The draft has been sitting and doing very little for 2 years - over 40,000 words and a few maps that I created.disha wrote: Can you, even if it is a scan post all of it? We will collectively figure out a way to put this together cohesively.
It was more for verbal use against a guy who keeps bugging my wife with AIT nonsense (I'm never around when he does). She gave it back to him good a couple of times, and he stopped for the moment, but then he brings it up again at an opportune time.Nilesh Oak wrote:Sudarshan,
You may want to write a footnote (whereever you use the bullets) stating.. from the upcoming book by Shiv XXXX. It then creates another online imprint of original contributor. just my $0.02.
Nilesh
Thanks for sharing. I understand now why it is on-off for last two years - it is extremely well researched (of course you already know that!shiv wrote: A link to the pdf version of the latest draft is below. Pardon the typos, occasional (rare)blank pages and repeated paragraphs.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3JNY4 ... sp=sharing
)A Buddhist academic has said a 200-year-old mummified monk discovered in Mongolia may not be dead but in a "very deep meditation".The preserved body was discovered in the lotus position, covered in animal hide, last week in the Songinokhairkhan district, close to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.Forensic examinations are being carried out on the remains, which investigators believe belong to a man who may have been a Lama, or a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism.Now, an expert has claimed the monk may have been in a rare spiritual state known as "tukdam".
Ganhugiyn Purevbata, founder and professor of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, told The Siberian Times: "Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes of the preaching Sutra."This is a sign that the Lama is not dead, but is in a very deep meditation according to the ancient tradition of Buddhist lamas."
The mummified remains have reportedly been taken for examination at the Ulaanbataar National Centre of Forensic Expertise, according to The Telegraph. It has been suggested the mummified monk was a teacher of the Buryat Buddhist Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was born in 1852, and was reported to have died in 1927 while meditating.It is understood the body was reburied in a coffin packed with salt and left until 2002 when it was once again exhumed, 75 years after Itigilov's death. When his body was examined by Buddhist monks in 1955 and again in 1973, Itigilov apparently remained in the lotus position and his body did not appear to show signs of decay.It is understood the body was reburied in a coffin packed with salt and left until 2002 when it was once again exhumed, 75 years after Itigilov's death.According to a 2002 report in the The New York Times, a dozen witnesses were on hand to see the body had remained preserved.Vladislav L. Kozeltsev, an expert at the Centre for Biomedical Technologies, told the paper the preservation of the body may have been due to a defect in a gene in Itigilov's body which hastened the decomposition of cells after death.He said while the salt in the coffin may have played a part in slowing decay, other factors may have included the soil and the coffin's condition, adding the possibility of "some secret process of embalming" could not be ruled out.
Delhi University’s Sanskrit department will soon embark on an ambitious project to provide a “chronology” to ancient Indian historical text.
The project will be carried out by DU in collaboration with the Indian Council of Historical Research.
Part of the department’s larger ‘Aryan project’, it will attempt to prove through research that Aryans were not invaders who came from Central Asia but people indigenous to India.
Sources said the Sanskrit department will take up the project because it believed that Indian ancient history had so far been primarily read from the perspective provided by historians from outside India.
“If we look at Vedic literature, it has been dated as after 1500 BC, which is questionable and objectionable. This reference has been put as per the chronology given by Max Mueller and other scholars. But if we refer to other tools like archaeological exhibitions, epigraphy, archaeoastronomical and now genetic mapping, it shows that there was a culture between 2800 BC and 1500 BC. So there has been a false chronology of Indian text,” Professor Ramesh Bhardwaj, head of DU’s Sanskrit department, told HT.
The project will aim to rope in Sanskrit scholars from different parts of the country. Each scholar will get 8-9 months and a literature text. The chronology will be based on examining textual evidence present, utilizing other tools and through elaborate discussion and debate.
The Indian Council of Historical Research will act as a funding agency and help in the compilation of the project.
Once completed, the project would be sent to the Union ministry of human resources development (MHRD) through Indian Council of Historical Research.
“It is just an attempt to make corrections and give history its actual due. It is important that the young generation be able to read history in its true form,” added Bhardwaj.
“In the last 70 years, there have been spectacular researches that have been carried out in this field. But the government is not taking this into account under the influence of the Leftist garb, as it is only the Marxist people who have been creating and writing history. Ancient history needs to be reconstructed,” added Bhardwaj.
Elaborating further, Bhardwaj added that “since the present political scenario was favourable, the ideal time to take up the project would be now.”“We are academics, so we are not going to bring in fundamentalism in the text books. In the present political scenario it is pertinent that we will be able to garner support from the government as well,” he said.
Indeed.ramana wrote:Kaushal should be proud of this turn of events. He carried the fight into heart of Delhi and held his history seminar a few years ago.
Stakes & Hammer being prepared to end MarxistPSedosecularvampires domain. Nishachar Vadh Abb Parva under construction. To Her credit, Vyette did play her part alongside Kaushal.Dipanker wrote:DU ropes in Sanskrit scholars to reconstruct India's history
The Indian Council of Historical Research will act as a funding agency and help in the compilation of the project.Once completed, the project would be sent to the Union ministry of human resources development (MHRD) through Indian Council of Historical Research.“It is just an attempt to make corrections and give history its actual due. It is important that the young generation be able to read history in its true form,” added Bhardwaj.“In the last 70 years, there have been spectacular researches that have been carried out in this field. But the government is not taking this into account under the influence of the Leftist garb, as it is only the Marxist people who have been creating and writing history. Ancient history needs to be reconstructed,” added Bhardwaj.
Elaborating further, Bhardwaj added that “since the present political scenario was favourable, the ideal time to take up the project would be now.”“We are academics, so we are not going to bring in fundamentalism in the text books. In the present political scenario it is pertinent that we will be able to garner support from the government as well,” he said.
Noted Historian D.P. Agrawal in his essay over Indian Chemistry Through The Ages described the history of Chemistry since Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC). The Indus valley civilization was the earliest society, which had developed an elaborate urban system depicted in terms of streets, public baths, temples and granaries etc.They also had the means of mass production of pottery, houses of backed bricks and a script of their own. So we can say that the story of early chemistry in India begins from here. Traces of cement had been found in the era of Mohenjodaro. Earliest possible use of Gypsum cement found in the construction of a well in Mohenjodaro.Agarwal explained thatAccording to Rigveda, tanning of leather and dyeing of cotton was practiced during this period. During the period 1000-400 BC. they made a particular kind of polished grey pottery known as Painted Grey Ware. Other varieties of pottery, for example, red or Northern Black-Polished (N.B.P.) Ware (600-200 BC), were also made later. These Wares indicate that their mastery of control of kiln temperatures as also of the reducing atmosphere."The golden gloss of the NBP Ware is still a chemical mystery and could not be replicated. After the Vedas, came the classical texts like Brahmanas, Upanishadas and Puranas, which also give valuable information about the chemical activities of this period. Kautilya's Arthasastra was a scientific landmark of this period. It described the production of salt from the sea and collection of shells, diamonds, pearls and corals. Charaka Samhita and Susruta Samhita were two celebrated Ayurvedic treatises on medicine and surgery. Chemical knowledge of the times, especially that related to medicine was compiled in them.In the end, I must say that we need to change our mindset to debunk anything which finds its root in ancient time.
Nice to hear this. Have you or other experts (Virendra?) have read this latest paper from Underhill and Kivlsid? http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/v23/ ... 1450a.htmlshiv wrote:Written by me. Copyright belongs to me - part of a chapter from a book that I was writing but is now in suspended animationsudarshan wrote:Is there a concise summary of the genetic evidence pertaining to AIT somewhere, explained in layman terms without all those "haplotypes" and "haplogroups" jargon? Need it to refute a pesky and persistent AIT-fan. TIA.One of the early genetic markers relevant to languages was something that was called “R1a” and was found to occur in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and India. This gene marker is found in the Y-chromosome (that is in men only) and was hailed as the Indo-European “Aryan” marker gene that could possibly be linked with the spread of proto-Indo European languages. The gene marker was found in skeletons and mummies from the steppe regions of Eurasia as well as in faraway places like Germany and India and was assumed to be the gene associated with people, who were given the name “Aryans”, who allegedly conquered their way to India starting from Eurasia. However, as genetic research became more sophisticated and widespread, the R1a story changed.
In 2010, a group led by Underhill published a paper dealing with R1a. They discovered that the R1a marker has sub-parts that were present in different population. One such R1a related marker called M17 was present in people from India, the Eurasian steppes and Eastern Europe and Russia. This had been found in mummies discovered in Eurasian graves as well. But the M17 marker was found to have its oldest origins in western India - around the Gujarat region and was about 12,000 years old in this area. In other areas, the M17 marker was much less old - down to about 6000 years in some parts of Europe. This basically means that R1a cannot have spread from Europe to India and if at all, the spread is likely to have occurred from India towards Europe. Further evidence comes from the discovery of another gene marker associated with M17, called the M548. The M548 marker is found widely in eastern Europe among people who have M17. But the M548 marker is less old, at about 6000 years and is absent among Indians, ruling out the possibility of Europeans carrying that marker having migrated from the steppes to India any time in the last 6000 years. This finding in itself rules out any invading or “clan by clan” migrations to India from Eurasia 4,500 years ago.
In an earlier paper in 2003, Kivisilid and others had already noted that the M17 marker was oldest in south Asia, and that it was present in high frequencies among Dravidian language speaking Indian tribal groups such as Chenchus, Valmikis from Andhra Pradesh and Kallar tribals of Tamil Nadu. The language spread theory made up on linguistic grounds had postulated that these Dravidian speaking tribals were the “Dravidians” who were driven south by the invading Aryans, who later avoided intermarrying with these groups by creating a caste system where Aryans formed the high castes and the tribals formed the lowest castes. The presence of these so called “Aryan” genes among Dravidian language tribals makes nonsense of the Aryan-Dravidian theory, a basically racist concoction that has been carried too far my modern day linguists and anthropologists.
Genetic studies have also discovered that genes found among Indians are are among the oldest in the world. In a study of mDNA inherited from the mother Kivisilid and colleagues note that that a component called the haplogroup M “was brought to Asia from East Africa, along the southern route, by the earliest migration wave of anatomically modern humans, 60,000 years ago”. The paper goes on to note that “Less than 10% of the maternal lineages of the caste populations had an ancestor outside India in the past 12,000 years” What this means is that Indians share a lot of extremely ancient genes that cut across all caste groups. Meanwhile the study also notes that Indians totally lack a certain gene (that serves as protection against HIV infection) that is commonly found in Europe, central and west Asia, showing that there has been virtually no gene flow (or major migration of people from those regions) since that gene arose. Another finding was remarkable one of male inherited Y chromosome markers that could be linked to the patrilineal “gotra” system of India among both tribals and high caste populations, disproving the idea that gotras were created as part of the caste system by invading Aryan speakers of Indo-European languages from Europe.
A 2009 study by Sharma and others took the genetic studies relating to Indians to a new level. This group of researchers studied the genes of hundreds of high caste Brahmin individual and compared them with the genetic signatures of thousands of lower caste Indians. They also correlated these findings with the genetic picture of hundreds of Greeks, Macedonians and central Asians, whose ancestors have all been credited with bringing a language that became Sanskrit language to India. Earlier studies had predicted that upper caste groups in India would show a genetic resemblance to people from central Asia and Eurasia while lower caste groups would show a greater genetic difference from those groups in support of the language spread theory. This theory was proven wrong in the 2009 study. It was found that the M17 sub group of R1a most probably originated among an Brahmin (upper caste) group in India and was not brought in from outside. But even among the lower caste groups the age of the sub group R1a was much older than the age of the same sub group in central Asians and Eurasians. This finding supports the possible origin of the M17 sub group in the Indian sub continent, and simultaneously rules out the possibility of the gene having been carried into India by migration of anyone - Indo-European speakers or not in the 1500 BC to 1000 BC time frame. In fact the findings suggest a migration of men carrying the M17 marker towards Eurasia. On average the Indian origin genetic markers were the oldest - being two to three thousand years older than the European markers. These findings go against the theory that invaders or migrants from Europe or Eurasia migrated to India and invented the caste system to ensure that they remained at the top of the social pecking order. It is likely that the caste system was invented in India and cannot be associated with the migration of Indo-European language speaking people from the west.
A research study of genes of south Indians in Tamil Nadu in the extreme south of India was done by Arun Kumar and colleagues and published in 2012. The study showed that genes shared between caste Brahmins and among tribal people dated back to a period far earlier than the time frame stated by the hypothetical migration of Brahmins carrying European genes to South India. The study concludes “The study populations from Tamil Nadu were characterized by an overwhelming proportion of Y-chromosomal lineages that likely originated within India, suggesting a low genetic influence from western Eurasian migrations in the last 10 Kya.” 10 Kya means 10,000 years, a fact that places these findings thousands of years before the supposed invasion or migration of Aryans from Eurasia, bringing language and caste with them
Furthermore the research study by the Sharma group referred to earlier study showed that there was no particular difference in gene distribution between upper and lower caste groups in India. In both upper and lower caste groups, genes that were common in central Asians were seen only in low frequencies. This finding once again shows that there was no migration or invasion of people from Europe or central Asia to India, and that the caste system was not established as the invading (or migrating) proto-Sanskrit speakers from Eurasia formed separate high caste groups in India. If there was no large scale invasion or migration, the idea that proto-Sanskrit was brought to India by these groups is false. The latter theory, built up on unreliable linguistic grounds can be discarded by the findings of genetic studies. It is ironic that science took 200 years to catch up with the imprecise conjecture based on linguistic assumptions and constructs which have themselves been passed off as science.
peter wrote: एकाचेतत्सरस्वती नदीनां शुचिर्यती गिरिभ्य आ समुद्रात्।RV 7.95.2
Pure in her course from the mountains to the oceans,
अम्बितमे नदीतमे देवितमे सरस्वति।
अप्रशस्ता इव स्मसि प्रशस्तिमम्ब नस्कृधि || - RV 2.41.16
Best of mothers, best of rivers, best of goddesses Sarsawati,
we are untrained and ignorant. Give us knowledge and wisdom.
इयं शुष्मेभिर्बिसखा इवारुजत्सानु गिरीणां तविषेभिरूर्मिभिः।
पारावतघ्नीमवसे सुवृक्तिभिः सरस्वतीमा विवासेम धीतिभिः॥ - RV 6.61.2
O Saraswati, your mighty currents break the mountains as easily as lotus stems. Let us invite with holy hymns and songs.
यस्या अनन्तो अह्रुतस्त्वेषश्चरिष्णुरर्णवः।अमश्चरति रोरुवत्॥ - RV 6.61.8
Whose limitless, unbroken flow, swift moving with rapid rush comes forward with a roar.
ShauryaT wrote:OK, can you make sense of all the saraswati verses, when saraswati is a physical river?
Below from RV 6.61 on Sarasvati.1. To Vadhryasva when. be worshipped her with gifts she gave fierce Divodāsa, canceller of debts.
Consumer of the churlish niggard, one and all, thine, O Sarasvatī, are these effectual boons.
2 She with her might, like one who digs for lotus-stems, hath burst with her strong waves the ridges of the hills.
Let us invite with songs and holy hymns for help Sarasvatī who slayeth the Paravatas.
3 Thou castest down, Sarasvatī, those who scorned the Gods, the brood of every Bṛsaya skilled in magic arts.
Thou hast discovered rivers for the tribes of men, and, rich in wealth! made poison flow away from them.
4 May the divine Sarasvatī, rich in her wealth, protect us well,
Furthering all our thoughts with might
5 Whoso, divine Sarasvatī, invokes thee where the prize is set,
Like Indra when he smites the foe.
6 Aid us, divine Sarasvad, thou who art strong in wealth and power
Like Pūṣan, give us opulence.
7 Yea, this divine Sarasvatī, terrible with her golden path,
Foe-slayer, claims our eulogy.
8 Whose limitless unbroken flood, swift-moving with a rapid rush,
Comes onward with tempestuous roar.
9 She hath spread us beyond all foes, beyond her Sisters, Holy One,
As Sūrya spreadeth out the days.
10 Yea, she most dear amid dear stream, Seven-sistered, graciously inclined,
Sarasvatī hath earned our praise.
11 Guard us from hate Sarasvatī, she who hath filled the realms of earth,
And that wide tract, the firmament!
12 Seven-sistered, sprung from threefold source, the Five Tribes' prosperer, she must be
Invoked in every deed of might.
13 Marked out by majesty among the Mighty Ones, in glory swifter than the other rapid Streams,
Created vast for victory like a chariot, Sarasvatī must be extolled by every sage.
14 Guide us, Sarasvatī, to glorious treasure: refuse us not thy milk, nor spurn us from thee.
Gladly accept our friendship and obedience: let us not go from thee to distant countries.
My question is why do you expect a single meaning for word Saraswati throughtout Rg Ved? Why cant the word be used for a river, a goddess?ShauryaT wrote:I personally do not have an understanding of Shiksha, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Nighantu, Chhanda, Jyotish, Kalpa, etc to make my own determinations and at least two Indian authors steeped into the practices of the system disagree with the Griffith based transliterations used above. I will have to rely on their judgment as over ruling these transliterations of Griffith along with a severe critique of Sayana by both Swami Dayananda Sarasvati and Sri Aurobindo. If you can provide translations of works by those steeped into our traditions with knowledge of the above elements then I am more than willing to read and understand these alternate view points.
The verses to Agni, Indra and who the Dasyus are more absurd.
Added: In the above, what are the chances that Griffith had Poseidon in mind when he enquired on Saraswati and Sayanna told him Saraswati is the lost/mythical river and the goddess has magical powers of learning.
Nilesh Saar,Nilesh Oak wrote:Join me in celebrating day of Bhishma Nirvana, per Julian (now modified to Gregorian) calendar,
Bhishma passed away 7575 years ago on 31 January 5560 BCE!
https://nileshoak.wordpress.com/2015/01 ... uary-2015/
Dhanyavad Panduranghari ji.panduranghari wrote:Nilesh Saar,Nilesh Oak wrote:Join me in celebrating day of Bhishma Nirvana, per Julian (now modified to Gregorian) calendar,
Bhishma passed away 7575 years ago on 31 January 5560 BCE!
https://nileshoak.wordpress.com/2015/01 ... uary-2015/
Been in touch with many calendar publishers regarding the dates that you have compiled with regards to Mahabharat and Ramayan. Some have shown interest but nothing concrete yet. Its very slow process as of now. Will keep you posted when there is more developments.
jaal • 3 hours ago
Eurocentric as usual...the Indus Valley Civilization dates beyond this time so the speculation that there was migration from the Caucasus is highly suspect. Sanskrit has been said to be the mother of all 'Indo-European' languages and comes from the Indus Valley, the cradle of civilization according to David Crawley.
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miekko jaal • 3 hours ago
Except Central Asia is not in Europe, and the majority of the area posited as the Proto-Indo-European urheimat is thus in ASIA. Besides, why do you assume the Indus Valley civilization would have spoken IE and not some Dravidian language? And finally, every serious indoeuropeanist knows the clear evidence why Sanskrit cannot be the language from which the other Indo-European languages stem; it is an early branch from Proto-Indo-European, but that just makes it the daughter of the great great grandmother - thus basically a great great aunt to most IE languages, and of course a grandmother to many of the IE languages in India. Why do ignorant people feel the need to post?
What are these? And what does this tell?Daryl Rhinoceros • 15 hours ago
The Sanskrit of the Vedas contain non-Indo-European loan words from an Uralo-Altaic language.
This is what Premendra Priyadarshi has written on the matter :-gashish wrote:What are these? And what does this tell?Daryl Rhinoceros • 15 hours ago
The Sanskrit of the Vedas contain non-Indo-European loan words from an Uralo-Altaic language.
There is linguistic evidence of post-Vedic Indo-Aryan presence in the steppe/Ural region and West Asia. Udmurt (Votyak), Kami, Mari, Moksha and Erzya languages of the Uralic family are found in the neighbourhood of the presumed Aryan homeland. The words borrowed in the Finno-Ugric languages of the region are not from the PIE or Slavic, but from Sanskrit. Many of such words have travelled into the Uralic languages of further northwest. How they reached the western Uralic from the eastern Uralic languages is beyond the scope of this article. On the West Asian Mittani language too, influence post-Vedic vocabulary is detectable (vide infra).
Examples of Indo-Aryan borrowings in the Uralic branch are: Sanskrit martya →Udmurt marta (man); Sanskrit Arya → Saami *orja > oarji “southwest” (Koivulehto 2001: 248); ārjel “Southerner”, and Finnish orja, Votyak var, Syry. ver “slave” (Redei 1986: 54). Some other such borrowing noted by Burrow are: Sanskrit śata (hundred) → Finn. sata, Lappe coutte, Mordv. sado, Zyry so, Voty śu, Vog sāt; Sanskrit vārāha → Finn. oras (castrated boar); Sanskrit udara →Finn. utar, Mordv. odar (udder); Sanskrit hiraṇya (gold) →Hungarian arany (gold); Sanskrit śarabha (a large deer) →Vog. šourp, šōrp (elk); Sanskrit setu → Mordv. sed’ (bridge) etc. (Burrow:25). This is a hint to the fact that the Indo-Aryans had arrived there from the south because words for Arya mean the “southerner” in many Uralic languages in the above list. This is also clear from the philology that the Indo-Aryans were foreigners in the steppe land. That is why their epithet was not used with respect, but with contempt so as to mean “slave” in some Uralic languages.
The AIT interpretation of these loan words is very unimpressive. The proponents of the theory think that the Indo-Iranian originated there: “it appears probable that the seat of this primitive Indo-Iranian must have been in the region of the middle Volga and the Urals for this contact to have been possible.” (Burrow:26; also see Witzel 2003). These interpretations are absurd, because the impugned migration if took place, was too small to leave any genetic mark on the Indo-Iranian population of today. If the main bulk of Indo-Iranian population stayed at the steppe, then it should have survived there till today.
NEW DELHI: One of the country's leading scientists and former ISRO chairman, G Madhavan Nair, today propounded the theory that some shlokas in the Vedas mention the presence of water on the moon, and that astronomy experts like Aryabhatta knew about gravitational force much before Issac Newton.The 71-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee said the Indian Vedas and ancient scriptures also had information on metallurgy, algebra, astronomy, maths, architecture and astrology way before the western world knew about them.Speaking at an international conference on Vedas, he however," added that the information in vedas was in a "condensed format", which he said made it difficult for modern science to accept it.Some sholkas in one of the Vedas say that there is water on the moon but no one believed it. Through our Chandrayaan mission, we could establish that and we were the first ones to find that out," Mr Nair said, adding that everything in the Vedas could not be understood as they were in chaste Sanskrit.He also talked very highly about fifth century astronomer-mathematician Aryabhatta, saying, "We are really proud that Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have done extensive work on planetary work (sic) and exploration of outer planets. It was one of the challenging fields," said Mr Nair."Even for Chandrayaan, the equation of Aryabhatta was used. Even the (knowledge of) gravitational field... Newton found it some 1500 years later... the knowledge existing (in our scriptures)," he added.
Mr Nair, who was ISRO chairman from 2003 to 2009, also claimed geometry was used to make calculations for building cities during the Harappan civilisation and that the Pythagorean theorem also existed since the Vedic period.Mr Nair's come against the backdrop of many BJP leaders talking about ancient Indian scriptures having scientific information, including on plastic surgery and aero-dynamics"The Vedas had a lot of information in the field of space and atomic energy. We were fine until 600 BC. Then came the time of invasions till Independence. Since then, we are growing. We deciphered the atoms for peaceful use," Mr Nair said.While serving in ISRO, Mr Nair had made significant contributions to the development of multi-stage satellite launch vehicles."As a scientist, I would say that the computations evolved those days were really fantastic. The Vedanga Jyotisa (one of the earliest books on astronomy) is one of the texts, which is evolved in 1400 BC... this is all recorded," he said."These are the fundamental findings which the Western world did not have any knowledge of. The only drawback was this information was condensed to bullet form and the modern science does not accept this. And to read the Vedas, one must also know Sanskrit," Mr Nair added.
Reu associates Rathores with the then Punjab based Ratta people of Mahabharat times.Jhujar wrote:Wonder if Rahtore (warriors) of India showed up as Ra in Egypt and Thor In E-urope .
ChudasamaJhujar wrote:Wonder if Rahtore (warriors) of India showed up as Ra in Egypt and Thor In E-urope .
Murugan I had earlier found this somewhereMurugan wrote:Doctor, Sambhashan Sandesh: March 2015 issue - published from Bangaluru only has an article on Lithuania _ India connection.
Other than linguistic similarities there are some cultural similarities, e.g., Ashwini Kumar type twin horses motif used widely in lithuania.
Also many words which are almost same
A proverb in the Lithuanian language reads as follows:
Dievas dave dantis,
Dievas duos ir duonas
The same proverb exists in Sanskrit, and reads as follows:
Devas adat dantas,
Devas dasyati dhanas
The meaning of the proverb in English is
God gave us teeth
God will give us food
After the Christianization of Lithuania, the country suffered a steep demise. The advantage of pagan society was a strong central monarchy. In divided feudal Europe, this helped to withstand the pressure of all Western Europe for about 200 years. In the wake of Christianity, the balance of power moved to the nobility. Lithuania slowly degraded from being the biggest country in Europe (in the early 15th century) to a mere province of Poland. The joint republic in which the nobility enjoyed wide rights but faced little responsibilities fell into anarchy and was finally dismantled in 1795 after the neighbouring countries agreed to divide it between themselves.
Up to this day the attempt to Christianize this land has left deep scars in the mentality of the nation. Lithuanians remain suspicious of any outside influence, are too conservative, and always on guard in dealings with any authorities. Deep seated mistrust in public officials lingers on. Democratic mechanisms falter because of the remains of the serfdom mentality. After gaining independence in 1991, this nation fails to take a healthy part in social life because people expect a good master to come and solve problems for them. Instead, they get the exact opposite on a continuous basis – abusive politicians rob the state and cheat the public. The population fails to realize that this situation is a result of their failure to act like real hosts in their land. Instead, they await a new saviour. Time and again.
Last but not least, I would like to mention one particular feature of the Lithuanian culture. After the population finally gave in to Christianity, which was roughly between early 1700 to 1800, the folk artists developed a unique branch of art – they started to depict Jesus as an idol. Their Christ was usually seated, head lowered to one side, his chin backed up by his arm. This Jesus was sad and withdrawn, consumed by his inner sorrow. This was but a reflection of the psychological condition of the artist himself, or of the folk people in general.
LinkThe Horse and the Aryan Debate by Michel Danino
(Published in the Journal of Indian History and Culture of the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Institute of Indological Research, Chennai, September 2006, No.13, pp. 33-59.)
The presence or absence of the horse in the Indus-Sarasvati civilization has been a bone of contention for decades, especially in the context of the Aryan invasion theory. The argument is familiar: the Rig-Veda uses the word ashva over 200 times, ergo the Vedic society must have been full of horses, ergo the Harappan civilization, from which the noble animal is conspicuously absent, must be pre- Vedic and non-Aryan. The horse must therefore have been brought into India around 1500 BCE by the invading Aryans, who used its speed to crushing advantage in order to subdue the native, ox-driven populations. This line of reasoning is regarded as so evident and foolproof that it is taken to be the final word on the issue; as a result, we find it confidently repeated in reference books
and history textbooks dealing with India’s prehistory.
However, on closer view, there are serious flaws at every step of the argument — and indeed several concealed steps. I will first examine the physical evidence of the horse from various Harappan sites, both in terms of skeletal remains and depictions, before turning to problems of methodology that have compounded the confusion, in particular the double-edged use of negative evidence, and the persisting colonial misreadings of the Rig-Veda.
Physical remains of the horse in Indus-Sarasvati sites
Our first surprise is that contrary to conventional assertions, quite a few archaeologists have reported horse remains from India’s prehistoric sites. A. Ghosh’s respected and authoritative Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology mentions without fuss:
In India the ... true horse is reported from the Neolithic levels at Kodekal [dist. Gulbarga of Karnataka] and Hallur [dist. Raichur of Karnataka] and the late Harappa levels at Mohenjo-daro (Sewell and Guha, 1931) and Ropar and at Harappa, Lothal and numerous other sites. … Recently bones of Equus caballus have also been reported from the proto-Harappa site of
Malvan in Gujarat.1
Mortimer Wheeler, a flamboyant proponent of the Aryan invasion theory if ever there was one, admitted long ago that “it is likely enough that camel, horse and ass were in fact a familiar feature of the Indus caravan.”2 The well- known archaeologist B. B. Lal refers to a number of horse teeth and bones reported from Kalibangan, Ropar, Malvan and Lothal.3 Another senior archaeologist, S. P. Gupta, adds further details on those finds, including early ones.4 In the case of Lothal, the archaeozoologist Bhola Nath certified the identification of a tooth;5 he also made similar observations regarding bones from Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.6
Fig. 1: Horse bones from Surkotada (in Katchchh)
A. K. Sharma’s well-known identification of horse remains (Fig. 1) at Surkotada (in Katchchh) was endorsed by the late Hungarian archaeozoologist Sándor Bökönyi, an internationally respected authority in the field; in 1991, taking care to distinguish them from those of the local wild ass (khur), he confirmed several of them to be “remnants of true horses,”7 and what is more, domesticated horses. In his 1993 report to the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Bökönyi made no bones about the whole issue:
Through a thorough study of the equid remains of the prehistoric settlement of Surkotada, Kutch, excavated under the direction of Dr. J. P. Joshi, I can state the following: The occurrence of true horse (Equus caballus L.) was evidenced by the enamel pattern of the upper and lower cheek and teeth and by the size and form of incisors and phalanges (toe bones). Since no wild horses lived in India in post-Pleistocene times, the domestic nature of the Surkotada horses is undoubtful. This is also supported by an inter- maxilla fragment whose incisor tooth shows clear signs of crib biting, a bad habit only existing among domestic horses which are not extensively used for war.8
Quite in tune with the findings at Surkotada and Lothal, P. K. Thomas, P. P. Joglekar et al., experts from the Deccan College on faunal remains, reported horse bones from the nearby Harappan site of Shikarpur “in the Mature Harappan period,”9 and from Kuntasi (at the boundary between Kutch and Saurashtra).10
To the Neolithic sites mentioned by A. Ghosh, we must add Koldihwa (in the Belan valley of Allahabad district), where G. R. Sharma et al. identified horse fossils.11 Contemporary with the Harappan period, the culture of the Chambal valley (in Madhya Pradesh) was explored by the respected archaeologist M. K. Dhavalikar, with layers dated between 2450 and 2000 BCE.
His observations are remarkable:
The most interesting is the discovery of bones of horse from the Kayatha levels and a terracotta figurine of a mare. It is the domesticate species (Equus caballus), which takes back the antiquity of the steed in India to the latter half of the third millennium BC. The presence of horse at Kayatha in all the chalcolithic levels assumes great significance in the light of the controversy about the horse.12
Let us stress that just as at Surkotada, the horse at Kayatha was domesticated.
In the face of so many reports from so many sites by so many experts, a blanket denial of the animal’s physical presence in pre-1500 BCE India passes one’s comprehension. Are we to believe that all identifications of horse remains by experts are wrong and misleading? Have scholars rejecting such evidence personally crosschecked even 10% of it? Have they, too, expressed similar doubts about the identification of other animal remains found in the same sites and conditions?
Richard Meadow and Ajita Patel did challenge Sándor Bökönyi’s report to the Archaeological Survey.13 Bökönyi however stuck to his views (although he passed away before he could give his final response), and Meadow and Patel concluded their long plea with the rather weak statement that “… in the end that [Bökönyi’s identification of horse remains at Surkotada] may be a matter of emphasis and opinion.”14 What makes their eagerness to convince Bökönyi to change his mind suspect is that they never challenged Indian experts such as A. K. Sharma, P. K. Thomas or P. P. Joglekar; it was only when Bökönyi endorsed findings on the “Harappan horse” that they got alarmed. Since then, amusingly, their inconclusive paper has been quoted by several Marxist15 historians as the last word on the nonexistence of the horse in the Indus- Sarasvati civilization.16 Even more ironically, when invasionists attempt to trace the introduction of the horse into Europe, they turn to the same Bökönyi!17 His expertise was never in question in Europe, but is unacceptable in India.
The old argument that so-called horse remains invariably belong to species of wild ass such as the onager (Equus hemionus onager), the khur (Equus hemionus khur), or the plain ass (Equus asinus) is unacceptable, firstly because it is sweeping in nature and produces little or no evidence, secondly because in several cases, experts have simultaneously reported remains of the wild ass from the very same sites, which implies some ability to distinguish between those species.18
Another frequent and sweeping objection is that the dates of the disputed horse remains are not firmly established and might be much more recent. But Jagat Pati Joshi’s excavation report, for instance, makes it clear that,
At Surkotada from all the three periods quite a good number of bones of horse (Equus Caballus Linn) ... have been recovered. The parts recovered are very distinctive bones: first, second and third phalanges and few vertebrae fragments.19
The first of Surkotada’s “three periods” coincides with the mature stage of the Harappan civilization,20 which rules out the possibility of the horse having been introduced by Aryans around 1500 BCE. Moreover, we have the case of Mahagara (near Allahabad), where horse bones were not only identified by G. R. Sharma et al., but “six sample absolute carbon 14 tests have given dates ranging from 2265 B.C.E. to 1480 B.C.E.”21 The case of Hallur, mentioned by A. Ghosh above, is even more striking: the excavation (in the late 1960s) brought out horse remains that were dated between 1500 and 1300 BCE, in other words, about the time Aryans are pictured to have galloped down the Khyber pass, some 2,000 north of Hallur.22 Even at a fierce Aryan pace, the animal could hardly have reached Karnataka by that time. When K. R. Alur, an archaeozoologist as well as a veterinarian, published his report on the animal remains from the site, he received anxious queries, even protests: there had to be some error regarding those horse bones. A fresh excavation was eventually undertaken some twenty years later — which brought to light more horse bones, and more consternation. Alur saw no reason to alter his original report, and wrote that his critics’ opinion “cannot either deny or alter the find of a scientific fact that the horse was present at Hallur before the (presumed) period of Aryan invasion.”23 The claim that horse finds are undated is therefore disingenuous.
Finally, S. P. Gupta offers a sensible reply to the further objection that horse remains, if at all they are accepted, rarely account for more than 2% of the total animal remains at any site. Pointing out that the same holds true of the camel and elephant (animals undeniably present in Harappan sites), he explains that this low proportion is “simply because these animals are not likely to have been as regularly eaten as cattle, sheep and goats as well as fish whose bones are abundantly found at all Indus-Saraswati settlements.”24
All in all, the case for the horse’s physical presence in the Indus-Sarasvati civilization is quite overwhelming, and is bound to be further strengthened by evidence yet to come out of thousands of unexplored sites. Archaeologist A. K. Sharma’s conclusion, in a paper that surveyed the “horse evidence” and his own experiences in this regard, is worth quoting:
It is really strange that no notice was taken by archaeologists of these vital findings, and the oft-repeated theory that the true domesticated horse was not known to the Harappans continued to be harped upon, coolly ignoring these findings to help our so-called veteran historians and archaeologists of Wheeler’s generation to formulate and propagate their theory of ‘Aryan invasion of India on horse-back’....25
Depictions of the horse and the spoked wheel
The Harappans certainly built much of their religious symbols around animals, depicting many of them on their seals and tablets, in terracotta figurines, or as pottery motifs. While it is true that the horse does not appear on the Harappan seals (except if we were to accept the conjecture by S. R. Rao26 and a few other scholars that the composite animal represented on thousands of seals as a unicorn actually has a horse’s head), it has been hastily claimed that the animal is never depicted at all.
A horse figurine did emerge at Mohenjo-daro (Fig. 2), which drew the following comment from E. J. H. Mackay, one of the early excavators at the site:
Perhaps the most interesting of the model animals is one that I personally take to represent a horse. I do not think we need be particularly surprised if it should be proved that the horse existed thus early at Mohenjo-daro.27
horse-mohendra
Fig. 2: Horse figurine from Mohenjo-daro.
Wheeler himself accepted it as such.28 Another figurine was reported by Stuart Piggot from Periano Ghundai, and several at Lothal, some of them with a fairly clear evocation of the horse (Fig. 3 & 4).29 The horse also appears on some pottery, for instance at pre-Harappan levels of Kunal (Haryana), among other animals, according to the excavator R. S. Bisht et al.30 Another figurine was found at Balu, with what looks like a saddle.31 Dhavalikar, quoted above, mentioned “a terracotta figurine of a mare” in the Chambal valley. Finally, the horse is depicted in rock art (for instance at Bhimbetka or Morhana Pahar in the Narmada valley), but unfortunately, we have very few absolute dates for rock
art in India.
horse-lothal
Fig. 3: Horse figurine from Lothal
horse-figure
Fig. 4: A horse-like figurine from Lothal (circled, as part of a set of “chessmen”)
It is not just the horse that invasionist scholars sought to erase from pre- 1500 BC India: they also asserted that the spoked wheel came to India only with the Aryans.32 “The first appearance of [the invading Aryans’] thundering chariots must have stricken the local population with a terror ...” writes Michael Witzel in a grandiloquent echo of nineteenth-century racial theories.33 The spoked wheel was thus seen as a crucial element in the speed game, compared to the slow bullock-driven solid-wheeled Harappan cart — until it turned out that Harappans did have spoked wheels, after all. Fig. 5 shows a few terracotta wheels from Banawali and Rakhigarhi where the spokes are clearly visible in relief or painted.34 More such wheels have been found at Kuntasi,35 Lothal, and Bhirrana36 (in Haryana).
terracotta
Fig. 5: Terracotta wheels from Banawali and Rakhigarhi, displaying spokes painted or in relief
All this material illustrates the danger of “negative evidence”: it takes very little to make it irrelevant.
Methodological issues
Raw evidence apart, the appearance of the horse in the Indian subcontinent is, in reality, a complex issue, and by treating it crudely, the conventional theory suffers from serious methodological flaws. Let us briefly highlight a few of them.
1. Physical remains and depictions of the horse in India after 1500 BC
The invasionist school posits that the horse was introduced into India by the “Aryans” around 1500 BC. One would therefore expect a marked increase in remains and depictions of the animal after that fateful event (or non-event). Yet — and this is one of the best kept secrets of Indian prehistory — nothing of the sort happens.
Looking only at the early historical layers, Taxila, Hastinapur or Atranjikhera (Uttar Pradesh) have indeed yielded bones of both the true horse and the domestic ass (strangely, the distinction between the two is no longer disputed here!), but at other sites, such as Nashik, Nagda (Madhya Pradesh),
Sarnath, Arikamedu (Tamil Nadu), Brahmagiri (Karnataka), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), no remains of either animal have turned up. There are also sites like Jaugada (Orissa) or Maski (Karnataka) where the ass has been found, but not the horse.37 Finally, data available from sites that do come up with horse remains show no significant increase in the overall percentage of horse bones or teeth compared to Harappan sites such as Surkotada.
If, therefore, the low amount of evidence for the horse in the Indus- Sarasvati civilization is taken as proof that that civilization is pre-Vedic, we must extend the same logic to the whole of pre-Mauryan India! It is clear that the horse was as rare or as common an animal before and after 1500 BC — “rare” is probably the correct statement for both.
As regards “post-invasion” depictions of the horse, they are also no more frequent than in Harappan sites: barring a few figurines at Pirak, Hastinapura and Atranjikhera, we find no striking representations of the animal, while we would have expected the aggressive “Aryans” to pay rich tributes to their instrument of conquest, which, invasionists tell us, the Rig-Veda glorifies so much. And yet, “the first deliberate and conscious attempt of shaping a horse in durable material like stone was witnessed in the art of the Mauryas in India,” writes historian T. K. Biswas.38 Another historian, Jayanti Rath, commenting on the animals depicted on early Indian coins, remarks: “The animal world of the punch-marked coins consists of elephant, bull, lion. dog, cat, deer, camel, rhinoceros, rabbit, frog, fish, turtle, ghariyal (fish eater crocodile), scorpion and snake. Among the birds, peacock is very popular. The lion and horse symbols appear to have acquired greater popularity in 3rd century B.C.”39
All in all, an eerie equine silence pervades pre-Mauryan India.
2. Physical remains and depictions of the horse outside India
It helps to take a look at a few regions outside India. In contemporary Bactria, for instance, the horse is well documented through depictions in grave goods, yet no horse bones have been found. “This again underscores the point that lack of horse bones does not equal the absence of horse,” writes U.S. Indologist Edwin Bryant.40
In the case of the horse in America, where its spread is fairly well known, Elizabeth Wing points out,
Once safely landed in the New World, they are reported to have prospered along with cattle in the grazing lands, free of competitors and predators. Horse remains, however, are seldom encountered in the archaeological sites. This may be a function of patterns of disposal, in which remains of beasts of burden which were not usually consumed would not be incorporated in food or butchering refuse remains.41
This fits with the picture we have formed of the horse in the Indus- Sarasvati civilization, and with S. P. Gupta’s similar observation on the non- consumption of horse meat. Clearly, invasionists have sought to put too much weight on the rarity of horse remains in the third millennium.
3. Introduction of the horse = Aryan invasion?
Another non sequitur is that since the true horse was undoubtedly introduced into India at some time, and probably from Central Asia, it can only have been introduced by invading Aryans.
As we have seen, the horse’s introduction must have taken place right from Mature Harappan times, if not earlier; but let us assume for the sake of argument that it only happened, as invasionist scholars assert without the least evidence, in Late Harappan times. Even if it were so, how would it establish
that the horse came as a result of an invasion or a migration, when other possibilities are equally valid, or more so if we look at the evolution of the region? Bryant, again, puts it crisply:
In the absence of irrefutable linguistic evidence, there is no reason to feel compelled to believe that the introduction of the horse into the subcontinent is indicative of the introduction of new peoples any more than the introduction of any other innovatory items of material culture (such as camels, sorghum, rice, lapis lazuli, or anything else) is representative of new human migratory influxes.42
In other words, at whatever epoch, the horse could have been introduced as an item of trade — and we do know that Harappans had extensive trade contacts with a wide region, from Mesopotamia all the way to northern Afghanistan and possibly parts of Turkmenistan. This is indeed the stand of archaeologists like Jean-François Jarrige or Jonathan M. Kenoyer. The latter, for instance, notes that the adoption of the horse or the camel reflects “changes [that] were made by the indigenous [Late Harappan] inhabitants, and were not the result of a new people streaming into the region. The horse and camel would indicate connections with Central Asia.”43
Whatever the date of the horse’s introduction into the subcontinent might be, there is no ground to assume a “violent” introduction through a war-like conquest.
4. The problem of depiction
Regardless of the issue of physical remains, invasionists have persisted, understandably so, in stressing the nagging non-depiction of the horse on Indus seals (conveniently glossing over the figurines mentioned earlier). However, S. P. Gupta points out that the camel, “wolf, cat, deer, Nilgai, fowl, jackal are rarely or never found in [Harappan] art but their presence has been attested by bones.”44 We can add the camel and the lion, which were certainly present in some regions of the Harappan civilization yet were never depicted. The scholar K. D. Sethna pertinently asks, “As there are no depictions of the cow, in contrast to the pictures of the bull, which are abundant, should we conclude that Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had only bulls?”45 Sethna goes further; he makes the opposite point that the mythical unicorn is found on numerous seals, and asks, “Was the unicorn a common animal of the proto-historic Indus Valley?”46 Clearly, animal representations, or their absence, have cultural reasons: the Indus seals were not intended to be zoological handbooks. Until we have a deeper understanding of Harappan culture, we can only conjecture about its iconography.
5. Is the Vedic horse the true horse?
Invasionists are usually unaware that they begin by making an important assumption: they take it for granted that the Vedic horse is the true horse, Equus caballus L. Although this might appear self-evident, it is not. In fact, as some scholars have pointed out, the Rig-Veda47 describes the horse as having 34 ribs; so does a passage in the Shatapatha Brahmana.48 However, the true horse generally has two pairs of 18 ribs, i.e. 36 and not 34.
This suggests that the horse referred to in the Rig-Veda may have been a different species, such as the smaller and stockier Siwalik or Przewalski horses, which often (not always) had 34 ribs. The scholar Paul Manansala, who stressed this point, concluded: “So the horse of India, including that of the asvamedha sacrifice in what is regarded as the oldest part of the Rgveda, is a distinct variety native to southeastern Asia.”49
The question is far from solved, as experts in the field do not always see eye to eye, but it also cannot be wished away.
6. Meaning of ashva in the Rig-Veda
We now come to a more fundamental point. After the nineteenth-century European Sanskritists, most scholars have taken it for granted that Vedic society should be full of horses because of the frequent occurrence of ashva in the Rig- Veda. This conclusion is flawed on two grounds.
First, because the language of the Rig-Veda is a symbolic one that constantly operates at different levels. Else, how could we explain powerful images with no possible ritualistic or “animist” explanation, such as a lower and an upper ocean,50 a “wave of honey” rising from the ocean,51 rivers of ghee rising in the “ocean of the heart,”52 a “well of honey” hidden under the rock,53 a divine fire born of waters,54 present in the stone,55 or compared to a child that gave birth to its own mothers,56 an “eighth sun, hidden in darkness,”57 and dozens more? A purely materialistic or ritualistic reading of the Rig-Veda is bound to fail us at every step, and is unjustified when other mythologies, from the Babylonian to the Egyptian and the Greek, have long been explored at deeper figurative and symbolic levels. It is strange how most scholars, hypnotized by colonial misinterpretations, have failed to follow the Rig-Veda’s own clue: “Secret words that reveal their meaning [only] to the seer.”58
So let us turn to one such “seer.” As early as 1912-14, a decade before the discovery of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, and thus long before our “Harappan horse” controversy, Sri Aurobindo in his study of the Rig-Veda and the Upanishads found that
The word ashva must originally have implied strength or speed or both before it came to be applied to a horse.59
More specifically,
The cow and horse, go and ashva, are constantly associated. Usha, the Dawn, is described as gomati ashvavati; Dawn gives to the sacrificer horses and cows. As applied to the physical dawn gomati means accompanied by or bringing the rays of light and is an image of the dawn of illumination in the human mind. Therefore ashvavati also cannot refer merely to the physical steed; it must have a psychological significance as well. A study of the Vedic horse led me to the conclusion that go and ashva represent the two companion ideas of Light and Energy, Consciousness and Force....60
For the ritualist the word go means simply a physical cow and nothing else, just as its companion word, ashva, means simply a physical horse.... When the Rishi prays to the Dawn, gomad viravad dhehi ratnam uso ashvavat, the ritualistic commentator sees in the invocation only an entreaty for “pleasant wealth to which are attached cows, men (or sons) and horses”. If on the other hand these words are symbolic, the sense will run, “Confirm in us a state of bliss full of light, of conquering energy and of force of vitality.”61
In other words, Sri Aurobindo rejects a mechanical equation ashva = horse.
The constant association of the Vedic horse with waters and the ocean, from the Rig-Veda to the Puranic myth of the churning of the ocean, confirms that we are not dealing here with an ordinary animal, as does the depiction of the Ashvins as birds. Within this framework, the ashvamedha sacrifice also deserves a new treatment, which the Indologist Subhash Kak has recently outlined very cogently.62
Sri Aurobindo’s stand received indirect support from a wholly different angle, that of the late anthropologist Edmund Leach, who warned against the picture of a horse-rich Rig-Vedic society:
The prominent place given to horses and chariots in the Rig Veda can tell us virtually nothing that might distinguish any real society for which the Rig Veda might provide a partial cosmology. If anything, it suggests that in real society (as opposed to its mythological counterpart), horses and chariots were a rarity, ownership of which was a mark of aristocratic or kingly distinction.63
Thus the place of the horse in the Rig-Veda needs to be reassessed from a decolonized standpoint, with a fresh look at the Vedic message and experience. If Sri Aurobindo and Leach are both right, then the word ashva refers only occasionally to the actual animal, and its rarity is well reflected in the modest amount of physical remains and depictions. Indeed, even in today’s India, despite having been imported into India for many centuries, the horse remains a relatively rare animal, invisible in most villages.
At this point, a valid objection could be raised: if the horse did exist in the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, and if one wishes to equate this civilization with Vedic culture,64 the latter at least makes a symbolic use of the animal; why is the horse therefore not depicted more often as a symbol in Harappan art, for instance on the Indus seals? The answer I propose is simple: even if the Rig- Veda is contemporary with, or older than, the mature Indus-Sarasvati civilization, we need not expect Harappan art to be a pure reflection of Vedic concepts. The Veda represents the very specific quest of a few rishis, who are unlikely to have lived in the middle of the Harappan towns. Although Vedic concepts and symbols are visible in Harappan culture, the latter is a popular culture; in the same way, the culture of today’s Indian village need not exactly reflect Chennai’s music and dance sabhas. Between Kalibangan’s peasant sacrificing a goat for good rains and the rishi in quest of Tat ekam, That One, there is a substantial difference, even if they ultimately share the same worldview.
Only a more subtle approach to Harappan and Vedic cultures can throw light on their apparent differences.
7. Is ashva only Aryan?
One more unstated assumption of invasionists, who trust that their readers will not go and check the original text, is that ashva, in the Rig-Veda, is a purely Aryan animal. But is that what the text actually says? No doubt, most of the references place ashva, whatever the word means in the Rishis’ mind, squarely on the side of the Aryan gods and their human helpers. But it turns out that there are a few revealing exceptions, when Dasyus and Panis also possess ashvas.
For instance, Indra-Soma, by means of the truth (eva satyam), shatters the stable where Dasyus were holding “horses and cows” (ashvyam goh).65 In another hymn, Indra’s human helpers find the Pani’s “horses and cattle”: “The Angirasas gained the whole enjoyment of the Pani, its herds of the cows and the horses.”66
The most striking passage67 is from the famous dialogue between the divine hound Sarama, Indra’s intransigent emissary, and the Panis, after she has discovered their faraway den, where they jealously hoard their “treasures.” Sarama boldly declares Indra’s intention to seize these treasures, but the Panis are unimpressed and threaten to fight back; they taunt her: “O Sarama, see the treasure deep in the mountain, it is full of cows and horses and treasures (gobhir ashvebhir vasubhir nyrsah). The Panis guard it watchfully. You have come in vain to a rich dwelling.” Every verse makes it clear that all these treasures, horses included, belong to the Panis; at no point does Sarama complain that these are stolen goods: “I come in search of your great treasures,”68 she declares at first, and the Panis would not be insolent enough to taunt her with goods seized from the Aryans; yet Sarama considers that Indra is fully entitled to them.
Now, if we followed the same colonial reading that invasionists impose on the Vedas, we would be forced to acknowledge that the Dasyus and Panis also had horses of their own — which of course negates the whole idea of the animal having been introduced by the Aryans. It does look as if this Vedic landscape is getting a little too crowded with horses, rather like a cheap Hollywood western.
To understand the Dasyus’ and Panis’ “horses,” we need to return to the Vedic symbolism proposed by Sri Aurobindo: the demons do possess lights (cows) and energies or powers (horses), but, as misers, keep them for themselves, neither for the gods nor for man. In the Vedic view, this is a transgression of the cosmic law. The duty of the rishi, helped by the gods, is to reconquer those “treasures” and put them to their true purpose; only then will the cosmic order be reestablished. This is certainly more interesting than the tribal clashes of a barbaric and primitive age. In fact, the Rig-Veda itself makes its symbolism clear again and again, if only we can learn to read it with an open mind. In the last verse69 of the dialogue between Sarama and the Panis, for instance, the narrator concludes, “Go away, you Panis! Let out the cows which, hidden, infringe the Order!” This “order” is ritam, the true cosmic law. It is infringed not because the Panis hide a few cows and horses inside a cave, but because they misuse their lights and powers and do not offer them up as a sacrifice. That is why Indra is entitled to their treasures — not because he is a greedy tribal leader out to expand his territory and wealth; and that is why he can shatter the demons’ dens only “by means of the truth.”
Had it not been for the Aryan invasion theory, the Rig-Veda would have long ago been the object of interpretations on a level with that accorded to Greek or Egyptian mythology, instead of being constricted to a literalist reading.
Conclusions
That the invasionist scholars should have skirted such important issues, as regards both findings and methodology, does little to inspire confidence. Clearly, the whole question of the Vedic and Harappan horse has been treated simplistically. To sum up:
1. Several species of Equus, including the true horse, existed in the Indus- Sarasvati civilization, probably in small numbers. Some of them may have entered India over a much longer time span than is usually granted, in the course of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization’s interactions with neighbouring areas, but certainly not through any Aryan invasion or migration, which in any case has already been rejected by archaeological, anthropological, genetic, literary and cultural evidence.70
2. This process continued with a gradual but slight increase after the end of the mature phase of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization right up to early historical times. There was no epoch exhibiting a sudden, first-time introduction of the animal.
3. The Rig-Veda has been misread; it tells us strictly nothing about a sizeable horse population, and rather suggests its rarity. The animal was important in symbolic, not quantitative terms.
4. The Rig-Veda also tells us nothing about conquering Aryans hurtling down from Afghanistan in their horse-drawn “thundering” chariots and crushing indigenous tribal populations; it is high time we abandoned once and for all those perverse fancies of nineteenth-century scholars, even if some of their peers hang on to such myths even today.
The hypothesis I have put forward is testable: if correct, we should expect further excavations of Harappan sites to come up with more horse remains and depictions, although nothing on the scale that the Aryan invasion theory wrongly expects of a Vedic society — and has failed to document in post-
Harappan India.
Acknowledgements
I am much indebted to Shri Vishal Agarwal for generously sharing his unpublished research on the topic; some of the data on horse remains in protohistoric and historical periods are borrowed from his work, and his advice on other points was very helpful.
* * *
References & Notes
1
A. Ghosh, An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1989),
vol. 1, p. 4.
2
Mortimer Wheeler, The Indus Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953), p.
92, quoted by Edwin Bryant in The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan
Migration Debate (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 170-171.
3
B. B. Lal, The Earliest Civilization of South Asia (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1997),
p. 162.
4
S. P. Gupta, The Indus-Sarasvati Civilization – Origins, Problems and Issues (Delhi: Pratibha
Prakashan, 1996), pp. 160-161.
5
Quoted in S. R. Rao, Lothal – A Harappan Port Town (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of
India, 1985), vol. II, pp. 641-642.
6
For Harappa, see Bhola Nath, “Remains of the Horse and the Indian Elephant from the
Prehistoric Site of Harappa (West Pakistan)” in Proceedings of the All-India Congress of Zoology
(Calcutta: Zoological Society of India, 1961). See also Bhola Nath, “Advances in the Study of
Prehistoric and Ancient Animal Remains in India – A Review” in Records of the Zoological
Survey of India, LXI.1-2, 1963, pp. 1-64.
7
Sándor Bökönyi, “Horse Remains from the Prehistoric Site of Surkotada, Kutch, Late 3rd
Millennium B.C.,” South Asian Studies, vol. 13, 1997 (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH), p. 299.
8
Sándor Bökönyi, 13 December 1993, in his report to the Director General of the
Archaeological Survey of India, quoted by B. B. Lal in The Earliest Civilization of South Asia,
op. cit., p. 162.
The Horse and the Aryan Debate / p. 18
9
P. K. Thomas, P. P. Joglekar, et al, “Harappan Subsistence Patterns with Special Reference to
Shikarpur, a Harappan Site in Gujarat,” Man and Environment XX (2) – 1995, p. 39.
10
P. K. Thomas, P. P. Joglekar, et al, “Subsistence Based on Animals in the Harappan Culture
of Gujarat,” Anthropozoologica, 1997, N°25-26, p. 769.
11
G. R. Sharma, History to Prehistory: Archaeology of the Vindhyas and the Ganga Valley
(University of Allahabad, 1980), quoted by K. D. Sethna, The Problem of Aryan Origins, p. 220-
221.
12
M. K. Dhavalikar, Indian Protohistory (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1997), p. 115.
13
Richard Meadow & Ajita Patel, “A Comment on ‘Horse Remains from Surkotada’ by Sándor
Bökönyi,” South Asian Studies, vol. 13, 1997 (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH), pp. 308-315.
14
Ibid., p. 314.
15
I use the word “Marxist” not in any derogatory manner, but in the way those historians and
scholars use it to describe their own school of thought. D. D. Kossambi’s Introduction to the
Study of Indian History (1956) set the tone, declaring its intent to use “dialectical materialism,
also called Marxism” to read the evolution of Indian society, complete with a “proletariat”
and class war. My use of the term “Marxist” is the same as Romila Thapar in her Penguin
History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2003), p. 22 ff.
16
For instance Ram Sharan Sharma, “Was the Harappan Culture Vedic?”, Journal of
Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology (University of Allahabad), 1:2, Winter 2004,
pp. 135-144. See also Romila Thapar Penguin History of Early India, op. cit., p. 85 (although she
does not specifically refer to Meadow’s and Patel’s paper, the context makes it clear).
17
For instance, J. P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-European: Language, Archaeology and Myth
(London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), p. 273, note 8; Bernard Sergent, Les Indo-Européens:
Histoire, langues, mythes (Payot, 1995), p. 397.
18
This is the case at Surkotada. See Jagat Pati Joshi, Excavation at Surkotada and Exploration in
Kutch (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, Memoirs N°87, 1990), pp. 381-382.
19
Ibid., p. 381.
20
Period IA starts about 2300 BCE (see ibid., p. 60 ff.), but this is based on uncalibrated C-14
analysis; a calibrated date will usually be a few centuries older, which would fit well with
the now accepted date of 2600 BCE for the start of the mature Harappan phase.
21
G. R. Sharma et al., Beginnings of Agriculture (Allahabad: Abinash Prakashan, 1980), pp. 220-
221, quoted by Edwin Bryant in The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture, op. cit., p. 170.
22
K. R. Alur, “Animal Remains” in Proto-historical Cultures of the Tungabhadra Valley, ed. M. S.
Nagaraja Rao (Dharwad: Rao, 1971). Note that here too, the dates are most likely
uncalibrated and therefore to be pushed back a few centuries.
23
K. R. Alur, “Aryan Invasion of India, Indo-Gangetic Valley Cultures,” in New Trends in
Indian Art and Archaeology, ed. B. U. Nayak & N. C. Ghosh (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan,
1992), p. 562, quoted by Edwin Bryant, The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-
Aryan Migration Debate (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 170 and by A. K.
Sharma, “The Harappan Horse was buried under the dunes of …”, Puratattva, No. 23, 1992-
93, p. 30.
24
S. P. Gupta, The Indus-Sarasvati Civilization – Origins, Problems and Issues, op. cit., p. 162.
25
A. K. Sharma, “The Harappan Horse was buried under the dunes of …” in Puratattva, N°23
(1992-93), p. 31.
26
S. R. Rao, Dawn and Devolution of the Indus Civilization (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1991),
p. 196 & 299.
The Horse and the Aryan Debate / p. 19
27
E. J. H. Mackay, Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro (Delhi: Government of India, 1938), vol.
I, p. 289.
28
Quoted by B. B. Lal in India 1947-1997: New Light on the Indus Civilization (New Delhi: Aryan
Books International, 1998), p. 109.
29
The set of chessmen is taken from S. R. Rao, Dawn and Devolution of the Indus Civilization, op.
cit., detail of plate N°120. I suggest the following test to anyone who doubt that this figurine
represents a horse: show the whole set of “chessmen” to schoolchildren and ask them what
it is; the answer will always be, “Chess!” (This, at least, has been my own experience.) Then
as, “Why?” The reply: “Because of the horse.” I suggest that children’s sense of observation
in such a case is more reliable and less biased than even that of “experts,” all the more so as
many of the Harappan figurines were very likely toys for children.
30
R. S. Bisht, C. Dorje, Arundhati Banerji, eds. Indian Archaeology 1993-94 – A Review,
Explorations and Excavations (New Delhi: Director General Archaeological Survey of India,
2000), p. 49.
31
See K. D. Sethna, The Problem of Aryan Origins (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2nd ed., 1992),
pp. 419-420.
32
See for instance Romila Thapar, Cultural Pasts (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000), p.
1131.
33
Michael Witzel, “Early Indian history: Linguistic and textual parametres,” in The Indo-
Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity, ed. George Erdosy
(Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1995), p. 114.
34
Both pictures are taken from B. B. Lal, The Sarasvati Flows On: the Continuity of Indian
Culture (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2002), p. 74.
35
M. K. Dhavalikar, Indian Protohistory, op. cit., p. 297.
36
L. S. Rao, “The Harappan Spoked Wheels Rattled Down the Streets of Bhirrana, Dist.
Fatehabad, Haryana,” in Puratattva No. 36, 2005-06, pp. 59-67.
37
Bhola Nath, “Advances in the Study of Prehistoric and Ancient Animal Remains in India – A
Review” in Records of the Zoological Survey of India, LXI.1-2, 1963, pp. 1-64.
38
T. K. Biswas, Horse in Early Indian Art (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1987), p. 46.
39
Jayanti Rath, “The Animal Motifs On Indian Coins (Ancient And Mediaeval Period)” in
Orissa Historical Research Journal, vol. XLVII, No. 1, p. 57.
40
Edwin Bryant, The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture (New York: Oxford University Press,
2001), p. 175.
41
Elizabeth S. Wing, “Impact of Spanish Animal Uses in New World,” pp. 72-79 in Juliet
Clutton-Brock, ed., The Walking Larder – Patterns of Domestication, Pastoralism, and Predation
(London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), p. 78.
42
Edwin Bryant, The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture, op. cit., p. 228.
43
Jonathan M. Kenoyer, “Interaction Systems, Specialized Crafts And Cultural Change,” in
The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. George Erdosy (Berlin & New York: Walter de
Gruyter, 1995), p. 227.
44
S. P. Gupta, The Indus-Saraswati Civilization, op. cit., p. 162.
45
K. D. Sethna, The Problem of Aryan Origins (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2nd ed., 1992),
p. 179.
46
K. D. Sethna, The Problem of Aryan Origins, p. 179.
47
Rig-Veda, I.162.18.
48
Shatapatha Brahmana, 13.5.
The Horse and the Aryan Debate / p. 20
49
Paul Kekai Manansala, “A New Look at Vedic India,” published and circulated over the
Internet (http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/vedicindia.html).
50
Rig-Veda, VII.6.7. (All translations from the Rig-Veda are adapted from Sri Aurobindo’s.)
51
IV.58.1.
52
IV.58.5.
53
II.24.4.
54
III.1.3.
55
I.70.2
56
I.95.4.
57
III.39.5, X.72.9.
58
IV.3.16.
59
Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, vol. 12,
1972), p. 400-401.
60
Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library,
vol. 10, 1972), p. 42.
61
Ibid., p. 118.
62
Subhash Kak, The Asvamedha: the Rite and its Logic (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002).
63
Edmund Leach: “Aryan invasions over the millennia” in Culture Through Time:
Anthropological Approaches, ed. Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1990), p. 240.
64
See a number of parallels between Harappan and Vedic cultures, as well as historical
survivals of Harappan cultures in Michel Danino, “The Harappan Heritage and the Aryan
Problem,” Man and Environment (Pune), XXVIII.1, January-June 2003, pp. 21-32.
65
Rig-Veda, IV.28.5.
66
I.83.4.
67
X.108.7. I have freely adapted here the French translation of the hymn provided in Le Véda,
ed. Jean Varenne (Paris: Les Deux Océans, 1967), p. 152-53.
68
X.108.2.
69
X.108.11.
70
For a study of the Aryan invasion theory, see Edwin Bryant, The Quest for the Origins of Vedic
Culture, op. cit.; Koenraad Elst, Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate (New Delhi: Aditya
Prakashan, 1999); Michel Danino, L’Inde et l’invasion de nulle part (Paris: Les Belles Lettres,
2006).
Link
1
Saraswathi Suktam
1.
Iya Madadat Rabhasa Mrinachyutam
Divo Dasam Vardhyassavaya Dasushe
Ya Sassvantha Ma Chakhadavasam Panim
Tate Datrani Tavisha Saraswathi
2.
Iyam Sushmebhirbi Sakha Ivarujathu
Sanu Girinam
Tavishebhirurmibhihi
Paravataghni Mavase
Suvrukthibhihi
Saraswathi Mavivasema Dhithibhihi
3
.
Saraswathi Devanido Nibarhaya
Prajam Viswasya Vrushayasya Mainaha
Utakshitibhyo Avanira Vindo
Vishamebhyo Asravo Vaajinivathi
4
.
Prano Devi Saraswathi
Vajebhir Vajinivathi
Dhi Nam Avitriyavathu
5
.
Yasthwa Devi Saraswathi
Upabruthe Dhanehite
Indram Na Vrutra Turye
6
.
Twam Devi Saraswatyawa
Vajeshu Vajini
Rada Pusheva Nah Sanim
7.
Utasya Nah Saraswathi
Ghora Hiranya Varthanihi
Vruthaghni Vashtu Sustuthim
8.
Yasya Anantho Ahruthasthu
Yesha Scha Rish
nu Rarnavaha
Amascharathi Roruvath
9.
Sano Viswa Athidwishaha
Swa Sruranya Rutawari
Athanna Heva Suryaha
10.
Uthanah Priya Priyasu
Saptha Swasasu Jushta
Saraswathi Sthobhya Bhuth
11.
Apaprushi Parthivani
Uru Rajo Anthariksham
Saraswathi Nidspathu
12.
Thrisha Dhastha Saptha Dhathuhu
Pancha Jatha Vardhayanthi
Vaje Vaje Havya Bhuth
13.
Devim Vachamajanayantha Devastham
Viswarupah Pasavo Vadanthi
Sano Mandresha Morja D
uhana
Dhenuhu
Vagasmanupasushtu Taithu
14.
Chathvari Vakparimita Padani
Tani Vidurbrahm
ana Yesmanishinaha
Guha Thrini Nihitha Nengayanthi
Thuriyam Vacho Manushya Vadanthi
15.
Uthathwah Pasyan Na Dadarsa Vacham
Uthathwah Shrunvan Na Srunothi Yenam
Uthothwasmai Tanwam Visasre
Jayeva Patyuhu Usathi Suvasaha
16.
Ambithame Nadithame Devithame
Saraswathi
Aprasastha Iva Samsi Prasasthim Ambanascrudhi
17.
Pavakanah Saraswathi
Vajebhir Vajini Vathi
Yagnam Vastu Dhiya Vasuhu
18.
Ano Divo Bruhataha
Parvatha Da
Saraswathi Yajatha Ganthu Yagnam
Havam Devi Jujushana Ghruthachi
Sagmamnno Vachamusath
i Srunothu
LinkThis rik is the 4th rik in the 61st suktam of the (fifth anuvAka of the) sixth mandala or the 31st varga of the eight part of the fourth ashTaka of the Rigveda, in a sUkta devoted to Sarasvati.
Ralph T. H. Griffith translates the rik as "May the divine Sarasvati, rich in her wealth, protect us well,
Furthering all our thoughts with might". This translation takes quite some license with the original.
sAyaNAcArya's bhashya (from vedamu.org), with visandhi, is:
devI dAnAdiguNayuktA (one endowed with dAna and other attributes) vAjinIvatI vAjah annam yasyAm kriyAyAm sA vAjinI tadyuktA (vAjah = annam; that whose action is vAjah is vAjinI; and the one endowed with such vAjinI is vAjinIvatI; the one with annam is vAjinIvatI) dhInAm dhyatRiiNAm stOtRiiNAm (dhInAm = of the worshippers) avitrI rakshatrI (avitrI = protectress) evam bhUtA (thus endowed) sarasvatI vAjebhih annaih (vajebhih = with annam) nah asmAn (nah = us, in the accusative case) pra+avatu prakarsheNa tarpayatu (pra+avatu = may with immensely satisfy).
The English translation, following AyaNa, is: May the one endowed with all that is consumable, the one endowed with attributes of dAna and others, protector of the worshippers, goddess Sarasvati immensely satisfy us through annam.
I hesitate to translate annam, as it seems that it should be taken in a sense beyond food as we normally use, more in the sense used in "annam brahma" or "aham annam". In this sense annam means all the material in the world. Etymologically annam is derived as adyate iti annam, that which is consumed.
There is a Hindi translation give below the bhashya of sAyaNAchArya (could not find by whom): "dAnSalinI, ann-yuktA aur stotaOn kI rakshAkAriNI sarasvatI ann dvArA bhalI bhAnti hamArI triptI karen"
Senani
LinkAbout Indian Horses
The gazette notification by the Government of India identifies 5 breeds of Indian horses as Marwari, Kathiyawari, Manipuri, Spiti and Zanskari.
1. MARWARI:
The Marwari Horse has acquired it's name from it's original breeding place Marwar in Rajasthan. The Marwari horse today is descended from the splendid war-horses that served the ruling families and warriors of feudal India, throughout and from the beginning of that country's history. Their std'us was unparalleled, as they were declared divine and superior to all men, including those of Royal blood. Accordingly, only the Rajput families and the Kshatriyas - warrior caste were permitted to mount these exalted animals. Today the breed is once again achieving eminence after over a century of twilight status due to the Imperial presence of the British and further, the new Indian democracy. Marwari horse, as the most potent symbol of the warrior Kings somehow survived wholesale slaughter, castration and fearful ignorance during the troubled times preceding Independence and for several decades later. It is thanks to the surviving Rajput families and horse lovers from all communities that the resilient and beautiful Marwari has emerged from the shadows onto a bright and hopeful future and out of the threat of extinction,
2. KATHIYAWARI:
The Kathiyawari has fhe same history as that of Marwari but having been bred in the Kathiyawar region of Gujarat , it acquires the name of Kathiyawari. Breeding line and environmental differences have distinctively given certain separate features to the Kathiyawari from it's cousin the Marwari. Such as ears, eyes, nose and in it's built up structure.
3. MANIPURI:
The Manipuri horses are bred in the north - eastern state of Manipur in India. The Manipuri has the best claim to fame, for it was the original polo pony. In the 1850's the English planters discovered this native game in India. They then took up and spread around the world. Physique of this horse is typical like that of pony but is very quick and maneuverable.
4. SPITI :
The Spiti horses are bred in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh in India. The name Spiti has been taken from the famous Spiti river. Physique of this horse is also like that of d pony, thick set and short coupled. They are very sure-footed and tough and used for transportation in the mountains.
5. ZANSKARI:
Zanskari horses are bred in the high altitude Zanskar region of Ladakh in eastern Jammu and Kashmir State of India. Physique of this horse is very similar to the Spiti pony but are more adaptable for higher altitude where they are used as work horses.
Linkकांभोज विषये जातैः बाह्लिकैः च हय उत्तमैः |
वनायुजैः नदीजैः च पूर्णा हरिहय उत्तमैः || १-६-२२
22. kaambhoja viSaye = Kaambhoja, the country; jaataiH = born in; baahlikaiH = in Baahlika country; haya uttamaiH = horses, the best ones; vanaayu jaiH = Vanaayu, born; nadii jaH = rivers, born; cha = also; puurNaa = full with; hari haya uttamaiH = like Indra's, horse, the best one.
That city is full with best horses born in countries like Kaambhoja, Baahlika, Vanaayu, and also in river-bed counties, which are like the horse of Indra namely ucChiashrava. [1-6-22]
It is said that the horses born in the rivers nadii+ja are brought to the city Ayodhya. They are not water horses but horses born at the place where the historically prominent Seven Rivers of Indus Valley Rivers flow.
Here again an account of countries is given as a glimpse. These countries Kambhoja, Bahlika, Vanayu may not be taken as the provincial countries within the present day India. Prior to the present-day peninsular India, the belt from Himalayas to Alps had a great rapport in cultural and trade exchanges without demarcations of east or west, which paved the way for Alexander, the Great, towards India.
Sometime back, say during 1985-87, the National Geography magazine contained a beautiful article under the heading " IRAQ, the crucible of civilisation ," Merle Severy, as its Asst. Editor. In its carefully worded introduction, it is stated that Iraq is "the traditional birthplace of man for Jews, Christians and Muslims... " On the other hand, Hindus naturally believe that the Southward Himalayan region is the birthplace of man. In the same article, the regions around Euphrates and Tigris are said to be the "Fertile Crescent, the cradle of Western civilization ... in the third millennium BC ". Further that " To the east a similar florescence occurred in the Indus and Yellow River Valleys... " This florescence in Indus Valley and far eastward did not occur later to Mesopotamian or Babylonian civilisations but flourished much earlier, as per Hindu scripts and the dating of which is the eternal question like Aryan Question. However, Hindu scripts centre the present world, Bhuuloka, surrounding Meru Mountain and its geography includes the land unto Rome, Russia, China. We will refer to Meru mountain-oriented geography and its geographical account at the appropriate place. Since Ramayana dates back to Buddhism and Buddhism's westward spread is unto Afghanistan, the Kings of Ramayana must have had no problem to draft horses from Persian, Arabian or the other of Middle East countries. These countries are always famous for horse breeding, right from the days of Ramayana to Moses. Hence the accounts of horses and the countries from where they are brought may be treated as cross-continental culture. Since history believes only in the unearthed iconography and the epics or their content can not stand to the carbon-testing, the countries named here as Kambhoja, Baahlika may nearly mean Babylonian, Mesopotamian, Arabian or other unknown or unearthed historic countries of the crucible of Western civilisation, Iraq. Vanaayu, another country referred may nearly mean Roman, as Persians term Greeks as Unani in India, advent to the arrival of Alexander, the Great. We still have an herbal medication called Unani, a hybrid between Ayurveda, Greek and Persian herbal treatments.
Verse Locator
विंध्य पर्वतजैः मत्तैः पूर्णा हैमवतैः अपि |
मदान्वितैः अतिबलैः मातङ्गैः पर्वतौपमैः || १-६-२३
23. vindhya parvata jaiH = Vindhya, mountains, born in; mattaiH = vigorous; puurNa = full of; haimavataiH api = Himalayan born, also; mada anvitaiH = fattened, fully; ati balaiH = most, mighty; maatangaiH = elephants; parvata upamaiH = mountain, in similitude.
Born in Vindhya Mountains, and also from Himalayan regions, mighty are the elephants fully vigorous and fattened ones, and most powerful in their strength and each in similitude is a huge mountain. [1-6-23]
Verse Locator
इरावत कुलीनैः च महापद्म कुलैः तथा |
अंजनादपि निष्क्रान्तैः वामनादपि च द्विपैः || १-६-२४
24. iraavata = Iravata [the Elephant of Indra]; kuliinaiH cha = from that breed of; mahaapadma kulaiH = from Mahapadma breed; tatha = thus; anjanaat api = From Anjana breed, also; niSkraantaiH = derived from; vaamanaat api cha = from Vamana breed, too; dvipaiH = elephants.
High bred from the classes of Iravata, the Elephant of Lord Indra, and from Mahapadma, Anjana and Vamana, too...are the elephants [of that city] [1-6-24]
It is said that eight elephants from eight corners called aSTa diggaja support the Universe. And these eight elephants have their presiding deities. From those eight elephants, four are prominent. They are iravata , the Elephant of Indra, anjana , the Elephant of varuNa , the Rain-god, vaamana , the Elephant of Yama, the Lord of Death, and another is punDariika . Thus, the elephants of Ayodhya are termed as divine breed.
Verse Locator
भद्रैः मन्द्रैः मृगैः च एव भद्र मन्द्र मृगैः थथा |
भद्र मन्द्रैः भद्र मृगैः मृग मन्द्रैः च सा पुरी || १-६-२५
नित्य मत्तैः सदा पूर्णा नागैः अचल सन्निभैः |
25-26a. saa purii = that city; bhadra = class of Bhadra; mandra = class of Mandra; mR^iga = class of mriga; cha eva = like that; bhadra mandra mR^igaH tathaa = a mixture of these three; bhadra mandraiH = bhadra and mandra; bhadra mR^ igaiH = bhadra and mriga; mR^iga mandra cha = mriga and mandra, also; nitya mattaiH = always, vigorous; naagaiH = elephants; achala sannibhaiH = mountain, like; sadaa puurNaa = always, full with.
That city is always full with vigorous and mountain like elephants bred mainly from three classes viz., Bhadra, Mandra and Mriga. And inter-bred among these three main classes are Bhadra-Mandra, Mandra-Mriga, Bhadra-Mriga and the like. [1-6-25-26a]
The bhadra is the elephant class for King's ride, called bhadra gaja . It is a state elephant with high honors and for occasional or ceremonial use. mandra and mR^iga are classes of breed tamed and used in wars or for the ride of other nobility. These are the essential mammals used for other lifting and carrying works.
Verse Locator
सा योजने च द्वे भूयः सत्यनामा प्रकाशते |
यस्याम् दशरथो राजा वसन् जगत् अपालयत् || १-६-२६
26b-c. raajaa = king; dasharathaH naama = Dasharatha, named; yasyaam = in which [city]; vasan = while residing; jagat = world; apaalayat = ruled; saa = she that Ayodhya; bhuuyaH = further - outside also; dve yojane = two, yojana-s; satya naama = true to its name; prakaashate = shines forth [well fortified.]
While residing in which city King Dasharatha ruled the world that city is further fortified up to two more yojana-s outside city, true to its name a yodhya , an un-assailable one. [1-6-26]
"We now have multiple lines of evidence to suggest that modern humans could have arrived in India much before 60,000 years ago," James Blinkhorn, a research fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, told The Telegraph.
Very good point. Moreover, the mention of elephants would signify southern parts of Bhaarath geographically because elephants are mainly found in Vindhya region.fanne wrote:I am no expert in Rig Veda, but does it mention elephants? If yes, Elephants are only to be found in India and Africa (not the steppes). So does not that close the argument of AIT?
Wiki LinkHastin
Hastin is a term for elephant used in Vedic texts. Other terms for elephant include ibha and varana.
The elephant in the Rigveda
In Rig Veda 1.84.17 and 4.4.1. and probably other instances the Rig Veda seems to refer to elephants (e.g. Bryant 2001: 323), an animal that is native to South Asia. It has been speculated that some of these verses might be references to domesticated elephants.[1] In RV 1.64.7, 8.33.8 and 10.40.4, "wild" elephants are mentioned.
Mrga Hastin
In the Rigveda and in the Atharvaveda, the term is translated as elephant (according to Keith and Macdonell, Roth and other scholars).[2] In the Rig Veda, Mrga Hastin (animal with a hand) occurs in RV 1.64.7 and RV 4.16.14. An equivalent word for elephants in Tamil is "kaimmā" (கைம்மா) which also means "animal with a hand" (Kalithogai, 23; Purananuru, 368).
Ibha
RV 9.57.3 and RV 6.20.8 mention ibhas, a term meaning "servant, domestics, household" according to Roth, Ludwig, Zimmer and other Indologists.[3] Other scholars like Pischel and Karl Friedrich Geldner translate the term as elephant.[4] According to Sayana,[4] Mahidhara[4] and the Nirukta,[4] ibha is translated as elephant. Megasthenes[4] and Nearchos[4] also connect ibha with elephant. The term ibha is only used in the Samhitas, and especially in the Rig Veda.[5][6]
Varana
Another term that may mean elephant is "Varana" (RV 8.33.8; RV 10.40.4). According to Macdonell and Keith, "Varana" refers to elephants.[7]
The elephant in other Hindu texts
The Akananuru (27) and the Purananuru (389) state that elephants were raised and trained in ancient Tamilagam's northern boundary of Venkatam hills Tirupati. Another Sangam poem says that the elephants here were trained in a northern tongue which could well be Sanskrit.[8]
Notes
^ RV 4.4.1, 9.57.3 (where "the people deck him like a docile king of elephants"), 6.20.8; Talageri, Shrikant (2000)
^ Vedic Index, II, 501; II, 171
^ In RV 4.4.1 and 6.20.8, ibha is translated as servants/attendants by Griffith.
^ a b c d e f Vedic Index, I, 79
^ Vedic Index, I, 79.
^ RV 1.84.17; 4.4.1; 9.57.3; and perhaps 6.20.8. Vedic Index, I, 79.
^ Vedic Index, II, 288
^ Mullaippattu 35, quoted from Kalavai Venkat, Review of "Early India"
References
Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513777-9.
Macdonell, A.A. and Keith, A.B. 1912. The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
Talageri, Shrikant: The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis. 2000. ISBN 81-7742-010-0
Linkवर्ष्णे शर्धाय सुमखाय वेधसे नोधः सुव्र्क्तिं पर भरा मरुद्भ्यः |
अपो न धीरो मनसा सुहस्त्यो गिरः समञ्जे विदथेष्वाभुवः ||1
ते जज्ञिरे दिव रष्वास उक्षणो रुद्रस्य मर्या असुरा अरेपसः |
पावकासः शुचयः सूर्या इव सत्वानो न दरप्सिनोघोरवर्पसः ||2
युवानो रुद्रा अजरा अभोग्घनो ववक्षुरध्रिगावः पर्वता इव |
दर्ळ्हा चिद विश्वा भुवनानि पार्थिवा पर चयावयन्तिदिव्यानि मज्मना ||3
चित्रैरञ्जिभिर्वपुषे वयञ्जते वक्षस्सु रुक्मानधि येतिरे शुभे |
अंसेष्वेषां नि मिम्र्क्षुर रष्टयः साकं जज्ञिरे सवधया दिवो नरः ||4
ईशानक्र्तो धुनयो रिशादसो वातान विद्युतस्तविषीभिरक्रत |
दुहन्त्यूधर्दिव्यानि धूतयो भूमिं पिन्वन्ति पयसापरिज्रयः ||5
पिन्वन्त्यपो मरुतः सुदानवः पयो घर्तवद विदथेष्वाभुवः |
अत्यं न मिहे वि नयन्ति वाजिनमुत्सं दुहन्ति सतनयन्तमक्षितम ||6
महिषासो मायिनश्चित्रभानवो गिरयो न सवतवसो रघुष्यदः |
मर्गा इव हस्तिनः खादथा वना यदारुणीषु तविषीरयुग्ध्वम ||7
सिंहा इव नानदति परचेतसः पिशा इव सुपिशो विश्ववेदसः |
कषपो जिन्वन्तः पर्षतीभिर रष्टिभिः समित सबाधः शवसाहिमन्यवः ||8
रोदसी आ वदता गणश्रियो नर्षाचः शूराः शवसाहिमन्यवः |
आ वन्धुरेष्वमतिर्न दर्शता विद्युन न तस्थौ मरुतो रथेषु वः ||9
विश्ववेदसो रयिभिः समोकसः सम्मिश्लासस्तविषीभिर्विरप्शिनः |
अस्तार इषुं दधिरे गभस्त्योरनन्तशुष्मा वर्षखादयो नरः ||10
हिरण्ययेभिः पविभिः पयोव्र्ध उज्जिघ्नन्त आपथ्यो न पर्वतान |
मखा अयासः सवस्र्तो धरुवच्युतो दुध्रक्र्तो मरुतो भराजद्र्ष्टयः ||11
घर्षुं पावकं वनिनं विचर्षणिं रुद्रस्य सूनुं हवसा गर्णीमसि |
रजस्तुरं तवसं मारुतं गणं रजीषिणंव्र्षणं सश्चत शरिये ||12
पर नू स मर्तः शवसा जनानति तस्थौ व ऊती मरुतो यमावत |
अर्वद्भिर्वजं भरते धना नर्भिराप्र्छ्यंक्रतुमा कषेति पुष्यति ||13
चर्क्र्त्यं मरुतः पर्त्सु दुष्टरं दयुमन्तं शुष्मं मघवत्सु धत्तन |
धनस्प्र्तमुक्थ्यं विश्वचर्षणिं तोकं पुष्येम तनयं शतं हिमः ||14
नू षठिरं मरुतो वीरवन्तं रतीषाहं रयिमस्मासु धत्त |
सहस्रिणं शतिनं शूशुवांसं परातर मक्षू धियावसुर जगम्यात ||15
vṛṣṇe śardhāya sumakhāya vedhase nodhaḥ suvṛktiṃ pra bharā marudbhyaḥ |
apo na dhīro manasā suhastyo ghiraḥ samañje vidatheṣvābhuvaḥ ||1
te jajñire diva ṛṣvāsa ukṣaṇo rudrasya maryā asurā arepasaḥ |
pāvakāsaḥ śucayaḥ sūryā iva satvāno na drapsinoghoravarpasaḥ ||2
yuvāno rudrā ajarā abhoghghano vavakṣuradhrighāvaḥ parvatā iva |
dṛḷhā cid viśvā bhuvanāni pārthivā pra cyāvayantidivyāni majmanā ||3
citrairañjibhirvapuṣe vyañjate vakṣassu rukmānadhi yetire śubhe |
aṃseṣveṣāṃ ni mimṛkṣur ṛṣṭayaḥ sākaṃ jajñire svadhayā divo naraḥ ||4
īśānakṛto dhunayo riśādaso vātān vidyutastaviṣībhirakrata |
duhantyūdhardivyāni dhūtayo bhūmiṃ pinvanti payasāparijrayaḥ ||5
pinvantyapo marutaḥ sudānavaḥ payo ghṛtavad vidatheṣvābhuvaḥ |
atyaṃ na mihe vi nayanti vājinamutsaṃ duhanti stanayantamakṣitam ||6
mahiṣāso māyinaścitrabhānavo ghirayo na svatavaso raghuṣyadaḥ |
mṛghā iva hastinaḥ khādathā vanā yadāruṇīṣu taviṣīrayughdhvam ||7
siṃhā iva nānadati pracetasaḥ piśā iva supiśo viśvavedasaḥ |
kṣapo jinvantaḥ pṛṣatībhir ṛṣṭibhiḥ samit sabādhaḥ śavasāhimanyavaḥ ||8
rodasī ā vadatā ghaṇaśriyo nṛṣācaḥ śūrāḥ śavasāhimanyavaḥ |
ā vandhureṣvamatirna darśatā vidyun na tasthau maruto ratheṣu vaḥ ||9
viśvavedaso rayibhiḥ samokasaḥ sammiślāsastaviṣībhirvirapśinaḥ |
astāra iṣuṃ dadhire ghabhastyoranantaśuṣmā vṛṣakhādayo naraḥ ||10
hiraṇyayebhiḥ pavibhiḥ payovṛdha ujjighnanta āpathyo na parvatān |
makhā ayāsaḥ svasṛto dhruvacyuto dudhrakṛto maruto bhrājadṛṣṭayaḥ ||11
ghṛṣuṃ pāvakaṃ vaninaṃ vicarṣaṇiṃ rudrasya sūnuṃ havasā ghṛṇīmasi |
rajasturaṃ tavasaṃ mārutaṃ ghaṇaṃ ṛjīṣiṇaṃvṛṣaṇaṃ saścata śriye ||12
pra nū sa martaḥ śavasā janānati tasthau va ūtī maruto yamāvata |
arvadbhirvajaṃ bharate dhanā nṛbhirāpṛchyaṃkratumā kṣeti puṣyati ||13
carkṛtyaṃ marutaḥ pṛtsu duṣṭaraṃ dyumantaṃ śuṣmaṃ maghavatsu dhattana |
dhanaspṛtamukthyaṃ viśvacarṣaṇiṃ tokaṃ puṣyema tanayaṃ śataṃ himaḥ ||14
nū ṣṭhiraṃ maruto vīravantaṃ ṛtīṣāhaṃ rayimasmāsu dhatta |
sahasriṇaṃ śatinaṃ śūśuvāṃsaṃ prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jaghamyāt ||15
Link6 The bounteous Maruts with the fatness dropping milk fill full the waters which avail in solemn rites.
They lead, as ’twere, the Strong Horse forth, that it may rain: they milk the thundering, the never-failing spring.
7 Mighty, with wondrous power and marvellously bright, selfstrong like mountains, ye glide swiftly on your way.
Like the wild elephants ye eat the forests up when ye assume your strength among the bright red flames.
8 Exceeding wise they roar like lions mightily, they, all-possessing, are beauteous as antelopes;
Stirring the darkness with lances and spotted deer, combined as priests, with serpents' fury through their might.
Linkविंध्य पर्वतजैः मत्तैः पूर्णा हैमवतैः अपि |
मदान्वितैः अतिबलैः मातङ्गैः पर्वतौपमैः || १-६-२३
23. vindhya parvata jaiH = Vindhya, mountains, born in; mattaiH = vigorous; puurNa = full of; haimavataiH api = Himalayan born, also; mada anvitaiH = fattened, fully; ati balaiH = most, mighty; maatangaiH = elephants; parvata upamaiH = mountain, in similitude.
Born in Vindhya Mountains, and also from Himalayan regions, mighty are the elephants fully vigorous and fattened ones, and most powerful in their strength and each in similitude is a huge mountain. [1-6-23]
Verse Locator
इरावत कुलीनैः च महापद्म कुलैः तथा |
अंजनादपि निष्क्रान्तैः वामनादपि च द्विपैः || १-६-२४
24. iraavata = Iravata [the Elephant of Indra]; kuliinaiH cha = from that breed of; mahaapadma kulaiH = from Mahapadma breed; tatha = thus; anjanaat api = From Anjana breed, also; niSkraantaiH = derived from; vaamanaat api cha = from Vamana breed, too; dvipaiH = elephants.
High bred from the classes of Iravata, the Elephant of Lord Indra, and from Mahapadma, Anjana and Vamana, too...are the elephants [of that city] [1-6-24]
It is said that eight elephants from eight corners called aSTa diggaja support the Universe. And these eight elephants have their presiding deities. From those eight elephants, four are prominent. They are iravata , the Elephant of Indra, anjana , the Elephant of varuNa , the Rain-god, vaamana , the Elephant of Yama, the Lord of Death, and another is punDariika . Thus, the elephants of Ayodhya are termed as divine breed.
Verse Locator
भद्रैः मन्द्रैः मृगैः च एव भद्र मन्द्र मृगैः थथा |
भद्र मन्द्रैः भद्र मृगैः मृग मन्द्रैः च सा पुरी || १-६-२५
नित्य मत्तैः सदा पूर्णा नागैः अचल सन्निभैः |
25-26a. saa purii = that city; bhadra = class of Bhadra; mandra = class of Mandra; mR^iga = class of mriga; cha eva = like that; bhadra mandra mR^igaH tathaa = a mixture of these three; bhadra mandraiH = bhadra and mandra; bhadra mR^ igaiH = bhadra and mriga; mR^iga mandra cha = mriga and mandra, also; nitya mattaiH = always, vigorous; naagaiH = elephants; achala sannibhaiH = mountain, like; sadaa puurNaa = always, full with.
That city is always full with vigorous and mountain like elephants bred mainly from three classes viz., Bhadra, Mandra and Mriga. And inter-bred among these three main classes are Bhadra-Mandra, Mandra-Mriga, Bhadra-Mriga and the like. [1-6-25-26a]
The bhadra is the elephant class for King's ride, called bhadra gaja . It is a state elephant with high honors and for occasional or ceremonial use. mandra and mR^iga are classes of breed tamed and used in wars or for the ride of other nobility. These are the essential mammals used for other lifting and carrying works.
Verse Locator
सा योजने च द्वे भूयः सत्यनामा प्रकाशते |
यस्याम् दशरथो राजा वसन् जगत् अपालयत् || १-६-२६
26b-c. raajaa = king; dasharathaH naama = Dasharatha, named; yasyaam = in which [city]; vasan = while residing; jagat = world; apaalayat = ruled; saa = she that Ayodhya; bhuuyaH = further - outside also; dve yojane = two, yojana-s; satya naama = true to its name; prakaashate = shines forth [well fortified.]
While residing in which city King Dasharatha ruled the world that city is further fortified up to two more yojana-s outside city, true to its name a yodhya , an un-assailable one. [1-6-26]
wiki wrote:Ibha
RV 9.57.3 and RV 6.20.8 mention ibhas, a term meaning "servant, domestics, household" according to Roth, Ludwig, Zimmer and other Indologists.[3] Other scholars like Pischel and Karl Friedrich Geldner translate the term as elephant.[4] According to Sayana,[4] Mahidhara[4] and the Nirukta,[4] ibha is translated as elephant. Megasthenes[4] and Nearchos[4] also connect ibha with elephant. The term ibha is only used in the Samhitas, and especially in the Rig Veda.[5][6]
Saar,Prem Kumar wrote:JohneeG: maybe I am missing something. But how does Horse reference near Saraswati invalidate AIT?
Apparently, the logic for AIT is as follows:The presence or absence of the horse in the Indus-Sarasvati civilization has been a bone of contention for decades, especially in the context of the Aryan invasion theory. The argument is familiar: the Rig-Veda uses the word ashva over 200 times, ergo the Vedic society must have been full of horses, ergo the Harappan civilization, from which the noble animal is conspicuously absent, must be pre- Vedic and non-Aryan. The horse must therefore have been brought into India around 1500 BCE by the invading Aryans, who used its speed to crushing advantage in order to subdue the native, ox-driven populations. This line of reasoning is regarded as so evident and foolproof that it is taken to be the final word on the issue; as a result, we find it confidently repeated in reference books
and history textbooks dealing with India’s prehistory.
Link12 year’s Famine in Puranic Literature and its Dating
12 year’s Famine in Puranic Literature and its Dating
In Puranic literature there are several and repeated references to the famous 12 years famine that once occurred in India / Bharat Varsha in ancient times (sometime prior to 2 millennium BC). I have come across following eight narrations and I have calculated the exact dates of this 12 years famine occurrence (2183--2171 BC). Consequently following incidents can be easily co-related historically in this time frame.
1. There is reference of famine of 12 years at a stretch when Gautam was meditating at Triyambak parvat situated by the shore of river Godavari. All the holy persons, munis, rishis etc flocked to the Ashram of Gautam and asked for food for survival[1]. etc. Gautum rishi fed all rishis and saved them.
2. The astrologers and astronomers of king warned Dasarath of the impending calamity for the coming 12 yrs, as a result of Saturn invading Rohini Nakshtra in Taurus. “The whole earth will become devoid of people”. Indra had given a Kaamag Vimana to king Dashrath. King alighted on that Vimana invaded Saturn with his mighty bow and sharp arrow. Saturn being impressed by the courage of king, asked him how the king could cross his path, which no god or demon even think of. King told Saturn about the apprehension of the wise men, that due to masking of Rohini by Saturn, Indra will become incapacitated to produce rain, earth will not produce eatables, and people will die. There will be no oblations and sacrifices. There will be an ultimate doom. Saturn agreed that it is his nature that everything is reduced to nothingness by his mere angry glance. Saturn impressed by the dare act of Dashrath on behalf of people, gave a boon as blessing, that who-so-ever applies oil on his body on Saturdays, the day of Saturn, will not be pained by the angry glance of Saturn for full one week. And who-so-ever offers till, oil and iron as daan, will be saved from the evils of Saturn for full one year, and who-so-ever worships Saturn also will be saved from the evils of Saturn for two and half years period of Sadsatti[2]. This incident occurred in April, 2183 BC. It means following 12 years after this date famine did take place (2183--2171 BC).
3. There is also a reference of the similar famine of 12 yrs in the period of Shantanu, the father of Bhisma. Shantanu was the son of king Rishishen. Shantanu acquired throne in the place of his elder brother Devapi as Devapi declined to accept throne willfully in favor of his younger brother. Devapi suffered from some unusual skin disease though he was very talented in every sphere of knowledge becoming of a good king. Once there was a famine of 12 years in Shantanu’s kingdom. The priests and sages concluded that may be the famine was due to Shantanu’s act of injustice against his brother Devapi. There was a king named Shivi from Ushinar who conducted yagya for Agni for next continuous 12 yrs so that Agni devata is pleased[3].
4. There is again a story about king Janak ploughing the fields when a famine of 12 years and there was no rain for this long period. During this deed of his Sita appeared whom he brought up as his daughter.
Sitamarhi is a district in Bihar situated on the bank of river Lakhandei (trib. of Bagmati) approx. 50 km from Darbhanga. In Valimiki Ramayan, it is written that Janak found a girl child while plowing field and he named her Sita. The god gifted Sita brought an end to the year long drought and famine in Mithila[4].
5. There is another reference to this 12 years famine in Ayodhya. There was a king in that janpad with the name Saalankayan. There was large number of deaths of human beings as well as animals. Vashisth guided him to consult rishi Markandey. King worshiped river Narmada and Shiva and then there was a rain and normalcy returned in his kingdom[5].
6. A similar narrative is found in the epic of Mahabharata entitled “Viswamitra Swapaka Samvad”. The tale is that, once a terrible famine occurred on the earth. Viswamitra, out of hunger sent all his disciples to search for food. They did not find food. Later on they saw a dog was lying dead on the roadside. They brought the dead body of the dog and being ordered by the sage, they all skinned it and cooked food. Viswamitra, taking the cooked dogflesh, was about to offer it to the God like Indra, Surya, Vishnu and others. All the Gods requested the sage not to offer the food to make them profane, instead Indra assured rain on the earth and thus Viswamitra brought rain from Indra.
“Once Indra, the rain deity of heaven, being annoyed with the people for he was not worshipped, Promised not to pour rain on the earth for twelve years, which resulted in a terrible famine in the said region. The cattle started dying due to shortage of water and grass. Even people started dying of starvation.”
Meanwhile, an old cultivator of a village called in all his sons to his presence and said that they have spent their time in playing and merry-making. He continued that he has become old like the ripen leaves of a dry tree. Now or then he might pass away. So he wanted his sons to learn the technique of cultivation. Ordered by their father the sons took bullocks and ploughed the field. But the soil was too hard for the share to penetrate. So the old man took all his sons into a river basin and in its sand he started ploughing. The whole atmosphere was filled with an illusion of cultivating the filed in rainy season.
Indra curiously came down to the riverbank in the disguise of a Brahman. He saw the old man ploughing in the river sand with his sons. He asked the old man as to why he was ploughing the river basin like an insane. The old man replied that he knew it was futile to plough there. But one should not forget his occupation. Everyone should make his descendants learn his parental occupation.
Hearing it Indra returned leaving the old cultivator and thought that the old man had opened his eyes.
One should train his sons about parental occupation; otherwise after him they would be nowhere. So Indra ordered his four sons (four clouds according to folk belief) to learn how to pour rain on the earth. Needless to say the barren earth overflowed with rainwater. Indra now realised how the old cultivator extracted rain from him by deception.”
In the Gond story the old man is the counterpart of sage Viswamitra. The trickery played with Indra by the old man has more propriety than the means adopted by sage Viswamitra. In the folktale the old man had solved his problem in a positive way whereas in the Viswamitra Swapaka Samvad, sage Viswamitra had adopted a negative approach in solving the problem.
When the scare of famine ended after twelve years, vishvamitra established Satyavrata on the throne of Ayodhya and conducted Vedic rituals for him[6].
The Vishnu Purana describes another legend of Satyavrata. Satyavrata was a Chandala and when there was famine in the country then he assisted Vishwamitra`s family. Satyavrata supported Vishwamitra`s family by hanging deer`s flesh on a tree on the bank of the Ganges, so that they might obtain food without the deprivation of receiving it from a Chandala. Thus for this charity Vishwamitra raised Satyavrata to heaven and he became immortal.
A different story of Satyavrata is related in Harivansa. When Satyavrata was a prince he attempted to carry off the wife of a citizen. Satyavrata`s father punished him by depriving him out of the home. Vasishtha, the family priest tried to soften the father`s decision but failed. The period of Satyavrata`s exile was a time of famine, and Satyavrata greatly helped the wife and family of Vishwamitra, who were in deep suffering while the sage was far away from the family.
Satyavrata completed his twelve year`s of exile and penance. One day he was hungry and having no flesh to eat, he killed Vasishtha`s extraordinary cow, the Kamadhenu. Satyavrata ate the cow himself, and gave some of the portions to the sons of Vishwamitra. In wrath Vasishtha gave him the name Trisanku, for being guilty of three great sins.
Vishwamitra was grateful by the aid which Satyavrata had rendered to his family at the time of famine and he made Satyavrata the King in his father`s kingdom. Vishwamitra then in spite of the opposition of the gods and of Vasishtha exalted the king Satyavrata alive to heaven.
Another variation (version) goes like this : there was a king named Trayaruna. His son was Satyavrata. Satyavrata was exceedingly strong. But such was his desire for riches, that he committed many sins. His father Trayaruna therefore decided to banish him. Trayaruna’s chief priest was Vashishtha and the sage also supported the king’s decision.
“Go away,” Trayaruna told his son. “I do not wish to have a son who is like you.”
“What will I do and where will I live?” asked Satyavrata.
“Go and live with the chandalas (outcasts),” his father replied.
Satyabrata went and started to live with the outcasts. In due course. Trayaruna retired to the forest and there was no king to rule over the kingdom. In the absence of a king, anarchy prevailed. For twelve long years it did not rain and there was a terrible drought. Famine raged.
At the time, the sage Vishvamitra had gone away to the shores of the great ocean to meditate. The sage’s wife found it difficult to make both ends meet. There was no food to be had. She had no option but to sell off one of her sons in exchange for a hundred head of cattle. With this wealth she proposed to feed herself and her remaining sons. The person to whom the son was sold, tied a rope around the son’s neck and proceeded to drag him away from the market-place. The son thus came to acquire the name of Galava.
Satyavrata discovered what was happening. He rescued Galava and he also made arrangements to ensure that Vishvamitra’s wife and sons did not suffer in the sage’s absence. The entire family was looked after by Satyavrata. Satyavrata killed deer and other wild animals in the forest. He brought the meat to Galava’s family. He also tended to his father who had retired to the forest.
One one particular day, there was no game to be had. The sage Vashishtha possessed a cow. Satyavrata was not at all enamoured of Vashishtha. The sage had, after all, recommended that Trayaruna banish his son. Satyavrata therefore stole Vashishtha’s cow and slew it. He ate the meat himself and also fed part of it to Vishvamitra’s family.
Vashishtha was furious to learn this. He cursed Satyavrata. “You have committed three sins (shanku),” he said. “You have stolen that which belonged to others. That is your first sin. You have caused unhappiness to your father. That is your second sin. And you have stolen and killed my cow. That is your third sin. Since you have committed three (tri) sins. I curse you that henceforth you will be known as Trishanku.”
After the twelve years of drought were over, Vishvamitra returned from his wanderings and was delighted to learn that Trishanku had taken care of his family in his absence. Despite Vashishtha’s opposition, Vishvamitra arranged for Trishanku’s coronation. As a sage, Vishvamitra had acquired great powers. He used these powers to send Trishanku to heaven in his mortal body. This was such a wonderful act that everyone marvelled at it.
7. Over the years along the Saraswati, the Saraswats established the concept of Kuladevatas or family gods, and began worshipping them.
They accepted the Great Sage Saraswat Muni (son of Rishi Dadichi), living on the banks of Saraswati as their Guru. There were about 60,000 (Shatsahasara) Brahmins who were his disciples. When a severe famine which lasted for about 12 years hit the region and the crops were not enough to feed everyone, the survival of the Saraswats was at stake. When they could find no apparent solution to their vexing problem, at the advice of their Guru who was pragmatic, they started to feed on fish from the Saraswati river for survival. Thus they became the only fish-eating Brahmins ever known. This settlement was in the land between the saraswati and Drishadvati rivers.
In times of yore, Brahmins were known as Saraswats. They worshipped Saraswati, the Goddess of learning. Their erudition was called Saraswata. They always chose for their habitat, the fertile banks of the river Saraswati; and the land of their homes was known as Saraswata Desha. River Saraswati has the reputation of having meandered, not less than five times and the Saraswat Brahmins, followed her until she decided to go underground. This is the reason Saraswats are assigned to several places of origin, all true.
Manusmriti and the Puranas, make reverent references to Saraswats as Vipra, a term of distinction for a Brahmin, who practises what he preaches. Before he left for the Himalayas for Tappo Siddhi or spiritual attainments, the great - sage Dadhichi, blessed his pregnant wife Saraswati with a son, her namesake who would rise to be a world teacher.
“Tavaiva namna pratitaha putraste loka bhavanah
Saraswata iti khyato bhavishyati maha tapaha”.
The prophecy came true, when in good time, Saraswata Muni, initiated into vedic lore, sixty thousand Saraswats, who had left their hearths and homes in a famine and come back after twelve years, when prosperity returned.
Saraswats were sticklers for chaste diction and correct articulation of Sanskrit, but at home, they spoke a vernacular bereft of Sanskrit's ornate flourishes and tongue-twisting sandhis. Words, sometimes-entire phrases, were reduced, in a set pattern, to a single word, subtle and crisp and thus built up a sturdy and elegant speech, which they called Brahmani.
The flow of the saraswati was in the middle of the Bharatvarsha, comprising present day Haryana, Punjab, Present west & south Pakistan, Rajasthsn, Uttarpradesh & Gujrat. Tragically, the disappearance of the life-giving river led mass migrations in all directions: along the courses of the Ganges and the Yamuna in the east, to Kashmir and Punjab in the north, towards Rajasthan in the west in and, eventually, to Goa, Karnataka and other places in the south. This gave rise to various smaller denominations such as the Gowda Saraswats, Chitrapur Saraswats, Rajapur Saraswats, Kutch Saraswats, Punjabi Saraswat etc., who gradually lost contact with the roots.
8. Mandhata, born of the left abdominal cavity of king Yuvnashav in Ikshvaku lineage, was brought up by Indra himself. He forced Indra, his foster father, to pour rain over his region, after famine broke for 12 yrs[7].
[1] Narad Puran, Uttarbhaag.
[2] Defeat of Saturn by King Dashratha. Nagar Khand, Purvardh, Sakand Puran, ank 279, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
[3] Vedkath Ank, Pt Shri Lalbihari ji Mishr in article “Sashantantra Praja Ke Hitt Ke Liye”, Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Sakand Puran.
[4] Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2137373
[5] Sakand Puran, Aavantyakhand—Rewa Khand, ‘Maheshwar tirth ki mahima, Raj Saalankayan ka Yajya’.
[6] Harivamsham, Harivamsha Parva. Ttrishankucharitam--legend of trishanku.
[7] Sakand Puran, Aavantyakhand—Rewa Khand, ‘Mandhata ka charitra’.
"Bhishma said, 'The Brahmana accepts gifts from him that is righteous, and from him that is unrighteous. If the giver happens to be righteous, the receiver incurs little fault. If on the other hand, the giver happens to be unrighteous the receiver sinks in hell. In this connection is cited an old history of the conversation between Vrishadarbhi and the seven Rishis, O Bharata. Kasyapa and Atri and Vasishtha and Bharadwaja and Gautama and Viswamitra and Jamadagni, and the chaste Arundhati (the wife of Vasishtha), all had a common maidservant whose name was Ganda. A Sudra of the name of Pasusakha married Ganda and became her husband. Kasyapa and others, in days of old, observed the austerest penances and roved over the world, desirous of attaining to the eternal region of Brahman by the aid of Yoga-meditation. About that time, O delighter of the Kurus, there occurred a severe drought. Afflicted by hunger, the whole world of living creatures became exceedingly weak. At a sacrifice which had been performed in former times by Sivi's son he had given away unto the Ritwiks a son of his as the sacrificial present. About this time, unendued with longevity as the prince was, he died of starvation. The Rishis named, afflicted with hunger, approached the dead prince and sat surrounding him. Indeed, those foremost of Rishis, beholding the son of him at whose sacrifice they had officiated, O Bharata, thus dead of starvation, began to cook the body in a vessel, impelled by the pangs of hunger. All food having disappeared from the world of men, those ascetics, desirous of saving their lives, had recourse, for purposes of sustenance, to such a miserable shift. While they were thus employed. Vrishadarbha's son, viz., king Saivya, in course of his roving, came uponthose Rishis. Indeed, he met them on his way, engaged in cooking the dead body, impelled by the pangs of hunger.'"
