wonderful pleasures of the demigods in heaven (divya deva-bhoga).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.21) “After enjoying the vast heavenly plane (svarga-loka), upon the exhaustion of their pious merits (punya) they return to the human plane (the mortal world—martya-loka) In this way, persons desiring material enjoyment who follow the Vedic rituals for demigod worship (simply) come and go—they achieve nothing more than continuing to revolve through the cycle of birth and death in this material world”

Regards

Did Sage Parasara discover celestial patterns or command celestials to follow his sutras?

Did Sage Parasara discover celestial patterns or command celestials to follow his sutras?

Astrology is a vast subject that requires no introduction. Marriages, thread ceremonies (upanayana), projects, etc. are carried out by the believers based on astrology. Though astrology applies to all castes, cultures and races, jyotish is mainly for hindus in particular and Indians in general, where some believe it has vedic origins. That is like limiting the origin of jyotish to the time period of vedas. But creation is older than that. Hence, stars and planets could already be in existence when Sage Parasara codified jyotish, since he was the father of Veda Vyasa whose birth took place 5000 years ago.

On the other hand, Sage Parasara was the earliest human to command the respect of celestials who fell into his expectations to deliver karma phala (fruit of karma) to humans. Before him, the celestials could have just existed as dhooma (dust cloud) which eventually coalesced into the stars and planets as we have come to know.

We can for now set aside the seed first or tree first question and proceed to understanding jyotish. After Sage Parasara came Sage Jaimini (0-250 BCE). He gave to mankind Jaimini Sutras or Upadesa Sutras consisting of 936 sutras or concise expressions, divided into four chapters. The guruparampara can be traced to modern times. Luminaries like Santhanam, Raman, et al. brought us in print and discourse the various sutras collated over centuries.

An important aspect of jyotish is karma phala. According to Brihat Parasara, celestials exist to disperse karma phala. For example, a soul is born into a royal family when the jyotish of the King, Queen and the native (the soul in question) match as per the sutras of Sage Parasara. This raises the question, how do celestials determine the exact time of birth among other things like latitude, longitude, etc. The Brihat Parasara says it is based on the coitus muhurt which we think is random. However, the birth is not always a random event as our puranas testify. Aditya (Sun) was delivered much after the trimester by the will of parents. The modern day caesarean deliveries at the precise time and location are well known.

All births are not the same. A blind child is born to perfectly fit parents because of the karma of the child and the family it is born into. A child could die prematurely contributing to infant mortality (which Brihat Parasara delineates at length). A vaccinated child could also acquire the illness and perish if the celestials decide that the soul had exhausted its karma and could move on to the next stage of evolution on the karmic ladder. For example, it could ascend to heaven, while the bereaved parents remain on earth to experience prarabda karma.

Are the celestials only capable of granting karma phala? Many of our stotras say a goddess such as Lalita Devi is "karma phala dayinee" or the disperser of karma phala. How could that happen? Imagine a devotee of Lalita Devi offering astute prayers by waking up early, making ablutions and performing pooja every day. Over a period of time his karma phala vis-a-vis Lalita devi accrues and being a generous goddess she wants the devotee to gain a rupee. A planet like Sani might feel that is excessive, and take away 50 paise. Others like Venus might want to contribute 25 paise and so on. Eventually the devotee may get just 10% which is still a credit on the positive side for the effort he put in. If he had performed sahasra namas (1000 names) set to raga with complete understanding of chandas then he could be offered Rs.10 by the goddess. And 10% of it is bigger than 10 paise. It is to be noted that the planets while contributing or debiting the amount still follow Sage Parasara's sutras. That is, planet Ketu remains neutral if the Kundli or natal horoscope does not show a Ketu dasa or aspect at the time the devotee was rewarded by the goddess while Sani and Venus aspect or carry out the dasa at the time of goddesse's benevolence.

No discussion on jyotish is complete without remedies. A graha santi is the ritual to appease the planets to either accentuate the reward or mitigate the punishment. Some jyotish's recommend donating wealth or wearing gem stones of certain color both of which come as sharing one's wealth with the less fortunate (a gem stone could be mined in Africa, polished in Gujarat and set into jewelry in Andhra Pradesh, thus benefiting the whole supply chain).

Now coming to the seed or tree question, we all know Newton's laws provided the first known laws of nature including the celestials. Does it mean Newton created a law that celestials didn't follow? Hardly, as he was credited for discovering the laws of motion and gravitational effects. This is important for the scientists among us to know. Whereas, Sage Parasara set the celestials to motion in fixed orbits so that they can dispense good or bad to the humans under their influence based on their deeds in previous birth and current birth. One can say the ambit of Sage Parasara goes from macroscopic to microscopic by even influencing the ganas of Lord Siva who are believed to cause happiness and misery. So nothing is outside the ken of the Sage! Of course, the celestials follow his sutras diligently and those deities with free-will do so based on their own preferences.

Regards

Wendy Doniger Rig Veda on Death - IV

Table Of Contents

CREATION
CREATION - II
Death
Death - 2
Death - 3

సృష్టి
సృష్టి -- II
మృత్యువు
మృత్యువు -2
మృత్యువు -3

10.18   Burial Hymn

10.18   ఖననము

This evocative hymn contains several references to symbolic gestures that may well have been accompanied by rituals similar to those known to us from later Vedic literature. But the human concerns of the hymn are vividly accessible to us, whatever the ritual may have been.

ఈ ఋక్కులో అనేకమైన విషయాలు తదుపరి వచ్చిన వైదిక వాఙ్మయములోని ఆచారాలకు నాంది. ఏ ఆచారమైనా, మానవతా దృక్పథంలో అందరికీ వర్తిస్తుంది.

1 Go away, death, by another path that is your own, different from the road of the gods. I say to you who have eyes, who have ears : do not injure our children or our men.

1. వెళ్లిపో మృత్యువా, దేవతల పథం కాని నీ బాటను నువ్వు వెళ్ళు. కళ్ళు, చెవులు కలిగియున్న నిన్ను మా పిల్లలకు, పెద్దలకు ప్రమాదము కలిగించవద్దని ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాను

2 When you¹ have gone, wiping away the footprint of death,² stretching farther your own lengthening span of life, become pure and clean and worthy of sacrifice, swollen with off spring and wealth.

2. నీవు¹వెళ్ళిన తరువాత, మాకు మృత్యు భయము లేక, ఆయుషు పెరిగి, పరిశుద్ధతను పొంది, యజ్ఞములు ఆచరించి, వంశ మరియు ధన అభివృద్ధిని పొందెదము.

3 These who are alive have now parted from those who are dead. Our invitation to the gods has become auspicious today. We have gone forward to dance and laugh, stretching farther our own lengthening span of life.

3. బ్రతికున్న వారు మరణించిన వారల దారి నుండి మరలిరి. దేవతలకు మా విన్నపములు నేడు శుభమైనవి. మేము ఆట పాటలతో ముందుకు సాగుతున్నాము. తద్వారా ఆయుషును పెంపొందించుకుంటున్నాము.

4 I set up this wall³ for the living, so that no one else among them will reach this point. Let them live a hundred full autumns and bury death in this hill.⁴

4. నేను ఈ గోడను³ బ్రతికున్నవారికై నిర్మించేను. వారు ఎన్నటికీ దీనిని చేరకూడదు. వారు దీర్ఘాయుషు కలిగి మృత్యువును ఈ కొండలో పాతి పెట్టెదరు గాక⁴.

5 As days follow days in regular succession, as seasons come after seasons in proper order, in the same way order their life-spans, O Arranger, so that the young do not abandon the old.

5. ఒక క్రమంలో రోజు తరువాత రోజు వస్తోంది, ఋతువు తరువాత ఋతువు వస్తోంది. ఆ విధంగానే ఆయుషు కూడా తరాలతో ముడిపడి ఉంది. ఎందుకంటే వృద్ధులను చిన్న తరంవారు వొదిలి పెట్టకుండేందుకు.

6 Climb on to old age, choosing a long life-span, and follow in regular succession, as many as you are. May Tvastr who presides over good births be persuaded to give you a long life-span to live.

6. మిక్కలి ఆయుషును ఆశించి, క్రమ పద్దతిలో అందరూ వృద్ధాప్యాన్ని ఆహ్వానించండి. శుభకరమైన శిశువుల జన్మములకు కారణభూతుడైన త్వత్సరుడు మీకు చిరాయువును ఇచ్చు గాక.

7 These women who are not widows, who have good husbands – let them take their places, using butter to anoint their eyes.⁵ Without tears, without sickness, well dressed let them first⁶ climb into the marriage bed.

7. వితంతువులు కాని, సుమంగళులయిన మహిళలు, వారి కన్నులకు నెయ్య రాసుకొని ⁵ తమ తమ స్థానాలను పొందెదరు గాక. అశ్రువులు రాల్చక, వ్యాధిగ్రస్తులు గాక, ఆకర్షణీయమైన దుస్తులతో వివాహ తల్పమును అధిష్టించెదరు గాక⁶.

8 Rise up, woman,⁷ into the world of the living. Come here; you are lying beside a man whose life’s breath has gone. You were the wife of this man who took your hand and desired to have you.

8. మేల్కొనుము మహిళా⁷. బ్రతికున్నవారల ప్రపంచమును గాంచు. నీవు మృత శరీరమును అంటిపెట్టుకొని ఉన్నావు. అతడు నిన్ను కాంక్షించి, వివాహము చేసికొన్నది గతంలో కలిసిపోయింది.

9 I take the bow from the hand of the dead man,⁸ to be our supremacy and glory and power, and I say, ‘You are there; we are here. Let us as great heroes conquer all envious attacks.’

9. నేను మృతుని చేతినుండి విల్లును గ్రహించి⁸ మన ఆధిపత్యాన్ని, కీర్తిని, శక్తిని ఇలా చాటుతాను: "నీవు అచ్చట ఉన్నావు. మేము ఇక్కడ ఉన్నాము. మనము ఘనమైన వీరుల లాగ మనలను ద్వేషించే వారలను అణచి వేసెదము"

10 Creep away to this broad, vast earth, the mother that is kind and gentle. She is a young girl, soft as wool to anyone who makes offerings;⁹ let her guard you from the lap of Destruction.¹⁰

10. సువిశాలమైన, కారుణ్యముతో గూడిన, మృదువైన భూమాత తలములోకి వ్యాపించు. ఆమె ఒక బాలిక వంటిది. ప్రార్ధించిన వారలయందు ఉన్ని కన్నా సున్నితమైన హృదయంతో కరుణిస్తుంది. ఆమె నిన్ను పతనము నుండి రక్షించుగాక¹⁰.

11 Open up, earth; do not crush him. Be easy for him to enter and to burrow in. Earth, wrap him up as a mother wraps a son in the edge of her skirt.

11. భూమతా తెరచుకో. మృతుడు నీలో ప్రవేశించుటకు, తల దాచుకొనుటకు త్రోవనివ్వు. ఎలాగైతే ఒక తల్లి బిడ్డను చీర కొంగుతో చుట్టుతుందో, మృతుని చుట్టుకో.

12 Let the earth as she opens up stay firm, for a thousand pillars must be set up.¹¹ Let them be houses dripping with butter for him, and let them be a refuge for him here for all his days.

12. భూమి తెరచుకొన్నప్పుడు దిట్టముగా నుండు గాక. ఎందుకంటే వేల స్థంబాలు ఇక్కడ స్థాపింప బడతాయి¹¹. అవి మృతునకై నెయ్యను వర్షించే గృహములు కాగలవు. వానికి అవే ఆధారం.

13 I shore up the earth all around you;¹² let me not injure you as I lay down this clod of earth. Let the fathers hold up this pillar for you ; let Yama build a house for you here.

13. నీ చుట్టూ మట్టిని తవ్వుతున్నాను¹². నిన్ను గాయపరచ కుండా ఈ మట్టి పెళ్లను ఉంచుతున్నాను. పితరులు ఈ స్థంబాన్ని నీకై ఎత్తి పెట్టెదరు గాక. యమధర్మరాజు నీకై ఇచ్చట గృహమును నిర్మించెదడు గాక.

14 On a day that will come, they will lay me in the earth, like the feather of an arrow.¹³ I hold back speech that goes against the grain,¹⁴ as one would restrain a horse with a bridle.

14. ఏదో ఒక రోజు నన్ను కూడా ఒక బాణము యొక్క రేంద్రము వలె (సున్నితంగా) భూమిలో పాతెదరు. నేను నా వాక్కును కళ్ళెముతో వెనక్కి లాగబడిన గుర్రము వలె నిగ్రహించుకొనెదను¹⁴.

NOTES

వివరణ

1. The hymn, that began by addressing death directly, now addresses the company of the mourners.

1. ఈ ఋక్కు ప్రారంభములో మృత్యు దేవతను ఉద్దేశించి, ఇప్పుడు విచారముతో కూడియున్న బంధుమిత్రులను ఉద్దేశించి చెప్పబడినది.

2. There may have been a ritual to erase the footprints of the mourners, or it may be a simple and straightforward metaphor for the end of mourning.

2. సంతాపముతో కూడియున్న వారల కాలిజాడలు చెరిపివేసే ఆచారము ఉండియుండ వచ్చు. లేదా ఇది మృతునికై శోకముతో చేసే మైల పరిసమాప్త మగుటను సూచించి యుండ వచ్చు.

3. Perhaps a stone to mark the boundary of the world of death.

3. బహుశా మృతుని ఖననము చేసిన పిదప అమర్చిన సమాధి రాయి కావచ్చు.

4. The mound over the grave.

4. సమాధిపై యున్న మట్టి దిబ్బ

5. Ritually purified butter would be used instead of mascara or eye-shadow to protect the women among the mourners.

5. పరిశుద్ధపరచిన నెయ్య కాటుక బదులుగా శోకతప్తులైన మహిళల బధ్రతకై కళ్ల క్రింద రాయబడి ఉండవచ్చు.

6. That is, long before they climb into old age or the grave.

6. వృద్ధాప్యము, సమాధి బహు దూరములో యున్నవని సూచించబడినది.

7. The wife of the dead man, who lay down beside him (perhaps miming copulation, as the queen later did with the dead stallion), until called back with this verse.

7.మృతుని భార్య మృత దేహము ప్రక్కన కొంతకాలముగా పరుండి యుండవచ్చు (బహుశా తరువాత చెప్పబడిన రాణి యొక్క మరణించిన మొగ గుర్రముతో సంయోగము)

8. Probably only done when the dead man was a warrior.

8. బహుశా మృతుడు ఒక వీరుడు కావచ్చు.

9. That is, to any generous sacrificer, not merely to someone who makes offerings to the earth.

9. కేవలము భూమాతకి అర్పించు వాడేగాక, యజ్ఞము నాచరించువాడు కావచ్చు.

10. Destruction (Nirrti) is the female personification of disorder and disintegration, in contrast with the orderly and peaceful aspects of death.

10. క్రమ బద్ధమైన, శాంతియుతమైన అంత్యక్రియలతో పోలిస్తే మహిళా శక్తి అక్రమము లేదా విచ్చేదము కలిగి యుండి నాశము చేయునని సూచింపబడినది.

11. The metaphorical house built by Yama for the dead man, perhaps symbolized by the urn containing his bones (or his cremated ashes) placed in the earth.

11. అస్తికలతో నింపబడిన పాత్రను భూమిలో పాతుటను యమధర్మరాజు మృతునికై కట్టు గృహమని ఉపమానముగా చెప్పబడినది.

12. The dead man is addressed again.

12. మరల మృతుని ఉద్దేశించి చెప్పబడినది.

13. An elliptic metaphor, perhaps referring to the way the feather is stuck into the cleft made for it in the arrow, or as a feather floats gently down to earth when it is freed from the arrow.

13. ఇది ఒక ప్రత్యేక ఉపమానము. ఎట్లనగా "రాజు సింహము వలె పోరాడెను" అని చెప్పుటకు బదులు "రాజసింహము పోరాడెను" అని చెప్పుట. బాణములో కల్పింప బడిన రంధ్రములో రేంద్రము యున్నట్టు లేదా ఒక బాణముతో విడిబడిన ఈక నెమ్మదిగా భూమిపై వ్రాలుట.

14. Perhaps a reference to the poet’s satisfaction in having made a good hymn, or his pleasure in returning now to more auspicious subjects, or a statement that the rest is silence. Most likely, a command to remain silent lest one say something ill-omened.

14.ద్రష్ట తన గీతము చక్కగా వచ్చినదని సంతృప్తిని వ్యక్త పరచుట. లేదా శుభకరమైన విషయాలను చెప్పుటకు ఉపక్రమించుట. లేదా మిగిలినది నిశ్శబ్దము మాత్రమే అని సూచించుట. బహుశా అపశకునపు మాటలు రాకుండా మౌనము వహించుట సూచితమైనది.