1.
Vahana
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Vahana denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular Hindu deity is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vahana is often called the deitys mount, upon the partnership between the deity and his vahana is woven much iconography and mythology. Deities are often depicted riding the vahana, other times, the vahana is depicted at the deitys side or symbolically represented as a divine attribute. The vahana may be considered an accoutrement of the deity, though the vahana may act independently, the deity may be seen sitting or on, or standing on, the vahana. They may be sitting on a platform called a howdah. Vah in Sanskrit means to carry or to transport, in Hindu iconography, positive aspects of the vehicle are often emblematic of the deity that it carries. Nandi the bull, vehicle of Shiva, represents strength and virility, Parvani the peacock, vehicle of Skanda, represents splendor and majesty. The hamsa, vehicle of Saraswati, represents wisdom, grace, however, the vehicle animal also symbolizes the evil forces over which the deity dominates. Mounted on Parvani, Skanda reins in the peacocks vanity, seated on Mushika, Ganesh crushes useless thoughts, which multiply like rats in the dark. Shani, protector of property, has a vulture, raven or crow in which he represses thieving tendencies, under Shanis influence, the vahana can make even malevolent events bring hope. The vehicle of a deity can vary according to the source, the time, in popular tradition, the origin of each vehicle is told in thousands of different ways. Three examples, While the god Ganesha was still a child, Ganesha trapped him with his lasso and made him his mount. Mushika was originally a gandharva, or celestial musician, after absent mindedly walking over the feet of a rishi named Vamadeva, Mushika was cursed and transformed into a mouse. However, after the rishi recovered his temper, he promised Mushika that one day, the prophecy was fulfilled when the mouse became the vahana of Ganesha. Before becoming the vehicle of Shiva, Nandi was a deity called Nandikeshvara, lord of joy and master of music, then, without warning, his name and his functions were transferred to the aspect of Shiva known as the deity Nataraja. From half-man, half-bull, he simply a bull. Since that time, he has watched over each of Shivas temples, kartikeya, the war-god known as Murugan in Southern India, is also mounted on a peacock. This peacock was originally a demon called Surapadma, while the rooster was called the angel, after provoking Murugan in combat, the demon repented at the moment his lance descended upon him
2.
Magic (paranormal)
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Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
3.
Nakula
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In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Nakula was fourth of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashwini Kumaras using Kuntis boon and its Sanskrit etymology is he who is most handsome in the lineage. Nakula and his brother Sahadeva, are called as Ashvineya, as they were born from Ashvins. He is also called Madri Nandan, due to Pandus inability to bear children, Kunti had to use the boon given by Sage Durvasa to give birth to her three children. She shared the boon with Pandus second wife, Madri, who invoked the Ashwini Kumaras to beget Nakula, the dark-complexioned Nakula was known to be the most handsome person in the world. In his childhood, Nakula mastered his skills in fencing and knife throwing under his father Pandu, later, Pandu lost his life when he desired his wifes Madri company. The latter also immolated herself in her husbands pyre after giving responsibility of her sons to Kunti, following Pandus death, Kunti and the five Pandavas moved to Hastinapura upon Dhritarashtras invitation. Nakula greatly improved his archery and swordplay skills under the tutelage of Dronacharya, along with the other Pandavas and the Kaurava, Nakula was trained in religion, science, administration, and military arts by the Kuru preceptors Kripacharya and Dronacharya. Nakula married Draupadi during this period and had a son, Satanika, during his brothers Rajasuya, Nakula was tasked with bringing to heel several kingdoms. One of these was the Chedi Kingdom, to cement an alliance, Nakula married Karenumati, daughter of Dhristaketu who was the son of Sishupala, she bore him one son, Niramitra. Years after Madri had killed herself, King Shalya, her brother, as well as the ruler of the kingdom of Madra, would each year, for a spell, bring his nephews Nakula and Sahadeva to Madra. On their fifteenth birthday, Shalya revealed his intention of making the twins his heirs, Shalya argued that Nakula could be a king one day, instead of fourth-in-line to the throne of Hastinapura. Provided that Yudhishthira was named their heir in the first place, the wise Nakula pointed out that Shalya only wanted Nakula and Sahadeva as his heirs, because both were children of god-in fact, Shalya was eschewing his own children with this gambit. Nakula claimed that while he and Sahadeva staying with the Pandavas would give them no power, his brothers and Kunti genuinely loved him, Nakula laments that by becoming Shalyas heir, he would then become Shalyas pawn. Through some deliberation, Nakula is convinced that Shalya is being genuine and he and Sahadeva become the heirs to the throne, but Sahadeva told his uncle on one condition, they will always stay with the Pandavas. Yudhishthiras loss in the game of dice meant that all Pandavas had to live in exile for 13 years, once in exile, Jatasura, disguised as a Brahmin, kidnapped Nakula along with Draupadi, Sahadeva and Yudhishthira. Bhima rescued them eventually and in the fight ensued, Nakula killed Kshemankara, Mahamaha. In the 13th year, Nakula disguised himself as an ostler and he worked as a horse-trainer who looked after horses in the royal stable
4.
Sahadeva
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In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Sahadeva was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashwini Kumaras using Kuntis boon, the word Sahadeva is derived from two Sanskrit words saha and deva. Saha means with and deva is a Hindu term used for deity, so literally, Sahadeva means with Gods. Sahadeva and his brother Nakula, are called as Ashvineya, as they were born from Ashvins. Due to Pandus inability to bear children, Kunti had to use the boon given by Sage Durvasa to give birth to her three children and she shared the boon with Pandus second wife, Madri, who invoked the Ashwini Kumaras to beget Nakula and Sahadeva. Later, Pandu died due to his Kindamas curse when he attempted an intercourse with his wife, the latter also immolated herself in her husbands pyre, so Nakula and Sahadeva lost both their parents at an early age. It is also believed that Sahadeva was an incarnation of Shukra, Sahadeva and his brothers went to Hastinapura where they were instructed by Drona and Kripa in weapons. Sahadeva also acquired the Nitishastra from Brihaspati, Guru of the Devas, later Kunti and the five Pandavas moved to Hastinapura. Sahadevas core skill lay in the wielding of the sword, Sahadeva is said to be mild-mannered, bashful, patient, and virtuous. All five Pandava brothers were wed concurrently to Draupadi, and each had a son by her, Sahadevas son with Draupadi was Srutasen. Sahadeva also married his maternal cousin Vijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra and his son Suhotra was killed by Karna. Sahadeva was sent south by the eldest Pandava Yudhishthira to subjugate kingdoms for the Rajasuya sacrifice and he was specifically chosen for the south because of his expertise with the sword, and because Bhishma opined that Southerners are skilled with sword-fighting in general. The Mahabharata mentions several kingdoms to the south of Indraprastha which were conquered by Sahadeva, some of them are as under, Surasenas Pandyan Dynasty Matsya, the king Dantavakra, kings Sukumara, Sumitra, other Matsyas and Patacharas. Vibhishana, the king of Lanka and brother of Ravana and he offered him diverse kinds of jewels and gems, sandalwood, celestial ornaments, costly apparel and valuable pearls. At Kishkindha, the monkey-kings Mainda and Dwivida were defeated in a 7-day war, city of Mahishmati, which was ruled by King Nila. Since the kingdom had the blessings of Agni, a huge fire obstructed the army when Sahadeva tried to invade, King Rukmi of Vidarbha and territories of Bhojakata Nishadas, the hill of Gosringa and King Sreenimath. Navarashtra, under King Kunti-Bhoja King Jamvaka, on the banks of the river Charmanwati, territories lying on the banks of the Venwa. Kingdoms that lay on the banks of the Narmada, surabhipatna and the island called the Copper island, and a mountain called Ramaka
5.
Saranyu
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Saranya or Saraniya is the wife of Surya, and the goddess of clouds in Hindu mythology, the mother of Revanta and the twin Asvins. She is also the mother of Manu, and of the twins Yama, according to Farnell, the meaning of the epithet is to be sought in the original conception of Erinys, which was akin to Ge. Saraṇyū is the form of the adjective saraṇyú, meaning quick, fleet, nimble, used for rivers. But Yamas Mother, Spouse of great Vivasvat, vanished as she was carried to her dwelling, from mortal men they hid the Immortal Lady, made one like her and gave her to Vivasvat. Saranyu brought to him the Asvin brothers, and then deserted both twinned pairs of children
6.
Surya
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Surya means the Sun in Nepal and India. Synonyms of Surya in ancient Indian literature include Aditya, Arka, Bhanu, Savitr, Pushan, Ravi, Martanda, Mitra and Vivasvan. Surya also connotes the solar deity in Hinduism, particularly in the Saura tradition found in such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand. He is one of the five deities considered as equivalent aspects and his iconography is often depicted riding a chariot harnessed by horses, often seven in number which represent the seven colour rays of the rainbow. In medieval Hinduism, Surya is also an epithet for the major Hindu gods Shiva, in some ancient texts and arts, Surya is presented syncretically with Indra, Ganesha or others. Surya as a deity is found in the arts and literature of Buddhism and Jainism. Surya is one of the nine houses in the zodiac system of Hindu astrology. Surya or Ravi is the basis of Ravivara, or Sunday, major festivals and pilgrimages in reverence of Surya include Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Kumbh Mela. However, the usage is context specific, in some hymns, the word Surya simply means sun as an inanimate object, a stone or a gem in the sky, while in others it refers to a personified deity. The Vedas assert Sun to be the creator of the material universe, in the Brahmanas layer of Vedic literature, Surya appears with Agni in the same hymns. Surya is revered for the day, while Agni for its role during the night, the idea evolves, states Kapila Vatsyayan, where Surya is stated to be Agni as the first principle and the seed of the universe. It is in the Brahmanas layer of the Vedas, and the Upanishads that Surya is explicitly linked to the power of sight, to visual perception and knowledge. In the Ramayana, Surya is described as father of the King Sugriva, the Suryavanshi dynasty of kings, Rama being one of them, also claims descent from Surya. Eastern kingdom of mahabharta and ramayana are called to be of Suryas potential, in the Mahabharata, Karna is the son of Surya and unmarried princess Kunti. The epic describes Kuntis trauma as a mother, then abandonment of Karna. Baby Karna is found, adopted and grows up to one of the central characters in the great battle of Kurukshetra where he fights his step brothers. Surya is celebrated as a deity in Buddhist artwork, such as the ancient works attributed to Ashoka, for example, Surya appears in Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, riding in a chariot pulled by four horses. Sun is a deity is ancient and medieval cultures found in South America, Europe, Africa
7.
Castor and Pollux
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In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux, or Kastor and Polydeuces, were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers, Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters or half-sisters Helen of Troy. In Latin the twins are known as the Gemini or Castores. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, the pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmos fire, and were also associated with horsemanship. They are sometimes called the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids, later seen as a reference to their father and stepfather Tyndareus, the best-known story of the twins birth is that Zeus disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda. Thus Ledas children are said to have hatched from two eggs that she then produced. The Dioscuri can be recognized in vase-paintings by the skull-cap they wear, the pilos, whether the children are thus mortal or half-immortal is not consistent among accounts, nor is whether the twins hatched together from one egg. In some accounts, only Pollux was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and this explains why they were granted an alternate immortality. It is a belief that one would live among the gods. Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine, one consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. In Homers Iliad, Helen looks down from the walls of Troy, the narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. Their death and shared immortality offered by Zeus was material of the lost Cypria in the Epic cycle, the Dioscuri were regarded as helpers of humankind and held to be patrons of travellers and of sailors in particular, who invoked them to seek favourable winds. Their role as horsemen and boxers also led to them being regarded as the patrons of athletes and they characteristically intervened at the moment of crisis, aiding those who honoured or trusted them. Ancient Greek authors tell a number of versions of the story of Castor, homer portrays them initially as ordinary mortals, treating them as dead in the Iliad, but in the Odyssey they are treated as alive even though the corn-bearing earth holds them. The author describes them as having honour equal to gods, living on alternate days due to the intervention of Zeus, in both the Odyssey and in Hesiod, they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In Pindar, Pollux is the son of Zeus while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus, the theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux, similar characterisations appear in the stories of Hercules and Theseus. The Dioscuri are also invoked in Alcaeus Fragment 34a, though whether this poem antedates the Homeric Hymn to the twins is unknown and they appear together in two plays by Euripides, Helen and Elektra
8.
Sanskrit language
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Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
9.
Hindu mythology
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As such, it is a subset of mainstream Indian and Nepali culture. The roots of mythology that evolved from classical Hinduism come from the times of the Vedic civilization, the four Vedas, notably the hymns of the Rigveda, contain allusions to many themes. The characters, philosophy and stories make up ancient Vedic myths are indelibly linked with Hindu beliefs. The Vedas are four in number, namely RigVeda, YajurVeda, SamaVeda, in the period of Classical Sanskrit, much material is preserved in the Sanskrit epics. Besides mythology proper, the voluminous epics also provide a range of information about ancient Nepali and Indian society, philosophy, culture, religion. The two great Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata tell the story of two incarnations of Vishnu. These two works are known as Itihasa, the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana serve as both religious scriptures and a rich source of philosophy and morality. The most famous of these chapters is the Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata, in which Lord Krishna explains the concepts of duty and these stories are deeply embedded in Hindu philosophy and serve as parables and sources of devotion for Hindus. The Mahabharata is the worlds longest epic in verse, running to more than 2,000,000 lines, the epics themselves are set in different Yugas, or periods of time. The Ramayana, written by the Maharshi Valmiki, describes the life and times of Lord Rama, the Mahabharata, describing the life and times of the Pandavas, occurs in the Dvapara Yuga, a period associated with Lord Krishna. In total, there are 4 Yugas and these are the Satya or Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and the Kali Yuga. The avatara concept, however, belongs to the Puranic times, the Puranas deal with stories that are old and do not appear in the epics. They contain legends and stories about the origins of the world, and the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. They contain traditions related to ancient kings, seers, incarnations of God and legends about holy places, the Bhagavata Purana is probably the most read and popular of the Puranas. It chronicles the legends of the god Vishnu and his avatars on earth, the act of creation was thought of in more than one manner. One of the oldest cosmogonic myth in the Rigveda had come into existence as a cosmic egg, the Purusha Sukta narrates that all things were made out of the mangled limbs of Purusha, a magnified non-natural man, who was sacrificed by the gods. In the Puranas, Vishnu, in the shape of a boar, plunged into the cosmic waters, the Shatapatha Brahmana says that in the beginning, Prajapati, the first creator or father of all, was alone in the world. He differentiated himself into two beings, husband and wife, the wife, regarding union with her producer as incest, fled from his embraces assuming various animal disguises
10.
Divine twins
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The Divine twins are a mytheme of Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Thracian Horseman Purusha, the cosmic man - very similar to the gnostic First Man, is a giant that is sacrificed by the gods. He is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet and he emanated Viraj, the female creative principle, from which he is reborn in turn after the world was made out of his parts. Purusha was dismembered by the mind is the Moon, his eyes are the Sun. This reminds of the dismemberment mythos, for example that of Like Viraj-Shakti to Purusha, so does Isis recompose the body of Osiris in order to have his offspring, Horus, steven OBrien, Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology, JIES10, 117-136. Michael Shapiro, Neglected Evidence of Dioscurism in the Old Slavic Pantheon, JIES10, donald Ward, The Divine Twins, An Indo-European Myth in Germanic Tradition horse sacrifice
11.
Equestrianism
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Equestrianism, more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding, refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in sports including, but not limited to, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving. Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows, Horses are used for non-competitive recreational riding such as fox hunting, trail riding or hacking. There is public access to trails in almost every part of the world, many parks, ranches. Horses are also used for therapeutic purposes, both in specialized paraequestrian competition as well as non-competitive riding to improve health and emotional development. Horses are also driven in harness racing, at shows and in other types of exhibition, historical reenactment or ceremony. In some parts of the world, they are used for practical purposes such as farming. Horses continue to be used in service, in traditional ceremonies, police and volunteer mounted patrols. Riding halls enable the training of horse and rider in all weathers as well as indoor competition riding, though there is controversy over the exact date horses were domesticated and when they were first ridden, the best estimate is that horses first were ridden approximately 3500 BC. Indirect evidence suggests that horses were ridden long before they were driven, however, the most unequivocal early archaeological evidence of equines put to working use was of horses being driven. Chariot burials about 2500 BC present the most direct evidence of horses used as working animals. In ancient times chariot warfare was followed by the use of war horses as light, the horse played an important role throughout human history all over the world, both in warfare and in peaceful pursuits such as transportation, trade and agriculture. Horses lived in North America, but died out at the end of the Ice Age, Horses were brought back to North America by European explorers, beginning with the second voyage of Columbus in 1493. Humans appear to have expressed a desire to know which horse were the fastest. Gambling on horse races appears to go hand-in hand with racing and has a history as well. Thoroughbreds have the pre-eminent reputation as a breed, but other breeds also race. Under saddle, Thoroughbred horse racing is the most popular form worldwide, in the UK, it is known as flat racing and is governed by the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom
12.
Rigveda
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The Rigveda is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas. The text is a collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses, a good deal of the language is still obscure and many hymns as a consequence seem unintelligible. The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities, for each deity series the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones, and the number of hymns per book increases. In the eight books that were composed the earliest, the hymns predominantly discuss cosmology, Rigveda is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. 1700–1100 BC has also been given, some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu rites of passage celebrations such as weddings and religious prayers, making it probably the worlds oldest religious text in continued use. This redaction also included some additions and orthoepic changes to the Vedic Sanskrit such as the regularization of sandhi, the Padapatha and the Pratisakhya anchor the texts fidelity and meaning, and the fixed text was preserved with unparalleled fidelity for more than a millennium by oral tradition alone. In order to achieve this the oral tradition prescribed very structured enunciation, involving breaking down the Sanskrit compounds into stems and inflections and this interplay with sounds gave rise to a scholarly tradition of morphology and phonetics. The Rigveda was probably not written down until the Gupta period, the oral tradition still continued into recent times. The text is organized in 10 books, known as Mandalas, of varying age, the family books, mandalas 2–7, are the oldest part of the Rigveda and the shortest books, they are arranged by length and account for 38% of the text. Within each book, the hymns are arranged in collections each dealing with a deity, Agni comes first, Indra comes second. They are attributed and dedicated to a rishi and his family of students, within each collection, the hymns are arranged in descending order of the number of stanzas per hymn. If two hymns in the collection have equal numbers of stanzas then they are arranged so that the number of syllables in the metre are in descending order. The second to seventh mandalas have a uniform format, the eighth and ninth mandalas, comprising hymns of mixed age, account for 15% and 9%, respectively. The first and the tenth mandalas are the youngest, they are also the longest books, of 191 suktas each, however, adds Witzel, some hymns in Mandala 8,1 and 10 may be as old as the earlier Mandalas. The first mandala has an arrangement not found in the other nine mandalas. The ninth mandala is arranged by both its structure and hymn length, while the first eighty four hymns of the tenth mandala have a structure different than the remaining hymns in it. Each mandala consists of hymns called sūkta intended for various rituals, the sūktas in turn consist of individual stanzas called ṛc, which are further analysed into units of verse called pada
13.
Deva (Hinduism)
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Deva means heavenly, divine, anything of excellence, and is also one of the terms for a deity in Hinduism. Deva is masculine, and the feminine equivalent is devi. In the earliest Vedic literature, all beings are called Asuras. The concepts and legends evolve in ancient Indian literature, and by the late Vedic period, in post-Vedic texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas of Hinduism, the Devas represent the good, and the Asuras the bad. In some medieval Indian literature, Devas are also referred to as Suras and contrasted with their powerful but malevolent half-brothers. Devas along with Asuras, Yakshas and Rakshasas are part of Indian mythology, Deva is a Sanskrit word found in Vedic literature of 2nd millennium BCE. Monier Williams translates it as heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of excellence, exalted. The concept also is used to refer to deity or god, the feminine form of *deiwos is *deiwih2, which descends into Indic languages as devi, in that context meaning female deity. The bode of the Devas is Dyuloka, according to Douglas Harper, the etymological roots of Deva mean a shining one, from *div- to shine, and it is a cognate with Greek dios divine and Zeus, and Latin deus god. Deva is masculine, and the feminine equivalent is devi. Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea, when capitalized, Devi or Mata refers to goddess as divine mother in Hinduism. Deva is also referred to as Devatā, while Devi as Devika, the word Deva is also a proper name or part of name in Indian culture, where it refers to one who wishes to excel, overcome or the seeker of, master of or a best among-. Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra, and Prajapati are gods and hence Devas, saraswati and Ushas are some Devis or goddesses. Many of the deities taken together are worshiped as the Vishvedevas, max Muller states that the Vedic hymns are remarkable in calling every single of different devas as the only one, the supreme, the greatest.163.3, Trita art thou by interior operation. All powerful beings, good or evil, are called Asuras in the oldest layer of Vedic texts, a much studied hymn of the Rigveda states Devav asura, and contrasts it with Asura adevah. They are born from the father, Prajapati, the primordial progenitor, the elder sons are envisioned as the Asuras. The oldest Upanishads mention Devas, and their struggle with the Asuras, the Kaushitaki Upanishad, for example, in Book 4 states that Indra was weaker than the Asuras when he did not know his own Atman. Chandogya Upanishad, in chapter 1.2, describes the battle between Devas and Asuras on various sensory powers, finally, the Deva-Asura battle targets the soul, where Asuras fail and Devas succeed, because soul-force is serene and inherently good, asserts Chandogya Upanishad
14.
Ayurveda
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Ayurveda, or Ayurveda medicine, is a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of complementary or alternative medicine, in the Western world, Ayurveda therapies and practices have been integrated in general wellness applications and as well in some cases in medical use. The main classical Ayurveda texts begin with accounts of the transmission of knowledge from the Gods to sages. In Sushruta Samhita, Sushruta wrote that Dhanvantari, Hindu god of Ayurveda, incarnated himself as a king of Varanasi and taught medicine to a group of physicians, Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. Therapies are typically based on complex compounds, minerals and metal substances. Ancient Ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, other researchers consider it a protoscience, or trans-science system instead. Close to 21% of Ayurveda U. S. and Indian-manufactured patent medicines sold through the Internet were found to contain levels of heavy metals, specifically lead, mercury. The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown, some scholars assert that Ayurveda originated in prehistoric times, and that some of the concepts of Ayurveda have existed from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization or even earlier. Humoral balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy, Ayurveda names three elemental substances, the doshas, and states that a balance of the doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease. Ayurveda has eight components, which are derived from classical Sanskrit literature. Ayurveda practitioners had developed various medicinal preparations and surgical procedures by the medieval period, the earliest classical Sanskrit works on Ayurveda describe medical science as being divided into eight components. This characterization of the art, the medicine that has eight components, is first found in the Sanskrit epic the Mahābhārata. The central theoretical ideas of Ayurveda developed in the mid-first millennium BCE, balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness. For example, to suppress sneezing is said to give rise to shoulder pain. However, people are also cautioned to stay within the limits of reasonable balance, for example, emphasis is placed on moderation of food intake, sleep, and sexual intercourse. Ayurveda names seven basic tissues, which are plasma, blood, muscles, fat, bone, marrow, like the medicine of classical antiquity, Ayurveda has historically divided bodily substances into five classical elements eliminates toxic elements from the body. Panchakarma includes Vamana, Virechana, Basti, Nasya and Raktamokshana and it is preceded by Poorvakarma as a preparatory step, and is followed by Paschatkarma and Peyadikarma. Based on the World Health Assembly resolution on traditional medicine, the WHO has established a traditional medicine strategy, the first previous global strategy was published in 2002 and dealt especially with herbal medicines
15.
Mahabharata
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The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The Mahābhārata is a narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and the fates of the Kaurava. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four goals of life or puruṣārtha, traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The oldest preserved parts of the text are thought to be not much older than around 400 BCE, the text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period. The title may be translated as the tale of the Bhārata dynasty. According to the Mahābhārata itself, the tale is extended from a version of 24,000 verses called simply Bhārata. The Mahābhārata is the longest known epic poem and has described as the longest poem ever written. Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines, and long prose passages. About 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa. W. J. Johnson has compared the importance of the Mahābhārata in the context of civilization to that of the Bible, the works of Shakespeare. The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyāsa, who is also a character in the epic. Vyāsa described it as being itihāsa and he also describes the Guru-shishya parampara, which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times. The first section of the Mahābhārata states that it was Gaṇeśa who wrote down the text to Vyasas dictation, the epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales, popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It is recited by the sage Vaiśampāyana, a disciple of Vyāsa, the text has been described by some early 20th-century western Indologists as unstructured and chaotic. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the poem must once have carried an immense tragic force. Moritz Winternitz considered that only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole, Research on the Mahābhārata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present Mahābhārata can be traced back to Vedic times, the background to the Mahābhārata suggests the origin of the epic occurs after the very early Vedic period and before the first Indian empire was to rise in the third century B. C
16.
Pandu
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In the Mahabharata epic, Pandu, was the king of Hastinapur, was the son of Ambalika and Vyasa. He is more known as the earthly father of the Pandavas. He was said to be a warrior and expanded his kingdom during his rule. With Vichitravirya having died of sickness, Bhishma unable to take the throne because of his vow, satyavati then invited her son Vyasa to impregnate the queens Ambika and Ambalika under the Niyoga practice. When Vyasa approached Ambalika, she got frightened due to his appearance and though she made love with Vyasa, she had become pale in disgust, hence. Pandu was taught in the fields of archery, politics, administration and religion by Bhisma and he was an excellent archer and Maharathi. He became the successor to his kingdom and was crowned King of Hastinapur. He was married to Kunti, the dying sage placed a curse on Pandu, since he had not only killed them in the midst of lovemaking, but was not remorseful for his action. King Pandu argued with sage Kindama by misquoting sage Agastyas ruling on the right of Kshatriyas on hunting, sage Kindama then cursed Pandu, the curse being that were he to approach his wives with the intent of making love, he would die. Upset and seeking to repent his action, Pandu renounced his kingdom, pandava The Pandeism of Godfrey Higgins
17.
Madri
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In the Mahabharata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra Kingdom and the second wife of King Pāṇḍu. The word Mādrī means she who is the princess of Madra kingdom, having just ascended the throne, Pandu went to war, conquering or allying with many kingdoms in the name of Hastinapur. When he approached Madra, he found a huge army waiting him, during the war, he found King Shalyas charioteer driving the chariot fast. Shalya revealed that the charioteer was none other than his own sister and he proposed that the two kingdoms avoided war via marriage. She, alongside Kunti, faithfully accompanied Pandu in his hermitical retreat following his abdication as the king of Hastinapura, one day, while hunting in the forest, Pandu accidentally shot an arrow killing what he thought was a deer, but was actually the coupling Rishi Kindama. The sage cursed Pandu that he would die when he became intimate with a woman, both Kunti and Madri were directly affected by the curse on Pandu because they were now unable to bear Pandus children. However, a given to Kunti by Durvasa, enabled her to call upon any God to bear her a child. Accordingly, Kunti called upon Dharma, Vayu and Indra and bore Yudishtira, Bhima, as Kunti and Madri had sister type relations between them, Kunti whole heartedly agreed to share the mantras with Madri. Thus, Madri bore the twins Nakula and Sahadeva of the Ashwini Kumaras, at their birth, an incorporeal voice from the Heavens declared that the children would surpass their fathers in energy and beauty. Once Pandu desired his wifes company, forgetting the rishi curse, Madri, filled with remorse, committed sati by immolating herself on Pandus funeral pyre
18.
Pandava
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In the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic text, the Pandavas are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu, by his two wives Kunti and Madri, who was the princess of Madra. Their names are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, all five brothers were married to the same woman, Draupadi. Together the brothers fought and prevailed in a war against their cousins the Kauravas. The word Pandava is derived from their fathers name, Pandu, the other epithets of the Pandava group are, Panduputra - sons of Pandu Pandavakumara - young Pandavas Kaunteya - sons of Kunti Madreya - sons of Madri Yudhishthira, The eldest Pandava brother. His name means one who is steadfast even during war and his parents were Kunti and Dharma, god of virtue, justice and morality. Though he lacked the characteristic combat prowess of a Kshatriya, Yudhishthira was one of the most virtuous men, skilled in the duties of a king and he was a good king who, along with his brothers, founded the prosperous city of Indraprastha. In consequence of Krishnas machinations and also by his brothers conquest of the world and he performed two Ashwamedha sacrifices and one Rajasuya sacrifice. Yudhishthira learnt to control the dice from the Sage Brihadaswa and became good at playing chess and his other names are Ajatshatru and Dharmaraja. His name means of terrible might and his parents were Kunti and Vayu, the god of air and wind, who was known for his might. Bhima has the strength and prowess equal to ten thousand powerful bull elephants and was very athletic. He was aggressive and prone to anger, of all the brothers, he alone opposed Yudhishthira, although very loyal to him, for his questionable decisions opposing common sense in the name of dharma. Bhima was devoted to his family and was their natural protector and he was a master in wielding the mace. He was also an archer, having fought Drona and Ashwatthama. Bhima was also skilled in diverse areas of warfare, including wrestling, charioteering, riding elephants. Along with Arjuna, he went on expeditions to conquer the kingdoms to the east, during the Rajasuya Yagna, Bhima subjugated the kingdoms of the eastern direction completely. He slew Krishnas most dangerous enemy, Jarasandha, in a wrestling bout, during the war, Bhima was most famous for slaying one hundred Kauravas and Duryodhana himself. He was also skilled in chopping wood, cooking, culinary arts and his name means of stainless deeds. His parents were Kunti and Indra, king of the gods and he was very virtuous and avoided unjust acts
19.
Proto-Indo-European religion
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The hypothesized reconstructions below are based on linguistic evidence using the comparative method. Archaeological evidence is difficult to match to any specific culture in the period of early Indo-European culture in the Chalcolithic, other approaches to Indo-European mythology are possible, such as the trifunctional hypothesis of Georges Dumézil. Linguists are able to reconstruct the names of deities in the Proto-Indo-European language from many types of sources. Some of the proposed deity names are more accepted among scholars than others. The term for a god was *deiwos, reflected in Hittite, sius, Latin, deus, divus, Sanskrit, deva, Avestan, daeva, Welsh, duw, Irish, dia, Old Norse, tívurr, Lithuanian, Dievas, Latvian, Dievs. The supreme ruler of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon was the god *Dyḗus Pḥɑtḗr and he is believed to have been worshipped as the god of the daylit skies. He is, by far, the most well-attested of all the Proto-Indo-European deities, the Greek god Zeus, the Roman god Jupiter, and the Illyrian god Dei-Pátrous all appear as the head gods of their respective pantheons. The Norse god Týr, however, seems to have been demoted to the role of a minor war-deity, *Dyḗus Pḥɑtḗr is also attested in the Rigveda as Dyáus Pitā, a minor ancestor figure mentioned in only a few hymns. The names of the Latvian god Dievs and the Hittite god Attas Isanus do not preserve the exact translation of the name *Dyḗus Pḥɑtḗr. *Hɑéusōs has been reconstructed as the Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn, derivatives of her found throughout various Indo-European mythologies include the Greek goddess Eos, the Roman goddess Aurōra, the Vedic goddess Uṣás, and the Lithuanian goddess Auštrine. The form Arap Ushas appears in Albanian folklore, but as a name for the Moon, an extension of the name may have been *H2eustro, but see also the form *as-t-r, with intrusive -t- in northern dialects. *Seh2ul and *Meh1not are reconstructed as the Proto-Indo-European goddess of the Sun, *Meh1not is reconstructed based off the Norse god Máni, the Hittite god Myesyats, and the Lithuanian god *Meno, or Mėnuo. They are often seen as the children of various deities. The usual scheme is one of these celestial deities is male. The original Indo-European lunar deity appears to have masculine, with feminine lunar deities like Selene, Minerva. Even in these traditions, remnants of male deities, like Menelaus. The word *prihxeha-, meaning wife has been reconstructed based off the Sanskrit word priyā, meaning wife, the Old Norse word frī, meaning beloved, and the Old English word frēo, meaning woman. The name of the Norse goddess Frigg is derived from this root, Analysis of different Indo-European tales indicate the Proto-Indo-Europeans believed there were two progenitors of mankind, *Manu- and *Yemo-, his twin brother
20.
Castor and Polydeuces
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In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux, or Kastor and Polydeuces, were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers, Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters or half-sisters Helen of Troy. In Latin the twins are known as the Gemini or Castores. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, the pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmos fire, and were also associated with horsemanship. They are sometimes called the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids, later seen as a reference to their father and stepfather Tyndareus, the best-known story of the twins birth is that Zeus disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda. Thus Ledas children are said to have hatched from two eggs that she then produced. The Dioscuri can be recognized in vase-paintings by the skull-cap they wear, the pilos, whether the children are thus mortal or half-immortal is not consistent among accounts, nor is whether the twins hatched together from one egg. In some accounts, only Pollux was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and this explains why they were granted an alternate immortality. It is a belief that one would live among the gods. Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine, one consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. In Homers Iliad, Helen looks down from the walls of Troy, the narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. Their death and shared immortality offered by Zeus was material of the lost Cypria in the Epic cycle, the Dioscuri were regarded as helpers of humankind and held to be patrons of travellers and of sailors in particular, who invoked them to seek favourable winds. Their role as horsemen and boxers also led to them being regarded as the patrons of athletes and they characteristically intervened at the moment of crisis, aiding those who honoured or trusted them. Ancient Greek authors tell a number of versions of the story of Castor, homer portrays them initially as ordinary mortals, treating them as dead in the Iliad, but in the Odyssey they are treated as alive even though the corn-bearing earth holds them. The author describes them as having honour equal to gods, living on alternate days due to the intervention of Zeus, in both the Odyssey and in Hesiod, they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In Pindar, Pollux is the son of Zeus while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus, the theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux, similar characterisations appear in the stories of Hercules and Theseus. The Dioscuri are also invoked in Alcaeus Fragment 34a, though whether this poem antedates the Homeric Hymn to the twins is unknown and they appear together in two plays by Euripides, Helen and Elektra
21.
Hengist and Horsa
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Hengist and Horsa are legendary brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent, according to early sources Hengist and Horsa arrived in Britain at Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet. For a time served as mercenaries for Vortigern, King of the Britons. Horsa was killed fighting the Britons, but Hengist successfully conquered Kent, a figure named Hengest, who may be identifiable with the leader of British legend, appears in the Finnsburg Fragment and in Beowulf. Legends of horse-associated founding brothers are attested among other Germanic peoples, as a result, scholars have theorized a pan-Germanic mythological origin for Hengist and Horsa, stemming originally from divine twins found in Proto-Indo-European religion. Other scholars, including J. R. R. Tolkien, have argued for a basis for Hengist. The Old English names Hengest and Horsa mean stallion and horse respectively, the original Old English word for a horse was eoh. Eoh derives from the Proto-Indo-European base *ekwo, hence Latin equus which gave rise to the modern English words equine, Hors is derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *kurs, to run, which also gave rise to hurry, carry, harry, hurrah, and current. Hors eventually replaced eoh, fitting a pattern elsewhere in Germanic languages where the names of sacred animals are abandoned in favour of adjectives, for example. While the Ecclesiastical History and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refer to the brother as Horsa and it has been suggested that Horsa may be a pet form of a compound name with the first element horse. In his 8th century Ecclesiastical History, Bede records that the first chieftains among the Angles, Saxons and he relates that Horsa was killed in battle against the Britons and was thereafter buried in East Kent, where at the time of writing a monument still stood to him. According to Bede, Hengist and Horsa were the sons of Wictgils, son of Witta, son of Wecta, the 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in the year 449 Hengist and Horsa were invited to Britain by Vortigern to assist his forces in fighting the Picts. They landed at Eopwinesfleot, and went on to defeat the Picts wherever they fought them, Hengist and Horsa sent word home to Germany describing the worthlessness of the Britons, and the richness of the land and asked for assistance. Their request was granted and support arrived, afterward, more people arrived in Britain from the three powers of Germany, the Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes. The Saxons populated Essex, Sussex, and Wessex, the Jutes Kent, the Isle of Wight, and part of Hampshire, and the Angles East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. These forces were led by the brothers Hengist and Horsa, sons of Wihtgils, son of Witta, son of Wecta, in the entry for the year 455 the Chronicle details that Hengist and Horsa fought with Vortigern at Aylesford and that Horsa died there. Hengist took control of the kingdom with his son Esc, in 457, Hengist and Esc fought against British forces in Crayford and there slew four thousand men. The Britons left the land of Kent and fled to London, in 465, Hengest and Esc fought again at the Battle of Wippedesfleot, probably near Ebbsfleet, and slew twelve British leaders
22.
Mitanni
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Mitanni, also called Hanigalbat in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia from ca.1500 BC–1300 BC. Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon, at the beginning of its history, Mitannis major rival was Egypt under the Thutmosids. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni, the Mitanni dynasty ruled over the northern Euphrates-Tigris region between c.1475 and c.1275 BC. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to Hittite and later Assyrian attacks, and was reduced to the status of a province of the Middle Assyrian Empire. While the Mitanni kings were Indo-Iranians, they used the language of the people which was at that time a non Indo-Iranian language. Their sphere of influence is shown in Hurrian place names, personal names and the spread through Syria, the Mitanni controlled trade routes down the Khabur to Mari and up the Euphrates from there to Charchamesh. For a time also controlled the Assyrian territories of the upper Tigris and its headwaters at Nineveh, Arbil, Assur. To the east, they had relations with the Kassites. The land of Mitanni in northern Syria extended from the Taurus mountains to its west and as far east as Nuzi, in the south, it extended from Aleppo across to Mari on the Euphrates in the east. Its centre was in the Khabur River valley, with two capitals, Taite and Washshukanni called Taidu and Ushshukana respectively in Assyrian sources, the whole area allows agriculture without artificial irrigation, cattle, sheep and goats were raised. It is very similar to Assyria in climate, and was settled by both indigenous Hurrian and Amoritic-speaking populations, the Mitanni kingdom was referred to as the Maryannu, Nahrin or Mitanni by the Egyptians, the Hurri by the Hittites, and the Hanigalbat by the Assyrians. The different names seem to have referred to the kingdom and were used interchangeably. Hittite annals mention a people called Hurri, located in northeastern Syria, a Hittite fragment, probably from the time of Mursili I, mentions a King of the Hurri. The Assyro-Akkadian version of the text renders Hurri as Hanigalbat, Tushratta, who styles himself king of Mitanni in his Akkadian Amarna letters, refers to his kingdom as Hanigalbat. Egyptian sources call Mitanni nhrn, which is pronounced as Naharin/Naharina from the Assyro-Akkadian word for river. The name Mitanni is first found in the memoirs of the Syrian wars of the astronomer and clockmaker Amenemhet. The ethnicity of the people of Mitanni is difficult to ascertain, a treatise on the training of chariot horses by Kikkuli contains a number of Indo-Aryan glosses. Kammenhuber suggested that this vocabulary was derived from the still undivided Indo-Iranian language, the common peoples language, the Hurrian language, is neither Indo-European nor Semitic
23.
Puranas
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The word Puranas literally means ancient, old, and it is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore. Composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva. The Puranas genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism, the content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu Puranas are anonymous texts and likely the work of authors over the centuries, in contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated. There are 18 Maha Puranas and 18 Upa Puranas, with over 400,000 verses, the first versions of the various Puranas were likely composed between the 3rd- and 10th-century CE. The Puranas do not enjoy the authority of a scripture in Hinduism and they have been influential in the Hindu culture, inspiring major national and regional annual festivals of Hinduism. The religious practices included in them are considered Vaidika, because they do not preach initiation into Tantra, the Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor. The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is hagiographically credited as the compiler of the Puranas. The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas and they existed in an oral form before being written down, and were incrementally modified well into the 16th century. An early occurrence of the term purana is found in the Chandogya Upanishad, translated by Patrick Olivelle as the corpus of histories, importantly, the most famous form of itihāsapurāṇaṃ is the Mahabharata. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24, the extant Puranas, states Coburn, are not identical to the original Puranas. In the 19th century, F. E. Pargiter believed the original Purana may date to the time of the redaction of the Vedas. Wendy Doniger, based on her study of indologists, assigns approximate dates to the various Puranas and she dates Markandeya Purana to c.250 CE, Matsya Purana to c. 250–500 CE, Vayu Purana to c.350 CE, Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana to c.450 CE, 350–950 CE, Vamana Purana to c. 450–900 CE, Kurma Purana to c, 550–850 CE, and Linga Purana to c. Of the many texts designated Puranas the most important are the Mahāpurāṇas or the major Puranas and these are said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though they are not always counted in the same way. The difference between Upapuranas and Mahapuranas has been explained by Rajendra Hazra as, a Mahapurana is well known, the Upapuranas are eighteen in number, with disagreement as to which canonical titles belong in that list of eighteen. The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the goddess Durga, has become a basic text for Devi worshipers
24.
Raja
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Raja, is a title for a Monarch or princely ruler in South and Southeast Asia. The female form Rani applies equally to the wife of a Raja, usually as queen consort and occasionally as regent. The title has a history in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, being attested from the Rigveda, where a rājan- is a ruler, see for example the dāśarājñá. Sanskrit rājan- is cognate to Latin rēx King, Gaulish rīx, Gaelic rí, etc. originally denoting heads of petty kingdoms and it is believed to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European *h3rēǵs, a vrddhi formation to the root *h3reǵ- to straighten, to order, to rule. The Sanskrit n-stem is secondary in the title, apparently adapted from the female counterpart rājñī which also has an -n- suffix in related languages. Cognates of the word Raja in other Indo-European languages include English reign, rather common, practically equivalent variants in Rajasthani, Marathi and Hindi, used as equivalent royal style in parts of India include Rana, Rao, Raol, Rawal and rawat and Yuvraj prince heir. Maharaja, or great king, is literally a title for more significant rulers in India, hence during the British raj, precedence was rather determined by the gun salute. Raja රජ means King in Sri Lanka, Rajamanthri is the Prince lineage of Kings generation in Sri Lanka. Rajamanthri title is aristocracy of the Kandiyan Kingdom මහනුවර in Sri Lanka, badan Singh was styled Raja Mahendra and founded the city and state Bharatpur, which his dynasty ruled as Maharajas. Raja Sahib was the style in Bansda until its upgrade from c.1829 to higher counterpart Maharaja Sahib. Raja-i Rajgan was notably the royal style of, the former Rajas of Jind from * until their 1911 upgrade to Maharaja, the former Rajas of Kapurthala from 1861 until their 1911 upgrade to Maharaja. Two consecutive rulers of Patiala, the first of which was originally styled Maharaja, Raja Bahadur, and remained the rulers of Raigarh. as 1763 upgrade from the family title Raja Sar Desai in Maratha state Savantvadi. e. Third prince in line for succession, there were many more Rajas among the feudatory states, such as jagirs. In Pakistan, Raja is still used by Muslim Rajput clans as hereditary titles, Raja is also used as a given name by Hindus and Sikhs. Most notably Raja is used in Hazara division of Pakistan for the descendants of a Turkic dynasty and these Rajas ruled that part of Pakistan for decades and they still possess huge land in Hazara division of Pakistan and actively participate in the politics of the region. In Sinhalese, the title Raja means King of Sri Lanka, Rajamanthri is the Prince lineage of Kings generation especially Rajamanthri is aristocracy of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka history. Indonesian has the word raja for king, leaders of local tribes and old Hindu kingdoms had that title before Indonesia became an independent nation. Various traditional princely states in Indonesia still style their ruler Raja, in the Malay language, the word raja also means king
25.
Vedas
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The Vedas are a large body of knowledge texts originating in the ancient Indian subcontinent. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya, which means not of a man, superhuman and impersonal, authorless. Vedas are also called śruti literature, distinguishing them from religious texts. The Veda, for orthodox Indian theologians, are considered revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation, in the Hindu Epic the Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma. The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were created by Rishis, after inspired creativity. There are four Vedas, the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas, the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas, and the Upanishads. Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upasanas, the various Indian philosophies and denominations have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their authority are classified as orthodox. Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Lokayata, Carvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, despite their differences, just like the texts of the śramaṇa traditions, the layers of texts in the Vedas discuss similar ideas and concepts. The Sanskrit word véda knowledge, wisdom is derived from the root vid- to know and this is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯eid-, meaning see or know. The noun is from Proto-Indo-European *u̯eidos, cognate to Greek εἶδος aspect, not to be confused is the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda, cognate to Greek οἶδα oida I know. Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα, English wit, etc, the Sanskrit term veda as a common noun means knowledge. The term in some contexts, such as hymn 10.93.11 of the Rigveda, means obtaining or finding wealth, property, a related word Vedena appears in hymn 8.19.5 of the Rigveda. It was translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith as ritual lore, as studying the Veda by the 14th century Indian scholar Sayana, as bundle of grass by Max Müller, Vedas are called Maṛai or Vaymoli in parts of South India. Marai literally means hidden, a secret, mystery, in some south Indian communities such as Iyengars, the word Veda includes the Tamil writings of the Alvar saints, such as Divya Prabandham, for example Tiruvaymoli. The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts, the Samhitas date to roughly 1700–1100 BC, and the circum-Vedic texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000-500 BC, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC, or the Late Bronze Age, Michael Witzel gives a time span of c.1500 to c. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of the 14th century BC the only record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period
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Chyavana
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Chyavana was a rishi in Hindu mythology. He was son of Bhrigu and is known for his rejuvenation through a special herbal paste known as Chyawanprash, according to the Mahabharata, he was powerful enough to oppose the Vajra of Indra and was responsible for the Ashvins getting their share of the sacrificial offerings. He created a demon, Mada, to achieve it, Chyavana is mentioned in the Rigveda as Chyavāna. He is described as an aged and feeble person whose youth and strength was restored by the twin Ashvini Kumar brothers, according to a hymn of this text, Chyavāna seems to be opposed to Turvayana, an Indra worshipper Paktha king as he was closer to the Ashvins. According to one tradition, he married Vaivasvata Manus daughter Arushi, according to another tradition, he married Sukanya, daughter of Vedic king Sharyati and granddaughter of Vaivasvata Manu. They had two sons Apnavana and Dadhicha and he is also considered as father of Harita. According to an account found in the Mahabharata, when Bhrigus wife Puloma was pregnant and lived in her hermitage, pulomas child slipped from her womb, called a chyut child in Sanskrit, and thus received his name Chyavana. The Rakshasa, seeing the child drop released his mother but immediately converted into ashes, Chyavana studied the Vedas from his father Bhrigu and later acquired the knowledge of Vedas from Brahma. The earliest version of the narrative of Chyavanas practice of austerities, a later version of this narrative is found in the Mahabharata. More later versions are found in the Bhagavata Purana and the Padma Purana, in a narrative found in the Satapatha Brahmana, Chyavana is mentioned as a descendant of Bhrigu. While, all the Bhrigus, the descendants of the Angirasas, were away, once, King Sharyati, son of Manu came for hunting near Chyavanas Ashram with his army. Sharyatis daughter Sukanya along with friends was also with him and she went to Chyavana Rishis Ashram, where the Rishi was in meditation. White white-ants had covered his body and only his eyes were visible, not knowing it was a human, Sukanya pierced the Rishis eyes. Chyavana was in pain and became furious and his curse created discord amongst Sharyatis army, when Sharyati found the cause of his misfortune, he offered his daughter Sukanya for marriage to Chayavana, so that she could take care of revered saint. Later, the Ashvins came to his Ashram and tried to seduce Sukanya, Sukanya who refused to leave her husband, instead asked the Ashvins to restore Chyavanas youth. Following their advice, Chyavanas youth was restored by a combination of three treatments, certain herbs were put into a pond and the Rishi was asked to have a dip in the pond. A herbal paste was prepared for application on the body of Rishi, and a special herbal paste, Chyawanprash was prepared for Rishi to take as medicine. In return, the Ashvins obtained a share in the offerings in Kurukshetra on her suggestion
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Rishi
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In the Vedas the term Rishi denotes an inspired poet of Vedic hymns. Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the Rishis as seers or sages, who after intense meditation realized truths and eternal knowledge, according to Indian tradition, the word may be derived from two different meanings of the root rsh. Sanskrit grammarians derive this word from the meaning, to go. V. S. Apte gives this particular meaning and derivation, another form of this root means to flow, to move near by flowing. Monier-Williams also quotes Tārānātha who compiled the great dictionary named ṛṣati jñānena saṃsāra-pāram, more than a century ago, Monier-Williams tentatively suggested a derivation from drś to see. Monier-Wiliams also quotes the Hibernian form arsan and arrach as related to rishi, Monier-Williams also conjectures that the root drish might have given rise to an obsolete root rish meaning to see. However, the root has a close Avestan cognate ərəšiš an ecstatic, yet the Indo-European dictionary of Julius Pokorny connects the word to a PIE root *h3er-s meaning rise, protrude, in the sense of excellent and thus cognate with Ṛta and right and Asha. Some of the earliest lists of Rishi are found in Jaiminiya Brahmana verse 2.218, in the Vedas, the word denotes an inspired poet of Vedic hymns. In particular, Ṛṣi refers to the authors of the hymns of the Rigveda, post-Vedic tradition regards the Rishis as sages or saints, constituting a peculiar class of divine human beings in the early mythical system, as distinct from Asuras, Devas and mortal men. Swami Vivekananda described Rishis as Mantra-drashtas or the seers of thought, the Sama Veda adds Nodha, Akrishtabhasha, Sikatanivavari and Gaupayana. In Mahabharata 12, on the hand, there is the post-Vedic list of Marici, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya. The Mahābhārata list explicitly refers to the saptarshis of the first manvantara, each manvantara had a unique set of saptarshi. In Harivamsha 417ff, the names of the Rishis of each manvantara are enumerated, in addition to the Saptarṣi, there are other classifications of sages. In descending order of precedence, they are Brahmarshi, Maharshi, Rajarshi, devarṣi, Paramrṣi, Shrutarṣi and Kāndarṣi are added in Manusmriti iv-94 and xi-236 and in two dramas of Kālidasa. The Chaturvarga-Chintāmani of Hemādri puts riṣi at the place in the eightfold division of Brāhmanas. Amarakosha mentions seven types of riṣis, Shrutarshi, Kāndarshi, Paramarshi, Maharshi, Rājarshi, Brahmarshi and Devarshi, amarakosha strictly distinguishes Rishi from other types of sages, such as sanyāsi, bhikṣu, parivrājaka, tapasvi, muni, brahmachāri, yati, etc. Most medieval era Hindu temples of Java, Indonesia show Rishi Agastya statues or reliefs, some examples include Candi Sambisari and the Prambanan temple near Yogyakarta. Rishi Agastya is known as Phra Reusi Akkhot in Thailand, Ruesi is a hermit sage, the equivalent of Rishi in India
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Ashram
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Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. The word ashram comes from the Sanskrit root śram- which means to toil, according to S. S. Chandra, the term means a step in the journey of life. In contrast, according to George Weckman, the term ashram connotes a place where one strives towards a goal in a disciplined manner, such a goal could be ascetic, spiritual, yogic or any other. The residents of an ashram regularly performed spiritual and physical exercises, other sacrifices and penances, such as yajnas were also performed. Many ashrams also served as gurukulas, residential schools for children under the guru-shishya tradition, sometimes, the goal of a pilgrimage to the ashram was not tranquility, but instruction in some art, especially warfare. In the Ramayana, the protagonist princes of ancient Ayodhya, Rama and Lakshmana, after they prove their mettle, the princes receive martial instruction from the sage, especially in the use of divine weapons. In the Mahabharata, Krishna, in his youth, goes to the ashram of Sandipani to gain knowledge of intellectual and spiritual matters. Residential schools, especially in the areas of Maharashtra and elsewhere in India, are called ashram shala or ashram schools. One such school is the Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram Shala, in recent years, a number of ashrams have been established outside of India. Typically, these ashrams are connected to Indian lineages, focus on imparting Yoga-related teachings and are headed by spiritual teachers
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Dhosi Hill
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The hill is unique, for the reasons, it has all the physical features of a perfect volcanic hill with distinct crater, lava still lying on it and giving a perfect conical view from top. Dhosi Hill is located on the borders of the Indian states of Haryana, the Haryana portion lies in Mahendragarh district to the south,5 kilometres from Narnaul on Singhana Road, the Rajasthan portion lies in Jhunjhunu district to the north. While the ground level is about 900 feet above sea level and these villages are situated on the three waterfalls that become active during the monsoons that occur in July–August, being created from the overflow of a reservoir at the summit. The waterfalls are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, each village also has an ancient water reservoir to augment the supply for villagers and animals. Dhosi Hill has remnants of a built by Hemu about 500 years ago. There are thick walls, up to 25 feet high and 40 feet wide on even the steepest slopes, the fort was constructed to safeguard the heritage and ashrams on the hill from frequent attacks by Muslim invaders during the medieval period. To replace the old temple, a fort modeled on the temple of Chyavana was built at the crater of the hill in the 1890s by the Bhargava community, all-weather stairs in stone and lime plaster are constructed on the Kultajpur and Thana sides. A sarovar that stores water for bathing of pilgrims has existed at the summit of the hill for centuries. The stored water contains a few rejuvenating properties and treatment for skin ailments, the water in the reservoir becomes herbal and also cupric because of the quantity of copper in the hill and growth of rare herbs in large quantities. The reservoir becomes silted over time and is desilted at regular intervals and this was done in the memory of their father, Raja Baldev Rai Birla. A plaque is put on the Dam to this effect which states that reservoir could be used for bathing by all shades of Hindu pilgrims, including Sanatani, Harijan, Arya Samaji, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. This plaque shows that there was no barrier to use of the facilities. In 2003, the reservoir was desilted by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, the Government of Haryana now provides drinking water at the hill through mechanical uplifting from the base of the hill. Those visiting the hill on pilgrimage have performed a parikrama of it since the time of Shaunak, the 8–9 km parikrama track includes some portions of which are damaged because of landslides. Apart from temples at Shiv Kund, halfway to top of hill from Kultajpur side, among these is the Chyavana temple, the Shiva temple on the crater, a Devi temple on the hilltop, and a Rama temple next to the Royal Guest House. The Chyavana temple has Shekhawati paintings in the Garbhagrah of the temple, among other structures on the hill is the renovated Chandrakoop. Melas are organised on various festivals and other special days, on the day of Somvati Amavasya many people assemble for a holy bath in the sarovars. A map from the 1890s indicates there were then separate Ghats for women, known as Janana Ghats, but now they are abandoned
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Haryana
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Haryana is one of the 29 states in India, situated in North India. It was carved out of the state of East Punjab on 1 November 1966 on a linguistic basis. It stands 21st in terms of its area, which is spread about 44,212 km2, as of 2011 census of India, the state is eighteenth largest by population with 25,353,081 inhabitants. The city of Chandigarh is its capital while the NCR city of Faridabad is the most populous city of the state, Haryana is one of the most economically developed regions in South Asia, and its agricultural and manufacturing industries have experienced sustained growth since the 1970s. Since 2000, the state has emerged as the largest recipient of investment per capita in India and it is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its border with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana surrounds the countrys capital Delhi on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern borders of Delhi, consequently, a large area of south Haryana is included in the National Capital Region for purposes of planning for development. The name Haryana is found in the works of the 12th-century AD Apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar, the name Haryana has been derived from the Sanskrit words Hari and ayana, meaning the Abode of God. However, scholars such as Muni Lal, Murli Chand Sharma, HA Phadke and Sukhdev Singh Chib believe that the name comes from a compound of the words Hari and Aranya. Vedic state of Brahmavarta is claimed to be located in a new research in south Haryana, manusmriti, a flood time document composed by Manu and Bhrigu is now dated 10,000 years old. Rakhigarhi village in the Hisar district is home to the largest and one of the oldest ancient Indus Valley Civilization sites, evidence of paved roads, a drainage system, a large-scale rainwater collection storage system, terracotta brick and statue production, and skilled metal working have been uncovered. According to archeologists, Rakhigarhi may be the origin of Harappan civilisation, the area that is now Haryana has been ruled by major empires of India. Panipat is known for three seminal battles in the history of India, in the First Battle of Panipat, Babur defeated the Lodis. In the Second Battle of Panipat, Akbar defeated the local Haryanvi Hindu Emperor of Delhi, hemu, had earlier won 22 battles across India from Punjab to Bengal defeating Mughals and Afghans. Hemu had defeated Akbars forces twice at Agra and Battle of Delhi in 1556 to become last Hindu Emperor of India with formal Coronation at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7th Oct.1556, in the Third Battle of Panipat, the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas. Haryana state was formed on 1 November 1966, the commission delivered its report on 31 May 1966 whereby the then-districts of Hisar, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal were to be a part of the new state of Haryana. Further, the tehsils of Jind and Narwana in the Sangrur district—along with Naraingarh, Ambala, the commission recommended that the tehsil of Kharad, which includes Chandigarh, the state capital of Punjab, should be a part of Haryana. However, only a portion of Kharad was given to Haryana
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India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Mandala
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A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. In common use, mandala has become a term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point, each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandalas often exhibit radial balance. The term appears in the Rigveda as the name of the sections of the work, a yantra is a two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in sadhanas, puja or meditative rituals. It is considered to represent the abode of the deity, each yantra is unique and calls the deity into the presence of the practitioner through the elaborate symbolic geometric designs. Yantras are not representations, but are lived, experiential, nondual realities, as Khanna describes, Despite its cosmic meanings a yantra is a reality lived. The Rajamandala was formulated by the Indian author Kautilya in his work on politics and it describes circles of friendly and enemy states surrounding the kings state. In historical, social and political sense, the mandala is also employed to denote traditional Southeast Asian political formations. It was adopted by 20th century Western historians from ancient Indian political discourse as a means of avoiding the term state in the conventional sense, empires such as Bagan, Ayutthaya, Champa, Khmer, Srivijaya and Majapahit are known as mandala in this sense. The mandala can be found in the form of the stupa and in the Atanatiya Sutta in the Digha Nikaya, Mandalas are traditionally found in large amounts in Buddhist Monasteries all over the world. One can also buy Mandalas and Thankas/Pauva in places like Thamel, in the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, mandalas have been developed into sandpainting. They are also a key part of Anuttarayoga Tantra meditation practices, the mandala can be shown to represent in visual form the core essence of the Vajrayana teachings. The mind is a microcosm representing various divine powers at work in the universe, the mandala represents the nature of the Pure Land, Enlightened mind. A mandala can also represent the universe, which is traditionally depicted with Mount Meru as the axis mundi in the center. In the mandala, the circle of fire usually symbolises wisdom. Inside these rings lie the walls of the palace itself, specifically a place populated by deities. One well-known type of mandala is the mandala of the Five Buddhas, such Buddhas are depicted depending on the school of Buddhism, and even the specific purpose of the mandala. A common mandala of this type is that of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, when paired with another mandala depicting the Five Wisdom Kings, this forms the Mandala of the Two Realms
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