On the outskirts of Vedas and Upanishad

The quest for enjoying the ultimate pleasure without any sorrow, by completely merging with the nature is one of the fundamental driving forces of the human mind. It is evident that the unbelievable sharpness of the minds which synthesized the vast amount of knowledge, the Vedas, was well aware of the above fact. 

സുഖാര്ഥ:  സർവഭൂതാനാം  മതാ: സർവ:  പ്രവർത്തയ:

The Vedas, based on its contents, is divided into three; ‘Karmakandha’, ‘Upasanakandha’ and ‘Njanakandha’. All these are well designed to suite the then four stages of life called Brhmacharyam, Grhasthasramam, Vanaprastham and Sanyasam. 

Thus, during the early stages of the life, when he is in his Brahmacharya, he must recite the Samhitha Manthras. During the Grhastasramam, it is the time for the interpretation of the Samhithas, the Brahmanyam, which is the detailed explanation of the Karmanushtan. When he is in his Vanaprastha, it is the time for the Upasana and hence the Arnyakam. And in the Sanyasa it is the time to make jnanam which is essential for the liberation. So, the njanakanda; Upanishads.

The customary divisions of Vedas are: 

Rig Veda, is the most poetic, which includes sookthas and Manthras, is to be recited by ‘Hotri’

Samaveda, which deals with the ways and the theories of how to sing the Rig Vada mantharas is chanted by ‘Ugatri’

Yajjur Veda, which narrates the rituals for the sacrifice and is chanted by ‘Adhvaryu’

Adharva Veda: Many scholars do not consider it as part of Vedas, because it consists of spells and charms. Its hymns are more diverse and are simpler in Language.

Upanishads are considered as an extension and explanations of the Vedas, hence the name ‘Upa-nishad’ and  the ‘end of the Vedas’; ‘Vedanta’. ‘Mukthikopanishad’ says there are 1180 Upanishads. But, generally accepted number as 108, Out of which 10 are considered as the most important. There is no valid reason for this 10 number, except that Adi Sankara wrote ‘bhashyam’ only to these 10 Upanishads.

Generally speaking, Vedas and Upanishads discuss moral and ethical issues, sin and virtue, Theory of Karma, Ultimate reality of the Universe and different aspect of the human life and society. They convey;

1.  The doctrine of Parinamavad (nothing to do with Darwin), It says the effect is the real manifestation of the cause.

2.    The world is the manifestation of the absolute

3.    The Individual soul is bounded by Maya

4.    It is captured by ignorance or avidya

5. Brahmam is unspeakable, indiscernible, absolute and beyond our comprehension and language. 

The relation between Jeeva and Paramatman is best shown by the popular Santhi Manthra “ Poornamada, poornamida, Poornaath poornamuthachyathe…

“Meaning: That is complete, This is complete, The completeness emanated from the completeness, Though many completeness emanated from it, still it remains as complete.”

The interpretation of Manthras and sukthas are so difficult because of the impenetrable nature of the language. Hence the scholars are in different positions about how to interpret it. For example, in the Rig Veda, ‘Asyavaameeya Suktham’ the sloka,

 “ദ്വാ സുപർണ സയുജാ സഖായ

സമാനം വൃക്ഷമധിസ്തിത സ്പുഷായ

തയോരന്യ പിപ്പ്ലം സ്വാദ്വത്തി

അനശ്നന്ന്യോ അഭിശാകശീതി”

The same sloka has taken to the ‘Mundakopanishad’  where it  has given a spiritual interpretation by some scholars as ‘both birds are ‘Jeeva’ and ‘Paramathma’ and the fruit is ‘brahmanubhava’ etc etc.

But, interpretations by others, including Sayanan is different. It says both birds are ‘Vidwan’ and ‘Avidwan’ and the fruits of the universal tree can only be eaten by the Vidwan etc. etc.

To conclude, what almost all Upanishads are trying to convey is the unequivocal oneness of the individual with the universe what they call Brahmam. Some of the examples,

On the left is the name of the Upanishad and on the right its conclusion.

ച്ഛന്നോക്യം             - തത്വമസി

മണ്ടൂക്യം     - അയമാത്മ ബ്രഹ്മ:

ഐതരെയം           - പ്രഞ്ജാനാം ബ്രഹ്മ:

ബ്രഹതാരന്യകം - അഹം ബ്രഹ്മാസ്മി

An Introduction to Indian Philosophy

A note on any philosophical branch should start with a general outline of the total philosophical background of that geo-political area. Here, when I say Indian philosophy, it refers to different thoughts and traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent.  

Generally speaking, none of the Indian philosophies speaks about a ‘God’ or a super natural power, they never think about a power which is not a part of the world.

Traditionally, Indian Philosophy is divided into two major systems called ‘Heterodox systems’ and ‘orthodox systems’ 

In the orthodox systems, there are Samkhya, Nyaya, Viseshikam, Yoga, Utharameemaamsa and poorvameemamsa.  These are normally viewed as pairs or duplex systems such as; Sankhya-Yoga, Nyaya-Viseshika, and Memamsa-Vedanda.  One is the theoretical aspect and the other is the practical aspect. Thus, Sankhya is the theoretical aspect and Yoga is the practical aspect, similarly all others.

Those who preach ‘Heterodoxy’ were called ‘Nasthikan’.  They recognize Vedas but denied its infallibility. The major systems in this group are Buddhism, Jainism and Lokayatham which is also known as Charvakanism.   

Both Heterodox and Orthodox systems (except for Charvakas) has a spiritual orientation, but spirit as a power (not as western spirit).  Both believed that ignorance is the root cause of worldly worries. Knowledge means divine transformation of life and emancipation of worldly worries, so liberation is the key word. 

From Buddha to Pathanjali, Sankaran to Ramanujam, all were emphasized on the psychological aspect of the Philosophy.    

Charvakanism or Lokayatham also known as Brahusptheeyam, is believed to be originated by Bruhaspathy. It is not sure that who this bruhuspathy is. But it was there even before Ramayana period. There are a number of references about lokayatham in Ramayana.  

They preached that the perception as the real and authentic knowledge. What happens in our mind is derived by our sense organs. Anything perceivable is only considered as valid knowledge. The primary ‘purusharthas’ are ‘Kama’ and ‘Ardha’ other pursuits are secondary. Hence Maximum pleasure is the ultimate aim.

This is just a very brief introduction.

The Great Escape

The Great Escape is a 1963 Holliwood film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German Prisoners of War camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough and directed by John Sturges. The film is based on a real story of the mass escape from Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Poland, in the province of Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany.

But our story is different.

It is based on the paleontological evidence that shows mass destruction of species in our Mother Earth is a cyclic process, repeating in a specific time interval. In the last 500 million years of history of the earth, there was at least five such major mass extinctions were identified. They are 450 Million years ago, 360 million years ago, 250 million years ago, 200 million years ago and 65 million years ago, the latest in which whole set of the dinosaurs species were believed to be destroyed. (Read the ‘Great Dying’).

BUT Man is such a kind of marvelous animal who can travel back and forth through time. He can make a well defined destruction plan as well as a survival plan. Such a survival plan had already made, a plan for the next 10^18 years, or even beyond

University of California, Santa Cruz astronomer and Science’s leading ‘soothsayer’ Greg Laughlin is the man behind such a plan. He started making the generous assumption that humans can survive multiple ice ages and deflect an inevitable asteroid or comet strike. NASA predicts that within a period of 1 billion years, there is at least 10 chances of hitting the size of the rock that wiped out the dinosaurs.

But one major problem is that within in a billion years, our Sun will start aging and will start emitting 10% more energy. The oceans will boil away and the atmosphere will dry. The temperatures will soar past 700 degrees F.

 

 

 

Then the Red Planet, Mars, will be a safety spot. There is enough water stored in the ice caps to submerge the planet with a 40 feet deep ocean.  After 4.5 billion years, when the whole hydrogen fuel is converted to Helium, our sun will become a red giant, (A red giant is a dying star in the last stage of the stellar evolution) 250 times as large and 2,700 times as bright as it is now, stretching the vast space of the solar system and engulfing Mercury, Venus, and Earth and turn Mars into a molten wasteland. Then we can inhabit to Saturn’s Moon, Titan.

 

Finally, about 130 million years after the red giant phase, the sun will go through a final spasm and eject its outer layers into space, leaving behind a white dwarf.

 

 

White dwarfs are the most stable stage of star having 0.7 to 1.4 solar mass. This 1.4 is known as Chandrasekhar limit. This will be an extremely dense star having densities reaching up to 1,000,000 times that of water. A star that ends its nuclear-burning lifetime with a mass greater than the Chandraskehar limit must become either a neutron star or a black hole.

 

 

Then the option is to successfully colonize planets orbiting Proxima Centauri, about 4.2 light years from Earth or another red dwarf. We can enjoy trillions of years of calamity-free living. When proxima Centauri perishes, humanity can relocate to another red dwarf and then another.

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf about 4.24 light-years from Earth, inside the G-cloud, in the constellation of Centaurus. It is the nearest star from our Solar System, and is a prime candidate for future interstellar travel and space colonization mission. Current rockets are too slow that they would take 100,000 years just to reach the there.

The serious problem starts, if the universe is going for a big crunch after about 10^18 years. The only option is to escape this universe before it chills, rips, crunches, bounces, or snaps into nothingness. As per the String theory, there are other universes hidden from our view—as many as 10500. At least one should be suitable for life.

 

The story of a Photograph and a Pulitzer too……

This photograph won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1994 for the photographer, Kevin Carter. The incredibly powerful image illustrates the terrible plight of those inflicted by desperate poverty. Carter took the photograph during a trip to the Sudan in 1993.

Kevin Carter was a South African photojournalist.

 

 

In 1993, Carter who was working for the South African anti-apartheid newspaper ‘Weekly Mail,’ along with his friend João Silva headed north into Sudan to cover the famine there. Landing near the village of Ayod, Carter and Silva began work at an overwhelmed feeding centre.

Carter found the scene distressing and took a stroll in the bush to calm his nerves.

Then, he found a young African girl was crawling weakly towards the centre of a clearing. She didn't have the energy to stand and, emaciated, stood little chance of survival. He crouched with his camera, ready to frame an eye-level shot. As he did so, a vulture landed behind her, obviously awaiting the moment of death. He carefully framed the photograph, being careful not to disturb the bird, and clicked. He did not helped the girl. Utterly depressed, he went back to Silva.

What happened to the child after Carter left is unknown to the world..

The New York Times bought Carter's shot and ran it on 23 March. The newspaper was swamped with letters and telephone calls, many asking what had happened to the child. Within days, the photograph was a global icon. However, Carter faced fierce criticism for abandoning the child

On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit River, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning, aged 33.

ഗംഗ ആണോ അതോ പെണ്ണോ?

 മൂന്നു ചുവടു മണ്ണ്    അളക്കുന്നതിനായി വാമനന്‍ കാല്‍ ഉയര്‍ത്തി , ഒന്നാമത്തെ ചുവടില്‍ ഭൂമിയും പാതാളവും അളന്നു, രണ്ടാമത്തെ ചുവടില്‍ മറ്റു ലോകങ്ങളും .  രണ്ടാമത്തെ ആ കാല്‍ വൈപ്പ് സത്യലോകത്തില്‍ ബ്രമാവിന്റെ അടുത്തും എത്തി. നാന്മുഖന്‍ തന്റെ കമണ്ടലുവിലെ     വെള്ളം എടുത്തു ആ പാദം  കഴുകി, ആ ജലം സ്വര്‍ഗ്ഗ ഗംഗയായി മാറി.  നമ്മുടെ ഗംഗയുടെ ഉല്‍പ്പത്തി അങ്ങനെയാണ് പുരാണം പറയുന്നത് .      

ദേവാസുര യുദ്ധം ഒരു സാധാരണ സംഭവം ആയിരുന്നെന്നു നമുക്കൊക്കെ അറിയാമല്ലോ. രാത്രിയില്‍ യുദ്ധം ചെയ്യുകയും പകല്‍ കടലിന്റെ അടിയില്‍ ഒളിച്ചിരിക്കുകയും എന്നത് അസുരന്മാരുടെ ഒരു ‍ സ്ഥിരം യുദ്ധ തന്ത്രമാണ്. ഇതിനെതിരെ ദേവന്മാര്‍ അഗസ്ത്യ മുനിയുടെ അടുത്ത് പരാതിപ്പെട്ടു. കുംഭ സംഭവനായ മുനി കടല്‍ മുഴുവന്‍ കുടിച്ചു വറ്റിച്ചു പരിഹാരം കണ്ടു. ഭൂമിയില്‍ അങ്ങനെ വെള്ളം കിട്ടാതായി. സാഗര പുത്രന്മാരുടെ മരണവും ഭഗീരഥന്‍ വളരെ പണിപ്പെട്ടു ഗംഗയെ ഭൂമിയില്‍ കൊണ്ടുവന്നു പ്രശ്നം പരിഹരിച്ചതും എല്ലാം നമുക്ക് അറിയുന്ന കഥ.

അപ്പോള്‍ ഒരു സംശയം, ഗംഗ  ആണാണോ അതോ പെണ്ണോ?

സംശയം ഇല്ല, ഗംഗ പെണ്ണ് തന്നെ,  ദേവിയാണ് ദേവനല്ല. ശാപഗ്രസ്തരായ അഷ്ട്ട വസുക്കളെ ശന്തനുവിന്റെ ഭാര്യയായി പ്രസവിക്കുകയും. സ്വച്ചന്ദ മൃത്യു ആയ ഭീഷ്മരെ പോറ്റി വളര്‍ത്തിയതും ഗംഗ ദേവി തന്നെ. ആകാശ ഗംഗ ശിവ ജടയിലൂടെ ഭൂമിയില്‍ അവതരിക്കുന്ന ചിത്രം രവി വര്‍മ വരക്കുംപോഴും ഗംഗ ദേവി തന്നെ.

 ജല ചത്വരങ്ങലോടുള്ള (Fountain Squire)  റോമിന്റെ പ്രണയം പ്രസിദ്ധമാണ് .  1651 ല്‍, പോപ്പ്  ഇന്നസന്‍റ്  പത്താമന്‍ കല്‍പിച്ചതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്ന്  ഇറ്റാലിയന്‍ ശില്‍പിയും ചിത്രകാരനുമായ ഗിയാന്‍ ലോറെന്‍സോ  ബെര്‍നിനി ( 1598 - 1680 ) നാലു ലോക നദികളെ പ്രതിനിധാനം ചെയ്ത് ഒരു ജല ചത്വരം ഉണ്ടാക്കി. ആഫ്രിക്കയെ പ്രതിനിധീകരിച്ച്  നൈല്‍ നദിയും, യൂറോപ്പിനെ ഡാന്യുബും, ഏഷ്യയെ ഗംഗയും അമേരിക്കയെ പ്ലേറ്റ്  നദിയും (Río de la Plata) പ്രതിനിധീകരിച്ചു. അതില്‍ ഗംഗയുടെ ചിത്രം ഇതാ, ഇങ്ങനെ.

Ganga

ഡൊമീഷ്യന്‍ ചക്രവര്‍ത്തിയുടെ ആസ്ഥാനമായിരുന്ന പിയാസാ നവോന എന്ന സ്റെടിയത്തിന്റെ ഒത്ത നടുക്കാണ് ഈ ജല ചത്വരം സ്ഥിതി ചെയ്യുന്നത്. നാല് മഹാ നദികളുടെയും ആസ്ഥാന ദേവതകള്‍ ചത്വരത്തില്‍ നിര്‍മിക്കപ്പെട്ടു.

                                                       Fountain of Four Rivers 

                                                                           

                                                              (Courtesy to Wikipedia) 

 ഗംഗയുലൂടെയുള്ള ഗതാഗതം പ്രതിനിധികരിച്ചു ഗംഗ നീണ്ട ഒരു പങ്കായം കയ്യില്‍ പിടിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.

നൈലിന്റെ ഉത്ഭവം എവിടെയെന്നു അന്ന് അറിയില്ലായിരുന്നു അത് സൂചിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ നൈല്‍ ഒരു  നേര്‍ത്ത തുണികൊണ്ട് തല മൂടിയിരിക്കുന്നു.

ദാന്യുബ് പോപ്പിന്റെ അധികാര മുദ്രകളില്‍ തോട്ടുകൊണ്ടാണ് കിടക്കുന്നത്.

അമേരിക്കയുടെ സമ്പത്തിനെ സൂചിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ പ്ലാറ്റാ നാണയങ്ങളുടെ കൂമ്പാരത്തിനു മുകളിലാണ് കിടക്കുന്നത് (പ്ലാറ്റാ എന്ന് സ്പാനിഷില്‍ പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ വെള്ളി എന്നാണ് അര്‍ഥം).  

                                                                      Río de la Plata

                                                                               Nile

                                                                                  Danube