#Thread on Sarasvatî and related controversies.

The root of the term Sarasvati is sri (सृ)+ asun (असुन्)= saras (सरस्) meaning 'watery substance' + vati वती ie वतुप् स्त्री, meaning 'containing of' = sarasvati which means a lake, a pond, a large water body(stagnant).

#Thread on Tantra

The word ’Tantra’ literally means ‘loom’ in Sanskrit. There are several differing explanations as to what this word means. According to one source, this name is supposed to be a pun, and in order to understand it, one has to first understand the word ‘sutra’.

The key texts of Hinduism are known as sutras, a word which also means ‘formula or thread’. Therefore, if a sutra is a single thread of thought, then Tantra would be the loom that produces these threads of thoughts into a whole system of thoughts.

As a comparison, another source suggests that Tantra is a combination of two words, ‘tattva’ and ‘mantra’, which mean the science of cosmic principles and the science of mystic sound and vibration respectively.

In other words, Tantra may be regarded to be “the application of cosmic sciences with a view to attain spiritual ascendancy.”

In the beginning of Satyuga, Lord Shiva appeared in the form of Swacchandanatha, with his five mukha(mouth), namely Ishana, Tatpurusha, Sadyojata,

Vamadeva & Aghor. These mukhas represent his 5 energies, namely, Consciousness, Bliss, Will, Knowledge & Action. He manifested Tantras through his 5 mukhas (energies), some given by each of his mouth while others recited by him through two or more than two mouths simultaneously.

Thread on decoding KAMASUTRA

Kamasutra is a book written by Rishi Vātsyāyana in about 3rd century. It is famous for its erotic mentions and is considered as a controversial book.

1. Origin:

After creating the universe lord Brahma created a text, TRIVERG,

which had 3 subjects- Dharma, Artha & Kama, for the well being of humans.

Rishi Manu used the subject dharma and created ‘Dharmshastra’, Viraspati used the subject artha and created ‘Arthshastra’ and shiva’s nandi used the subject kama and created, ‘Kamashastra’ which had a

more than 1000 chapters.

Later, all the 3 shastras were simplified by various Rishi. Out of those Rishis, Vātsyāyana simplified the Kāmashastra and created kamasutra.

2. Is it a sex manual or pornography?

Well, Kamashastra has 7 chapters, in which only 20% of total text talks

about sex, which I’ll explain later but, first lets come to the rest 80%-

A) first chapter, which is ‘Sadharanam’, focuses about, ‘What should be the AIMS OF THE LIFE OF A PERSON. It says, a person should first understand what his/her dharma is. Dharma doesn’t mean religion, it

means ‘Righteousness duty’, which can be understood by taking education (vidya). When a person understood its dharma, He/she should starting making economy (Artha) by using dharma and education. A person having the knowledge of dhama and has a certain amount of economy, should

#Thread on Swastika

Meaning-

Swastika (स्वस्तिक) = Su (सु) + Asti (अस्ति) + Ka(क)
• Su(सु) means Shubh(शुभ) i.e auspicious or welfare
• Asti(अस्ति) means be/happen or exist. It stand for power or existence.
• Ka(क) stands for doer or performer i.e Karta(कर्ता)

So, Swasti means Be Auspicious or Be Welfare
and Swastika means Auspicious/Welfare Doer.
It is also believed to be a symbol of good, auspicious and welfare from ancient times.

History-

The journey of Swastika from its origin to today's world is filled with mysteries and

broken links of evidences spread over different ages of civilization.

According to a research published by IIT kharagpur-
“The Vedas also have a mention of various forms of Swastika. 1.89.6 of Rig Veda, gives a brief introduction of Swastika in the cosmos,

with the higher level of Indra, Pusha, Tarksya and Brihaspati at the macrocosmic level and seeking their blessing is the man at microcosmic level. Lusha Dhanaka Rishi explains the various manifestations of the Swastika in the 10:35 and 36 Suktas of Rig Veda.”

The graphic form of in Indus Valley seals are the earliest recorded swastikas in India. The epic of Ramayana also mentions the symbol embossed in the boat that ferried Lord Rama while the Mahabharata describes the Chakra-Vyuha or the Swastika maze.

#DoYouKnow -The place where
Lalitha Sahasranamam -1000 names of Devi originated.

It is in Lalithambigai temple -Thirumeeyachur,Near Mayiladuthurai,TN

There is a Legend #story & it is related to this beautiful #sculpture of Kshetrapuraneswarar & Ambal Lalithambigai #Thread 👇

#Legend #story
It is believed that this is birth place of Kashyapa Maharishi’s sons, Arunan& Garudan. Arunan(charioteer of Surya)was physically handicapped.He was a Shiva devotee.Arunan wanted to visit Kailash to have Shiva Darshan,but Surya Dev denied permission.

So Arunan disguised as a girl & was on his way to Kailash.On the way Surya Dev saw this girl & outraged her modesty.Shiva was very angry with Suryan for misbehaviour & cursed him to get darkened. Whole world plunged into darkness.Surya Dev pleaded to Bhagwan Shiv to forgive him.

Shiva Bhagwan asked him to go to Thirumiyachur & worship him there. As advised, Surya Dev performed rigorous penance, placed murthi of Shiva& Parvathy on an elephant & took them to the clouds.Shiva in this temple is known as Meganathaswamy,Devi is known as Lalithambigai

Even after severe penance,Shiva does appear,so Surya Dev cries out in agony.Disturbed by his call, Parvathy protests.Siva pacifies her & offers relief to Surya Dev.The sculpture of Shiva pacifying Ambal shows her sullen from one angle &smiling from another.

#Mahabhashiam #GovindaBhagavatpada #AdiShankara

Adi Shankara's guru was Govinda Bhagavatpada who in turn was a shishya of Sree Gaudapadacharya. Interestingly, his story is connected to Mahabhashiam by Patanjali and his 4 sons are prodigies in their own right.

1/

Sage Patanjali was very kind at heart, but extremely short tempered. After composing the colossal Mahabhashiam, he started to spread the knowledge by conducting classes.

Once, one of his students stepped out of class. Patanjali was very furious & flames came out of his eyes.

2/

The flames burnt all 999 students in the class. The student who stepped out came in and said, "Gurudeva, don't worry. I am alive. I can propogate the knowledge of Mahabhashiam"

Patanjali was furious that because of him he lost others & landed up burning him down too

3/

There was a Gandharva who comes & says, "Master, I have learnt the Mahabhashiam from the nearby Peepal tree. I can help spread the knowledge"

Patanjali was livid and anger and curses him that he has cheated and hence, should become Brahmarakshasa.

4/

Gandharva begs for forgiveness. Patanjali says that he will meet a befitting student to whom he should teach Mahaabhashiam. Once the student learns, he will be rid of curse

Brahmarakshasa starts to pose questions to passing by Brahmins. When they dont answer, he eats them

5/

#SatiSavitri #RealLifeExperiences #BharatDarshana

Bharat Darshana publishes a small monthly magazine which has some very interesting puranic anecdotes and snippets.

When I picked up this month's magazine, I was intrigued by a story which I want to share as below

1/

This is a real-life incident as narrated by Prof. Krishna Bihari Pandey titled "Sati Savitri"

Sati Savitri is a well known puranic figure from Srimad DeviBhagwatham and Mahabharatha as one of those who fought with Yama to save her husband.

2/

This story is a modern real-life experience which mimics the puranic account in it's own unique way.

The story occurs in 1975 with Prof and his wife in Delhi with professor working as a researcher in university. Prof's family is in Allahabad in a large joint family

3/

Once Prof gets to know that his mother is not keeping well. He goes to his native and brings his mother. With dedicated care of his wife, his mother recovers quite remarkably and regains full stamina and strength

Mother-in-law & Daughter-in-law go out for shopping frequently

4/

Life's going smooth until one day when they receive a telegram that Prof's father is not keeping well.

His mother is distressed about the situation and requests her son to take her to the native. Prof is a little angry due to frequent travels and turns it down

5/

It has long been a custom in the Islamic world to compose collections of 40 Hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) for believers to memorize. Thread for the the era of Covid.

The most famous perhaps that of the thirteenth century Shafi’i jurist al-Nawawi, which I use in teaching.

Collections of Prophetic traditions also exist for specific subjects or according to specific transmitters. And, separately, since the beginning of Covid, Muslim jurists the world over have been handing down legal opinions (fatwa/fatawa) on how best to respond.

Most recently, and the first such collection I have seen since the spread of Covid, the South African Shafi’i mufti Taha Karaan published a collection of hadith dealing with epidemics along with his own extensive comments.

The collection is fascinating for various reasons, both for the degree that it builds on premodern hadith commentaries and that which it presents a new synthesis of premodern views. If you’re interested in the premodern stuff, check out my book.