Amba (Mahabharata)
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Amba is the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi, who considers the Kuru prince Bhishma responsible for her misfortune and her sole goal in life becomes his destruction, to fulfill which she is reborn as Shikhandi. Amba was the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi, she had two younger sisters Ambalika. Amba is a used word in Sanskrit meaning mother with Vedic linkage as the mother of the Vedas; the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata narrates about Amba's swayamvara at the Kingdom of Kashi. Amba and Salva, the king of Saubala, were secretly in love and Amba had promised to place the varmala on his neck. Bhishma came to know of the ceremony of the three beautiful princesses, went to the Swayamvara to win the princesses for his step-brother Vichitravirya. Once arrived, Bhishma announced his intention to abduct the brides, challenging the assembled suitors to stop him. Bhishma rode away; the kings showered Bhishma with arrows. Salva challenged Bhishma for a duel. Unaware of Amba's feelings, Bhishma proceeded to Hastinapur and presented them to Satyavati, who made arrangements for their marriage to Vichitravirya.
Amba approached Bhishma and the council of Brahmins and revealed that she and Salva were in love with each other and that she was going to choose him as her husband in the Swayamvara. Bhishma conceded that her reasoning was sound and sent her to Salva with honors, while Ambika and Ambalika were married to Vichitravirya. In the Ambopakhyanaparvan chapter of the book Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, the rest of Amba's tale is narrated by Bhishma when Duryodhana questioned him as to why he did not kill Shikhandi, an ally of the Pandavas and foes of the Kauravas. Bhishma ensured. Amba informed Salva. Salva retorted, he declared that she was rightfully won by Bhishma, who defeated and insulted him and other kings and accused her of leaving with him. Amba pleaded with Salva, but Salva refused to accept her. Rejected, the heart broken Amba went to the forest. Amba peeved by this rejection went to Bhishma and accosted him saying that he was responsible for all her problems. Bhishma refused to marry her to Vichitravirya, on the plea.
She approached Bhishma to marry her. He refused due to his vow of celibacy; this further infuriated Amba. She appealed to various kings to defeat Bhishma and do her justice, but all of them refused knowing bhisma's capabilities, she went to the forest to please the gods so that she can have her revenge on Bhishma. Amba reflected on her condition and considered all the people responsible for it, including herself, Bhishma and her father, she arrived at the conclusion that Bhishma was the main culprit and swore to destroy him by austerities or battle. She narrated her tale to them. There the learned sage Shaikhavatya promised to guide her in her austerities. Other sages discussed amongst themselves Amba's situation and contemplated her alternatives and advised her to return to her father as there are only two true protectors of a woman: a father and a husband. However, Amba declined. On the next day, the sage Hotravahana, a former king and Amba's maternal grandfather, passed by the place. Upon listening to the tale of Amba's ordeal, the sage advised her not to return to her father and instead approach the sage Parashurama.
Akritavrana, one of Parashurama's disciples arrived at the place. Hotravahana introduced Amba to Akritavrana and both of them explain Amba's case to him. Akritavrana gave Amba two options: either Parashurama should approach Salva to marry her or Bhishma should be defeated by Parashurama. Amba asked Akritavrana to decide, her culprit. Akritavrana agreed with Amba that Bhishma was the root cause of her plight and should be the target of her revenge. Akritavrana and Hotravahana explained Amba's predicament to Parashurama, whom Amba herself prayed to for help. Parashurama gave his word to Amba that he would slay Bhishma, his disciple in the past, destroy his pride; when Parashurama arrived with his retinue at Kurukshetra and sent a message to Bhishma of his arrival, Bhishma came to see his guru, offering him the traditional respects. A pleased Parashurama commanded Bhishma to accept Amba. Bhishma refused. An infuriated Parashurama threatened Bhishma with death. Bhishma tried to calm the sage, but in vain, he agreed to battle his guru to safeguard his Kshatriya duty.
Ganga failed. The great battle lasted without any result. On the 24th day when Bhishma chose to use a deadly weapon, at the behest of the divine sage Narada and the gods, Parashurama ended the conflict and the battle was declared a draw. Parashurama told her to seek Bhishma's protection. However, Amba refused to listen to Parashurama's advice and left angrily declaring that she would achieve her objective by asceticism. Amba gave up food and sleep, practised asceticism stand
Brahman
Brahman connotes the highest Universal Principle, the Ultimate Reality in the universe. In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient and final cause of all that exists, it is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. Brahman as a metaphysical concept is the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe. Brahman is a Vedic Sanskrit word, it is conceptualized in Hinduism, states Paul Deussen, as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world". Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads; the Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle. In the Upanishads, it has been variously described as Sat-cit-ānanda and as the unchanging, highest reality. Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of Atman, impersonal or Para Brahman, or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school.
In dualistic schools of Hinduism such as the theistic Dvaita Vedanta, Brahman is different from Atman in each being. In non-dual schools such as the Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is identical to the Atman, is everywhere and inside each living being, there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence. Sanskrit Brahman from a root bṛh- "to swell, grow, enlarge" is a neuter noun to be distinguished from the masculine brahmán—denoting a person associated with Brahman, from Brahmā, the creator God in the Hindu Trinity, the Trimurti. Brahman is thus a gender-neutral concept that implies greater impersonality than masculine or feminine conceptions of the deity. Brahman is referred to as the supreme self. Puligandla states it as "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world", while Sinar states Brahman is a concept that "cannot be defined". In Vedic Sanskrit: Brahma, brahman from root bṛh-, means "to be or make firm, solid, promote". Brahmana, from stems brha + Sanskrit -man- from Indo-European root -men- which denotes some manifest form of "definite power, inherent firmness, supporting or fundamental principle".
In Sanskrit usage: Brahma, brahman means the concept of the transcendent and immanent ultimate reality, Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hinduism. The concept is central to Hindu philosophy Vedanta. Brahm is another variant of Brahman. Brahmā, means the deity or deva Prajāpati Brahmā, he is one of the members of the Hindu trinity and associated with creation, but does not have a cult in present-day India. This is because Brahmā, the creator-god, is long-lived but not eternal i.e. Brahmā gets absorbed back into Purusha at the end of an aeon, is born again at the beginning of a new kalpa; these are distinct from: A brāhmaṇa, is a prose commentary on the Vedic mantras—an integral part of the Vedic literature. A brāhmaṇa, means priest; this usage is found in the Atharva Veda. In neuter plural form, Brahmāṇi. See Vedic priest. Ishvara, in Advaita, is identified as a partial worldly manifestation of the ultimate reality, the attributeless Brahman. In Visishtadvaita and Dvaita, Ishvara has infinite attributes and the source of the impersonal Brahman.
Devas, the expansions of Brahman/God into various forms, each with a certain quality. In the Vedic religion, there were 33 devas, which became exaggerated to 330 million devas. In fact, devas are themselves regarded as more mundane manifestations of the One and the Supreme Brahman; the Sanskrit word for "ten million" means group, 330 million devas meant 33 types of divine manifestations. Brahman is a concept present in Vedic Samhitas, the oldest layer of the Vedas dated to the 2nd millennium BCE. For example, The concept Brahman is referred to in hundreds of hymns in the Vedas. For example, it is found in Rig veda hymns such as 2.2.10, 6.21.8, 10.72.2 and in Atharva veda hymns such as 6.122.5, 10.1.12, 14.1.131. The concept is found in various layers of the Vedic literature; the concept is extensively discussed in the Upanishads embedded in the Vedas, mentioned in the vedāṅga such as the Srauta sutra 1.12.12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3.2.10 through 3.4.5. Jan Gonda states that the diverse reference of Brahman in the Vedic literature, starting with Rigveda Samhitas, convey "different senses or different shades of meaning".
There is no one single word in modern Western languages that can render the various shades of meaning of the word Brahman in the Vedic literature, according to Jan Gonda. In verses considered as the most ancient, the Vedic idea of Brahman is the "power immanent in the sound, words and formulas of Vedas". However, states Gonda, the verses suggest that this ancient meaning was never the only meaning, the concept evolved and expanded in ancient India. Barbara Holdrege states that the concept
Bhishma
In the epic Mahabharata, Bhishma was well known for his pledge of Celibacy. He was the eighth son of the goddess Ganga. Bhishma was related to both the Pandava and the Kaurava, he was an unparalleled warrior of his time. He handed down the Vishnu Sahasranama to Yudhishtira when he was on his death bed in the battle of Kurukshetra. In Sanskrit, the word Bhishma means'one who undertakes a terrible vow and fulfills it.' His other names are as follows - Devavrata Gangaputra - son of Ganga Shantanava - descendant of Shantanu Pitamaha - paternal grandfather Mahamahima - great king or the one, excessively great Gauranga - the one with fair body Shvetaveera - a white warrior or the one, heroic white Ashta Vasu - elemental gods King Shantanu saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the river Ganges and asked her to marry him. She agreed but with one condition:, they married and she gave birth to a son. But she drowned the child. Shantanu could not ask her the reason, because of his promise. One by one, seven sons were drowned by Ganga.
When Ganga was about to drown the eighth son, devastated, could not restrain himself and confronted her. Ganga explained to King Shantanu about Brahma's curse given to Mahabhisha and her, she told him that their eight children were Eight Vasus who were cursed by Vasishtha to be born on earth as mortal humans however when they pacified him, he limited his curse and told them that they would be freed from this curse within a year of their birth as humans. So she released the seven of them from this life by drowning them all; however the eighth child Bhishma, was cursed to live a long life and to never have a wife or have children. But the sage gave a boon to him that he would be virtuous, conversant with all the holy scriptures and will be an obedient son to his father; that she will take him to the heavens to train him properly for the King's status. With these words she disappeared along with the child while Shantanu was struck with grief thinking about spending the rest of his life without her.
The history behind Bhishma's birth is as follows — once the eight Vasus visited Vashishta's ashram accompanied by their wives. One of the wives took a fancy to Kamadhenu, Vashishta's wish-bearing cow and asked her husband Prabhasa to steal it from Vashishta. Prabhasa stole the cow with the help of the others who were all cursed by Vashishta to be born in the world of humans. Upon the Vasus appealing to Vashishta's mercy, the seven Vasus who had assisted in stealing Kamadhenu had their curse mitigated such that they would be liberated from their human birth as soon as they were born; the curse, however is softened to the extent that he would be one of the most illustrious men of his time. It was this Prabhasa called Vasu Dyaus who took the birth as Bhishma. After Devavrata was born, his mother Ganga took him to different realms, where he was brought up and trained by many eminent sages. Brihaspati: The son of Angiras and the preceptor of the Devas taught Devavrata the duties of kings, or political science and other Shastras.
Shukracharya: The son of Bhrigu and the preceptor of the Asuras taught Devavrata in political science and other branches of knowledge. Vashishtha, the Brahmarshi and Chyavana, the son of Bhrigu taught the Vedas and the Vedangas to Devavrata. Sanatkumara: The eldest son of Lord Brahma taught Devavrata the mental and spiritual sciences. Markandeya: The immortal son of Mrikandu of Bhrigu's race who acquired everlasting youth from Lord Shiva taught Devavrata in the duties of the Yatis. Parashurama: The son of Jamadagni of Bhrigu's race. Parashurama trained Bhishma in warfare. Indra: The king of the Devas, he bestowed celestial weapons on Bhishma. Named Devavratha, he became known as Bhishma after he took the bhishamna pratignya — the vow of lifelong Brahmacharya and of service to whoever sat on the throne of his father. Having joined his father's court, Bhishma was confirmed as the heir apparent. Having undergone a successful military campaign, being the child of a goddess himself, he was confirmed as the heir apparent and was loved by all in the city.
Shantanu was proud of his content that the future was secure. However, Shantanu had been falling in love with a fisherwoman, who operated the boats crossing one of Hastinapur's rivers; when Shantanu approached for her hand in marriage, Satyavati's father refused to give his daughter's hand to Shantanu unless Shantanu would proclaim her children as his heirs. However, doing so would be against the merit-based hereditary rules of Bharat, Shantanu had promised the throne to Bhishma. So, Shantanu sorrowfully had to reject the offer; this made Shantanu despondent, upon discovering the reason for his father's despondency, Devavratha sought out the girl's father and ceded his claim to the throne. At this, Satyavati's father retorted that if Devavratha gave up his claim to the throne, Devavratha's children would still claim the throne. Devavratha took the vow of lifelong celibacy, thus sacrificing his'crown-prince' title and denying himself the pleasures of conjugal love; this gave him immediate recognition among the gods.
His father granted him the boon of Ichcha Mrityu (control over his own death — he could choose the time of
Dharma
Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions like Hinduism, Jainism and others. There is no single-word translation for dharma in Western languages. In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible, includes duties, laws, virtues and "right way of living". In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order", is applied to the teachings of Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is the term for "phenomena". Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word dharm means the path of proper religious practice; the word dharma was in use in the historical Vedic religion, its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. The ancient Tamil moral text of Tirukkural is based on aṟam, the Tamil term for dharma; the antonym of dharma is adharma. The Classical Sanskrit noun dharma or the Prakrit Dhaṃma are a derivation from the root dhṛ, which means "to hold, keep", takes the meaning of "what is established or firm", hence "law".
It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman-, with a literal meaning of "bearer, supporter", in a religious sense conceived as an aspect of Rta. In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhárman-, with a range of meanings encompassing "something established or firm". Figuratively, it means "sustainer" and "supporter", it is semantically similar to the Greek Themis. In Classical Sanskrit, the noun becomes thematic: dharma-; the word dharma derives from Proto-Indo-European root *dʰer-, which in Sanskrit is reflected as class-1 root dhṛ. Etymologically it is related to Avestan dar-, Latin firmus, Lithuanian derė́ti, Lithuanian dermė and darna and Old Church Slavonic drъžati. Classical Sanskrit word dharmas would formally match with Latin o-stem firmus from Proto-Indo-European dʰer-mo-s "holding", were it not for its historical development from earlier Rigvedic n-stem. In Classical Sanskrit, in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda, the stem is thematic: dhárma-. In Prakrit and Pāli, it is rendered dhamma.
In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it alternatively occurs as dharm. Ancient translationsWhen the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka wanted in the 3rd century BCE to translate the word "Dharma" into Greek and Aramaic, he used the Greek word Eusebeia in the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription and the Kandahar Greek Edicts, the Aramaic word Qsyt in the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription. Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian religion, it has multiple meanings in Hinduism and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. There is no equivalent single-word synonym for dharma in western languages. There have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German and French; the concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused exceptional difficulties for modern commentators and translators. For example, while Grassmann's translation of Rig-veda identifies seven different meanings of dharma, Karl Friedrich Geldner in his translation of the Rig-veda employs 20 different translations for dharma, including meanings such as "law", "order", "duty", "custom", "quality", "model", among others.
However, the word dharma has become a accepted loanword in English, is included in all modern unabridged English dictionaries. The root of the word dharma is "dhri", which means "to support, hold, or bear", it is the thing that regulates the course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant. Monier-Williams, the cited resource for definitions and explanation of Sanskrit words and concepts of Hinduism, offers numerous definitions of the word dharma, such as that, established or firm, steadfast decree, law, custom, right, virtue, ethics, religious merit, good works, character, property. Yet, each of these definitions is incomplete, while the combination of these translations does not convey the total sense of the word. In common parlance, dharma means "right way of living" and "path of rightness"; the meaning of the word dharma depends on the context, its meaning has evolved as ideas of Hinduism have developed through history. In the earliest texts and ancient myths of Hinduism, dharma meant cosmic law, the rules that created the universe from chaos, as well as rituals.
In certain contexts, dharma designates human behaviours considered necessary for order of things in the universe, principles that prevent chaos and action necessary to all life in nature, family as well as at the individual level. Dharma encompasses ideas such as duty, character, religion and all behaviour considered appropriate, correct or morally upright; the antonym of dharma is adharma, meaning that, "not dharma"
Dashavatara
Dashavatara refers to the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. Vishnu is said to descend in form of an avatar to restore cosmic order; the word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning'ten', avatar equivalent to'incarnation'. The list of included avatars varies across regions. Though no list can be uncontroversially presented as standard, the "most accepted list found in Puranas and other texts is Krishna, Buddha." Most draw from the following set of figures, in this order: Matsya. In traditions that omit Krishna, he replaces Vishnu as the source of all avatars; some traditions include a regional deity such as Vithoba or Jagannath in penultimate position, replacing Krishna or Buddha. All avatars have appeared except Kalki; the order of the ancient concept of Dashavataras has been interpreted to be reflective of modern Darwinian evolution. The word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning'ten' and avatar, meaning'incarnation'. Various versions of the list of Vishnu's avatars exist, varying per tradition.
Some lists mention Krishna as the eighth avatar and the Buddha as the ninth avatar, while others – such as the Yatindramatadipika, a 17th-century summary of Srivaisnava doctrine – give Balarama as the eighth avatar and Krishna as the ninth. The latter version is followed by some Vaishnavas who don't accept the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu. Though no list can be uncontroversially presented as standard, the "most accepted list found in Puranas and other texts is Krishna, Buddha."The following table summarises the position of avatars within the Dashavatara in many but not all traditions: 1 - Matsya, the fish. Vishnu takes the form of a fish to save Manu from the deluge, after which he takes his boat to the new world along with one of every species of plant and animal, gathered in a massive cyclone. 2 - Kurma, the giant tortoise. When the devas and asuras were churning the Ocean of milk in order to get Amrita, the nectar of immortality, the mount Mandara they were using as the churning staff started to sink and Vishnu took the form of a tortoise to bear the weight of the mountain.
3 - Varaha, the boar. He appeared to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth, or Prithvi, carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story; the battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which the former won. Varaha carried the Earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place in the universe. 4 - Narasimha, the half-man/half-lion. The rakshasa Hiranyakashipu, the elder brother of Hiranyaksha, was granted a powerful boon from Brahma that he could not be killed by man or animal, inside or outside a room, during day or night, neither on ground nor in air, with a weapon, either living or inanimate. Hiranyakashipu persecuted everyone for their religious beliefs including his son, a Vishnu follower. Vishnu descended as an anthropomorphic incarnation, with the body of a man and head and claws of a lion, he disemboweled Hiranyakashipu at the courtyard threshold of his house, at dusk, with his claws, while he lay on his thighs.
Narasimha thus destroyed the evil demon and brought an end to the persecution of human beings including his devotee Prahlada, according to the Hindu mythology. 5 - Vamana, the dwarf. The fourth descendant of Vishnu, with devotion and penance was able to defeat Indra, the god of firmament; this extended his authority over the three worlds. The gods appealed to Vishnu for protection and he descended as a boy Vamana. During a yajna of the king, Vamana approached. Vamana asked for three paces of land. Bali agreed, the dwarf changed his size to that of a giant Trivikrama form. With his first stride he covered the earthly realm, with the second he covered the heavenly realm thereby symbolically covering the abode of all living beings, he took the third stride for the netherworld. Bali realized. In deference, the king offered his head as the third place for Vamana to place his foot; the avatar did so and thus granted Bali immortality and making him ruler of Pathala, the netherworld. This legend appears in hymn 1.154 of the Rigveda and other Vedic as well as Puranic texts.
6 - Parashurama, the warrior with the axe. He received an axe after a penance to Shiva, he is the first Brahmin-Kshatriya in Hinduism, or warrior-saint, with duties between a Brahmin and a Kshatriya. King Kartavirya Arjuna and his army visited the father of Parashurama at his ashram, the saint was able to feed them with the divine cow Kamadhenu; the king demanded the cow. Enraged, the king destroyed the ashram. Parashurama killed the king at his palace and destroyed his army. In revenge, the sons of Kartavirya killed Jamadagni. Parashurama took a vow to kill every Kshatriya on earth twenty-one times over, filled five lakes with their blood, his grandfather, rishi Rucheeka, appeared before him and made him halt. He is a Chiranjivi, believed to be alive today in penance at Mahendragiri, he credited for creating Kerala by throwing his mighty axe in hindu pantheons. The place the axe landed in sea got a new land emerged which became Kerala. 7 - Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya. He is a worshipped avatar in Hinduism, is thought of as the ideal heroic man.
His story is recounted in one of the m
Shraddhadeva Manu
In Hindu mythology, Shraddhadeva Manu is the current Manu and the progenitor of the current humanity. He is the seventh of the 14 manus of the current kalpa. Shraddhadeva was the king of the Dravida Kingdom before the great flood. Forewarned about the flood by the matsya avatara of Vishnu, he saved humanity by building a boat that carried his family and the saptarishi to safety, he is the son of Vivasvana and is therefore known as Vaivasvata Manu. He is called Satyavrata. According to the Puranas, the genealogy of Shraddhadeva is as follows: Brahma Marichi, one of the 10 Prajapatis created by Brahma. Kashyapa, son of Marichi and his wife, Kala. Kashyapa is regarded as the father of humanity. Vivasvan or Surya, son of Kashyapa and Aditi. Vaivasvata Manu, because he is the son of Vivasvan and Saranyu, he is known as Satyavrata and Shraddhadeva. Shraddhadeva was the king of the Dravida Kingdom during the epoch of the Matsya Purana. According to the Matsya Purana, the avatar of Vishnu, first appeared as a shaphari to Shraddhadeva while he washed his hands in a river flowing down the Malaya Mountains.
The little fish asked the king to save him, out of compassion, he put it in a water jar. It kept growing bigger and bigger, until the king first put it in a bigger pitcher, deposited it in a well; when the well proved insufficient for the ever-growing fish, the King placed it in a tank, two yojanas in height above the surface and on land, as much in length, a yojana in breadth. As it grew further, the king had to put the fish in a river, when the river proved insufficient, he placed it in the ocean, after which it nearly filled the vast expanse of the great ocean, it was that Vishnu, revealing himself, informed the king of an all-destructive deluge which would be coming soon. The king built a huge boat which housed his family, nine types of seeds, animals to repopulate the earth, after the deluge would end and the oceans and seas would recede. At the time of deluge, Vishnu appeared as a horned fish and Shesha appeared as a rope, with which the king fastened the boat to the horn of the fish; the boat was perched after the deluge on the top of the Malaya Mountains.
After the deluge, Manu's family and the seven sages repopulated the earth. According to Purana, Manu's story occur before 28 chaturyuga in the present Manvantara, the 7th Manvantara; this amounts to 120 million years ago. This narrative is similar to other flood myths like the Gilgamesh flood myth and the Genesis flood narrative. Shraddhadeva married Shraddha and had ten children including Ila and Ikshvaku, the progenitors of the Lunar and Solar dynasties, respectively; the Mahabharata states: And Manu was endowed with great wisdom and devoted to virtue. And he became the progenitor of a line, and in Manu's race have been born all human beings, who have, been called Manavas. And it is of Manu that all men including Brahmanas, Vaishyas and others have been descended, are therefore all called Manavas. Subsequently, the Brahmanas became united with the Kshatriyas, and those sons of Manu that were Brahmanas devoted themselves to the study of the Vedas. And Manu begot ten other children named Vena, Narishyan, Ikshvaku, Sharyati, the eighth, a daughter named Ila, Prishadhru the ninth, Nabhagarishta, the tenth.
They all betook themselves to the practices of Kshatriyas. Besides these, Manu had fifty other sons on Earth, but we heard. In Theosophy, the "Vaivasvata Manu" is one of the most important beings at the highest level of Initiation of the ancient Vedic sages, along with Maitreya, the Maha Chohan. According to Theosophy, each root race has its own Manu who physically incarnates in an advanced body of an individual of the old root race and physically progenerates with a suitable female partner the first individuals of the new root race
Rama
Rama or Ram known as Ramachandra, is a major deity of Hinduism. He is the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu, one of his most popular incarnations along with Krishna and Gautama Buddha. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being. Rama was born to Dasharatha in Ayodhya, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kosala, his siblings included Lakshmana and Shatrughna. He married Sita. Though born in a royal family, their life is described in the Hindu texts as one challenged by unexpected changes such as an exile into impoverished and difficult circumstances, ethical questions and moral dilemmas. Of all their travails, the most notable is the kidnapping of Sita by demon-king Ravana, followed by the determined and epic efforts of Rama and Lakshmana to gain her freedom and destroy the evil Ravana against great odds; the entire life story of Rama and their companions allegorically discusses duties and social responsibilities of an individual. It illustrates dharmic living through model characters.
Rama is important to Vaishnavism. He is the central figure of the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, a text popular in the South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures, his ancient legends have attracted bhasya and extensive secondary literature and inspired performance arts. Two such texts, for example, are the Adhyatma Ramayana – a spiritual and theological treatise considered foundational by Ramanandi monasteries, the Ramcharitmanas – a popular treatise that inspires thousands of Ramlila festival performances during autumn every year in India. Rama legends are found in the texts of Jainism and Buddhism, though he is sometimes called Pauma or Padma in these texts, their details vary from the Hindu versions. Rāma is a Vedic Sanskrit word with two contextual meanings. In one context as found in Arthavaveda, states Monier Monier-Williams, it means "dark, dark-colored, black" and is related to the term ratri which means night. In another context as found in other Vedic texts, the word means "pleasing, charming, lovely".
The word is sometimes used as a suffix in different Indian languages and religions, such as Pali in Buddhist texts, where -rama adds the sense of "pleasing to the mind, lovely" to the composite word. Rama as a first name appears in the Vedic literature, associated with two patronymic names – Margaveya and Aupatasvini – representing different individuals. A third individual named Rama Jamadagnya is the purported author of hymn 10.110 of the Rigveda in the Hindu tradition. The word Rama appears in ancient literature in reverential terms for three individuals: Parashu-rama, as the sixth avatar of Vishnu, he is linked to the Rama Jamadagnya of the Rigveda fame. Rama-chandra, as the seventh avatar of Vishnu and of the ancient Ramayana fame. Bala-rama called Halayudha, as the elder brother of Krishna both of whom appear in the legends of Hinduism and Jainism; the name Rama appears in Hindu texts, for many different scholars and kings in mythical stories. The word appears in ancient Upanishads and Aranyakas layer of Vedic literature, as well as music and other post-Vedic literature, but in qualifying context of something or someone, "charming, lovely" or "darkness, night".
The Vishnu avatar named Rama is known by other names. He is called Raghava. Additional names of Rama include Ramavijaya, Phreah Ream, Phra Ram, Megat Seri Rama, Raja Bantugan, Ramar. In the Vishnu sahasranama, Rama is the 394th name of Vishnu. In some Advaita Vedanta inspired texts, Rama connotes the metaphysical concept of Supreme Brahman, the eternally blissful spiritual Self in whom yogis delight nondualistically; the root of the word Rama is ram- which means "stop, stand still, rejoice, be pleased". According to Douglas Adams, the Sanskrit word Rama is found in other Indo-European languages such as Tocharian ram, reme, *romo- where it means "support, make still", "witness, make evident"; the sense of "dark, soot" appears in other Indo European languages, such as *remos or Old English romig. This summary is a traditional legendary account, based on literary details from the Ramayana and other historic mythology-containing texts of Buddhism and Jainism. According to Sheldon Pollock, the figure of Rama incorporates more ancient "morphemes of Indian myths", such as the mythical legends of Bali and Namuci.
The ancient sage Valmiki used these morphemes in his Ramayana similes as in sections 3.27, 3.59, 3.73, 5.19 and 29.28. Rama was born on the ninth day of the lunar month Chaitra, a day celebrated across India as Ram Navami; this coincides with one of the four Navratri on the Hindu calendar, in the spring season, namely the Vasantha Navratri. The ancient epic Ramayana states in the Balakhanda that Rama and his brothers were born to Kaushalya and Dasharatha in Ayodhya, a city on the banks of Sarayu River; the Jain versions of the Ramayana, such as the Paumacariya by Vimalasuri mention the details of the early life of Rama. The Jain texts are dated variously, but pre-500 CE, most sometime within the first five centuries of the common era. Dasharatha was the king of Kosala, a part of the solar dynasty of Iksvakus, his mother's name Kaushalya implies that she was from Kosala. The kingdom of Kosala is mentioned in Buddhist and Jaina texts, as one of the sixteen Maha janapadas of ancient India, as an important center of pilgrimage for Jains and Buddhists.
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