Author: abhinnah_api

Roles

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https://twitter.com/RetiredSOBL1/status/898550030516105216

This same propaganda he is talking about—a similar flavour is being peddled to our kids in the US . Brahmins,males are the roots of all the evils in the world(of course it’s obvious it’s just a byword for Hinduism)(Not withstanding most of this girl’s assertions being untrue and stereotyped—here the stereotype is the social scientist/Indologist’s stereotype,hence progressive and right).

https://twitter.com/pallavi_rao/status/898070654553030656

A sample of Anglospheric/Anglospheric-inspired propaganda internalized noted in the above tweet series of this Rao girl.

https://twitter.com/RetiredSOBL1/status/898552433147695104

In India,they are being continuously run down by the force of the law[minority ones get the exemption]. See government takeover of temples,etc. And laws like Devendra Fadnavis’ anti-boycott law make it more difficult to have autonomy to expel hostile elements(realitycheckind’s phrasing).

Bad arguments

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Tunku Varadarajan, I want you to argue to Jews that they should give up worshipping Yahweh alone because ancient Israelite relgion was polytheistic and see what they say. That’s how scholarly,yet bad,your arguments are in this article of yours.

More on this have been dealt by better folks than me elsewhere.

Nṛsimha caturdashi vrata (a few details)

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A few days back I noted this link about Nṛsiṃha caturdaśi vrata by jyotishi Shyamasundara Dāsa.

 

I’m just going to note a few things here from my edition of Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa

 

atha niyamamantraḥ

श्रीनृसिंह महाभीम दयां कुरु ममोपरि|
अद्याहं तो विधास्यामि व्रतं निर्विघ्नता नय||

Translation: O Lord Nṛsimhadeva! O greatly powerful one, please display compassion toward me. To day, I will observe this vow of Yours and so kindly help me to complete it without any impediment.

śrīnṛsiṃha mahābhīma dayāṃ kuru mamopari|
adyāhaṃ to vidhāsyāmi vrataṃ nirvighnatā naya|| iti ||

The pūjā prescribed is a shodashopachara(16 upācāra) puja. Before Nṛsiṃha is worshipped,Prahlāda must be worshipped as well.

candanamantra

चन्दनं शीतलं दिव्यंचन्द्रकुङ्कुममिश्रितम्|
ददामि ते प्रतुष्ट्यर्थं नृसिंह परमेश्वर||

candanaṃ śītalaṃ divyaṃcandrakuṅkumamiśritam|
dadāmi te pratuṣṭyarthaṃ nṛsiṃha parameśvara||

Translation: Oh Nṛsimha, for your satisfaction, I now offer You divine, cool sandalwood paste mixed with camphor.

puṣpamantra

कालोद्भवानि पुष्पाणि तुलस्यादीनि वै प्रभा|
पूजयामि नृसिंहस्य लक्ष्म्या सह नमोऽस्तु ते||

kālodbhavāni puṣpāṇi tulasyādīni vai prabhā|
pūjayāmi nṛsiṃhasya lakṣmyā saha namo’stu te||

Translation: Oh Nṛsiṃha,I worship You, along with Laksmidevi with offerings of flowers that bloom in spring, and tulasi leaves. My humble obeisances unto You.

dhūpamantra

कालागुरुमयं धूपं सर्वदेवसुदुर्लभम्|
करोमि ते महाविष्णो सर्वकामसमृद्धये||

kālāgurumayaṃ dhūpaṃ sarvadevasudurlabham|
karomi te mahāviṣṇo sarvakāmasamṛddhaye||

Translation: O Mahāviṣṇu, just to fulfill all of my desires, I will worship You with and offering of black aguru, which is rarely available, even for the devas.

dīpamantra

दीपः पापहरः प्रोक्तस्तमस्यां राशिनाशनः|
दीपेन लभ्यते तेजस्म्तस्माद्दीपं ददामि ते||

dīpaḥ pāpaharaḥ proktastamasyāṃ rāśināśanaḥ|
dīpena labhyate tejasmtasmāddīpaṃ dadāmi te||

Translation: O Nṛsiṃha, by offering this ghee lamp, which destroys the darkness of ignorance, as well as all sinful reactions, one obtains special power. Therefore, I offer this ghee lamp to You.

naivedyamantra

नैवेद्यं सौख्यदं चान्तु भक्ष्यभोज्यसमन्वितम्|
ददामि ते रमाकान्त सर्वपापक्षयं कुरु||

naivedyaṃ saukhyadaṃ cāntu bhakṣyabhojyasamanvitam|
dadāmi te ramākānta sarvapāpakṣayaṃ kuru||

Translation: O beloved of Lakṣmī, I place before You this offering of naivedyam. May You be pleased with this offering and kindly remove all my sins.

arghyamantra

नृसिंहाच्युत देवेश लक्ष्मीकान्त जगत्पते|
अनेनार्घ्यप्रदानेन सफलाः स्युर्मनोरथाः||

nṛsiṃhācyuta deveśa lakṣmīkānta jagatpate|
anenārghyapradānena saphalāḥ syurmanorathāḥ||

Translation: O Lord Nṛsiṃha! O Acyuta! O Lord of the devas! O husband of Lakṣmī! O Lord of the universe, let all my desires be fulfilled by offering of this arghya to You.

pūjāmantra

पीताम्बर महाविष्णो प्रह्लादभयनाशकृत्|
यथा भूतार्चने नाथ योथोक्तफलदो भव||

pītāmbara mahāviṣṇo prahlādabhayanāśakṛt|
yathā bhūtārcane nātha yothoktaphalado bhava||

Translation: O Mahāviṣṇu, who wears yellow garments! O destroyer of fear for Prahlada, may You be satisfied with whatever little worship I offer You to the best of my ability, so that You bestow Your mercy upon me.

Final prayers before the visarjana of the murti

मद्वंशे ये नरा जाता ये जनिष्यति मत्पुरः|
तंस्त्वमुद्धर देवेश दुःसहाद्भवसागरात्|

madvaṃśe ye narā jātā ye janiṣyati matpuraḥ|
taṃstvamuddhara deveśa duḥsahādbhavasāgarāt|

Translation: O Lord of the devas, please deliver all those who have taken birth in my family, as well as those who will take birth in the future, from the intolerable ocean of material existence.

पातकार्णवमग्नस्य व्याधिदुःखाम्बुराशिभिः|
तीव्रैस्तु परिभूतस्य महादुःखगतस्य मे||
करावलम्बनं देहि शेषशायिन् जगत्पते|
श्रीनृसिंह रमाकान्त भाक्तानां भयनाशन||

pātakārṇavamagnasya vyādhiduḥkhāmburāśibhiḥ|
tīvraistu paribhūtasya mahāduḥkhagatasya me||
karāvalambanaṃ dehi śeṣaśāyin jagatpate|
śrīnṛsiṃha ramākānta bhāktānāṃ bhayanāśana||

Translation: O Lord who lies on the bed of Ananta Sesa! O Lord of the universe! O Nṛsiṃha! O husband of Lakṣmī! O destroyer of the devotees’ fear, I am suffering from great distress due to drowning in the ocean of sinful activities and disease. So, kindly lend me Your fearless hand and give me protection.

क्षीराम्बुधिनिवास त्वं प्रीयमाणो जनार्दन|
व्रतनेन मे देव भुक्ति मुक्ति प्रदो भव||

kṣīrāmbudhinivāsa tvaṃ prīyamāṇo janārdana|
vratanena me deva bhukti mukti prado bhava||

O Janārdana! O Lord who lies in the ocean of milk! O Supreme Lord, may You be pleased with my observance of this vow, and may You bestow upon me material enjoyment and liberation.

[Note:My main niggling problem with that page is the translation of deva=demigod and dānava=atheist. Dānavas are dānu’s sons…this is known from śruti firstly.]

Gopala Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī here cites from mainly the Bṛhannārasiṃhapurāṇa and an unspecified āgama(simply saying ‘āgame’…).

 

Free will (I don’t care if I’m branded superstitious)

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There is no free will. Even in the attainment of good things or bad.

 

Iti horaśāstre(referring here to Bṛhat Parāśara hora śāstra,Chap 2,śloka 3)-

 

avatārāṇyanekāni hyajasya paramātmanaḥ/jīvānāṃ karmaphalado graharūpī janārdanaḥ//

अवताराण्यनेकानि ह्यजस्य परमात्मनः|
जीवानां कर्मफलदो ग्रहरूपी जनार्दनः||

[Indeed,the unborn paramātmā has had many avatāras. Janārdana in the form of grahas(graharūpī) grants the karmaphala of living beings.]

Basically,whatever little will you have is also coloured by your past karmas. Your svābhāva which influences how you respond to whatever situations you get and the impressions your receive in your formative phases –they too are a result of your prārabdha karma. What can possibly be changed to make this better in long run is your attitude towards what you receive and how you manage with the cards you have been dealt with.

 

 

 

Confusing the sthūla and the sūkṣma

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Many Hindus,as a friend noted,have a tendency to confuse the sthūla with the sūkṣma even in matters of directions of narrative weaving and geopolitics when it comes to narratives of our history,and the core reasons behind them. A particular example is the tendency to freak out on any suggestion that Aryans migrated to India(never mind that the seeing of the mantras of the śruti occurred all within the Indian subcontinent,which no one can deny). Of course,the (understandable) reason for the uneasiness with this is that it is used as a stick to beat Hindus with,calling them murderous Nazis,invaders,racial bigots(or some form of that) from the very beginning of their existence(or theses that extend in that direction). Most of them do not notice that even if OIT was proved beyond any doubt,the direction of the narratives purveyed by mlecchas and those who imbibe their ideologies would not change one bit at all. They will still continue to either blame brahmins or the entire society. Two examples in case would be DD Kosambi,who(along,or despite,or because of his belief in the fact that Indo-Iranians came from outside),noted about the genesis of brahmins

It seems that Kosambi was a little uncertain about the origin of the brahmanas, but he firmly and consistently held that they originally belonged to non-Aryan cultures and were very probably drawn from the Indus valley priests.[1]

None of this prevented him from calling the intellectual production of āstika brahmins and everyone else like that of a mistletoe,which was beautiful but parasitic.

Or Hegel,who held an Out of India theory,but whose descriptions of Hindu philosophy are a manual on how to misinterpret and misunderstand Indian philosophy.

What needs to be needed is a properly oriented narrative,regardless of whether it is established that the descendants of Indo-Iranians/Indo-Aryans populated India or the Indian subcontinent was the Urheimat of the Indo-Europeans.

 

Vaśiṣṭha’s stava to Sarasvatī(from the Mahābhārata)

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Source: Shalya Parvan,Critical edition(it is missing in the Southern recension).

pitāmahasya sarasaḥ pravṛttāsi sarasvati ।
vyāptaṃ cēdaṃ jagatsarvaṃ tavaivāmbhōbhiruttamaiḥ ॥

tvamēvākāśagā dēvi mēghēṣūtsṛjasē payaḥ ।
sarvāścāpastvamēvēti tvattō vayamadhīmahē ॥

puṣṭirdyutistathā kīrtiḥ siddhirvṛddhirumā tathā ।
tvamēva vāṇī svāhā tvaṃ tvayyāyattamidaṃ jagat ॥

tvamēva sarvabhūtēṣu vasasīha caturvidhā ॥

Translation:

From the Grandsire’s (manasa) lake you have arisen,O devī! This whole universe is filled with your excellent waters! Coursing through the firmament, O devī,you give your waters to the clouds! All the waters are you! Through you we exercise our thinking faculties! You are Pushti and Dyuti, Kirti, and Siddhi and Uma! You are speech, and you are svāhā! This whole universe is dependent on you! It is you who dwell in all creatures, in four forms!

 

Note:Interestingly here,the devī still retains both her watery associations and her associations with speech and wisdom(contrast this with some medieval stavas).

 

Side note: Since I am lazy,this is the place where you can find this in the Ganguli translation.

Addendum: The stava in Devanāgari

पितामहस्य सरसः प्रवृत्तासि सरस्वति ।
व्याप्तं चेदं जगत्सर्वं तवैवाम्भोभिरुत्तमैः ॥

त्वमेवाकाशगा देवि मेघेषूत्सृजसे पयः ।
सर्वाश्चापस्त्वमेवेति त्वत्तो वयमधीमहे ॥

पुष्टिर्द्युतिस्तथा कीर्तिः सिद्धिर्वृद्धिरुमा तथा ।
त्वमेव वाणी स्वाहा त्वं त्वय्यायत्तमिदं जगत् ॥

त्वमेव सर्वभूतेषु वससीह चतुर्विधा ॥

On the lakṣaṇa of ‘gauḥ’,setting aside pseudo-science

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The lakṣaṇa of ‘gauḥ’ in Hindu tradition is to be determined by seeing what our pūrvācāryas have commented on this,and not on pseudoscientific nonsense like ‘desi cows are associated with gold nanoparticles’, ‘A2/A1 milk’,etc.

“gōḥ sāsnādimattvaṁ lakṣaṇam” has basically been the definition since the time of Pātañjali (of mahābhāṣya fame).

Vidyāraṇya similarly quotes Pātañjali thus

tathā cōktaṁ bhagavatā patañjalinā mahābhāṣyē – atha gaurityatra kaḥ śabdō yēnōcyaritēna sāsnāmāṅgūmakakudakhuraviṣāṇānāṁ saṁpratyayō bhavati saḥ śabdaḥ

So ,our ‘gauḥ’ is any breed of cow that is humped with horns,and with a dewlap and tail. And not about A1,A2(I don’t think the rājan bhadravarman of champa near Vietnam,who was a śrotiya and boasted of performing vaidika rituals could have checked for A1/A2 or gold nanoparticles).

I discussed with others (like Hariprasad),who noted that there is no strong reason to deny respect to cows of foreign breed since they are all of the same jāti,one can at best to say that there is tārātmy within breeds of cows and that foreign breeds of cows have less abhimāni devatā sannidhyam. Also,we have consumed their milk for whatever reasons,so not slaughtering them and taking care of them till their death should be our way of showing upakāra smaraṇam.