Have you every worshipped xxx... welcome to my group (Adults only)

Now its approx 11.30 p.m. and I am writing this blog. I am not exactly in a sexually inclined mood now (though my topic title would resemble so).

Neither am I going to write something on Vatsyayana's works (in btw, eventhough I havent read the entire text, the first part 5 chapters are drafted well.. which talks about the generic nature of human and the purpose of life in a very simple way.. according to me, its a gateway to the past)

For a long time, what I am discussing here is guarded as an evident secret.. I mean that which is evident, but still not talked of. That which everyone sees everywhere, which forms part of life but was not spoken of. Definitely I am not talking about sex here.

Indian way of worshipping is, so far, subject to higher level of criticisms in terms of blind believes, etc. Modern thinkers feel that worshipping should be more logical (involves mental part and not too much of emotional parts). But name any temple in India, you will find only the emotional part standing up first; a story attached to that temple (say, an epic related one); some guy was in trouble for sometime and the Deity came up for the rescue. Hence the temple.

Different Gods, different names, different postures, different purpose and they are all for different devotees.. But then there was one form of God which is a tremendous perception of ancient Indians.. that of Lord Shiva.. Now I am not speaking about the one with four hands, riding on an Ox and slays the demons.

I am talking about the simple form of Linga (an Inverted "U" with a base), which has been a topic of meditation from time immemorial in India.

This Lingam has two parts - one is an inverted U (cylindrical formation) and a base (most commonly referred to as Aavudai). The prayers on Lingam has been found in both Yajur Veda (Upanishads) and also in Atharvana Veda. This is the form that is a representation of Lord Shiva, is said to be fit for meditation practice.

On a careful look, it appears to me (rather its an accepted proposition) that this inverted U would resemble the male genital and the base (Aavudai) would represent the femal organ - the combo of these two signifying creation.

I cannot just imagine a set of people who dare to think on a sexual process as a form of God and start building temples on that - as I said, something which is made public but not spoken of. I could say that this is the most abstract form of worship.. to mean that I pray the act of creation. We dont talk sex here but we talk pure logic.

Further an irony is that in sanskrit the term "Linga" could mean a mark or a cylinder or a male sex organ. I could say that there is every possibility that this shape of God could only mean a Union, nothing else. That can be male and female; or can be perceived as space and time; or whatever.

But the fact remains that we people are too good in visualising and abstractions.

Let see further.

All about kasmaalam

daye "kasmaalam".. said a rickshaw-man in Triplicane addressing a fellow guy

but what exactly "kasmaalam" means.. roughly i could recap what my paatti said when i have stomach ache.. "jeernam kashmala dhooshitham"... could that mean waste, scraps? bingo..well, it could mean that.

so a rickshawman speaking sanskrit as his slang? wow!! so what.. when a robber could write an epic (i mean wall-mickey here).. whats so aweful in rickshawman speaking sanskrit?

sanskrit has always been my subject of awe from childhood. Panini, who wrote first grammar book on Sanskrit (Vyakarana-sutra) says that Lord Shiva when struck his udukkai for 14 times came the first 14 syllables of this Language. I was told by one ayurvedic doctor that these syllables are now being used in Osmania university for treating hearing impaired, as these resemble originating syllables.

Neural pathway... that which connects different neurons in our body.. which transmits brain signals to various nervous systems and vice versa. Like my hand says "its heat", the msg carried over to the brain and the brain says "remove your hand".

from our childhood, we keep on sending and receiving signals thru this pathway and at some point of time this pathways dominate our emotions.. !!

what i mean here is, if i were to be arrogant throughout my childhood, even if i want to be soft, the pathways are not used to send these signals, which it feels abnormal. instantly those kind of softer emotions stop at the brain's end without being reacted or expressed.

probably our rishis are of the view that the neural pathway can be opened up by mantras.. making the emotional flows more flexible.

I believe this is the only language wherein you have a meaning for an alphabet (or a syllable to be more specific)... "ring" means to destroy, "vu" means "only for" and it goes on.

the pranavam and the gayathri mantra are the best examples of mantras having significant impact on brain's impulses and increasing seratonin (by the by let me introduce you to a liquid that is secreted in the brain which will reduce the stress levels - mr. seratonin)

But vedic tradition says - Mananat thrayathe ithi - Mantraha (that which saves (thrayate) by constant recollection (mananat)).. it gives best results only when thought (not said)...

but today i feel that most of the mantras have been publicized or rather made in mp4 forms.. as ringtones, calling bells, four wheeler reverse tones, etc.. ooof!! crazy people

on the contrary we have sthothras.. which can be recited. but we have that in pdf.. full stop... almost many of the sthothras are becoming extinct nowadays.

more research on language to make.. lets see

The Cultural Exchange

When I was in my Class 5, if I remember right, I learnt in my history that the Aryans were the native Middle East or Farther East ppl. They took over India. Native Indians at that time were Dravidians. The Aryans drove the Dravidians to the southern part of the Nation and they occupied the Northern Part. Full stop the story.

I was really interested in this story and thought I could learn it more... Thats the time I was introduced to Max Muller (whom I would call as Mooksha Moolachariar) and his book on "the Sacred Book of the East", where he clearly states that Aryans had the book - the Rig veda, Indra refers to the God of Destruction, whom they worshipped and they drove away the Dravidians who were living in the Northern part of India.

Good one.

But one more controversial book that I read written by Swami Vivekananda wherein he says that the Mooksha Moolachariar is neither a Historian nor an Indian. How come his theory be accepted and being taught in schools.. His theory is basically intented to divide and rule India and take away the prestige of Vedas and other Scriptures out of India, by dis-associating it from the Home Land.

Following are the facts to support this:
(a) The word "Aryan" is a term coined by Mooksha Moolar and not in Vedas. There was no race called as an aryan race as proposed in vedas. Only once in Ramayana the term has been used to denote Rama (as the word arya means one who is high born or disciplined)

(b) The Aryans called the river Saraswathi (now extinct) and Ganga as the Holiest rivers. Had they been originally from middle-east or still farther, why would their scriptures refer to a place in India as being holy.

(c) Remember Mohenjo-daro and Harappa..The earliest civilisations in India.. Indus valley civilisations. Mooksha Moolar says that it belongs to India and has been devastated by the invaded Aryans. If so, how come that the city is originally constructed according to vedic principles. If Aryans brought in Vedas to India and Harappa was there at that time, then its clearly a contradiction to say that the existing Indus valley civilisation confirms with Vedic Principles.

and on and on.. Swami Vivekananda concludes that the Vedic tradition has its roots in India.

Still I want to know further on this and am reading.

Recently I came across a great cultural exchange.. around 1200 BC a battle being fought in the city of Kadesh (in Syria) between two Egyptian kings. The battle ended with a peace treaty and that treaty has been documented in a stone tablet... in that stone it is inscribed that 100 male and female gods of Iran are the witness to the treaty along with Yama, Varuna and Aswins.

I was stumped to hear that translation as it makes me very clear that there has been a cultural exchange (could be from there to here or from here to there).

Cannot conclude anything now on this.. but i am continuing my pursuit of seeking.

A Kick Start

Indian... Hindu... Punjabi... Sikh... Seth...Brahman... All these words are words for Identification. To locate a particular person.

But how far these words are relevant in current day's context? I really dont know the answer.

My cousin lives in Dubai and he is there for the past 30+ years. He went there when he was 23. He has no plans to return to India. All the more I would call him a Dubai citizen rather than an Indian. But whenever he visits my home, he doesnt seems to me like a foreigner. Like, I dont treat him like a foreigner. Not becoz hes my cousin. I hardly saw him 4 times in my life. Still he is born and brought up in India. This makes me feel that he still belong to the clan to which I belong.

So does it means that the place of birth matters? So if someone is born of a particular place, religion, caste, he belong to that? Or is that any kind of embracement that we do, which decides who we are? A cat is always a cat no matter how loud it tries to roar.

India is a country where every religion, caste is fixed upon birth. Even I was told that the so called Vedas speaks of the same thing.

The first qn that I need to answer myself, is that "who am I". I dont mean any philosophical qn. here. By default am I structured any way, am I configured already or am I too flexible enough to take the form that I want.

This blog of mine is an attempt to understand the History of India (I mean the cultural history), the mind-set of people, who are my so-called ancestors, what did they achieve, that they tried to communicate to us, to pass on the next generation, etc.

Any piece of info abt the Indian culture, that I feel attractive and not so normal, I am presenting it here.

Lets seek.