How do heavenly bodies remain in the skies? How is it that they do not fall? Everybody thinks that it was Newton who found the answer to such questions. The very first stanza in the Suryasiddhanta, which is a very ancient treatise, states that it is the force of attraction that keeps the earth from falling.
In Sankara's commentary on the Upanisads there is a reference to the earth's force of attraction. If we throw up an object it falls to the ground. This is not due to the nature of object but due to the earth's force of attraction. "Akarsana-sakti" is force of attraction, the power of drawing or pulling something. The breath called "prana" goes up, "apana" pulls it down. So the force that pulls something downward is apana. The Acarya says the earth has apana-sakti. The Prasnopanisad (3. 8) states:
"The deity of the earth inspires the human body with apana".
In his commentary on this, Sankara observes that, just as an object thrown up is attracted by the earth, so prana that goes up is pulled down by apana. This means that our Upanisads contain a reference to the law of gravitation. There are many such precious truths embedded in our ancient sastras. Because of our ignorance of them we show inordinate respect for ideas propounded by foreigners, ideas known to us many centuries before their discovery by them. Our Jyotisa is also some thousands of years old. Even so it foresaw the mathematical systems prevalent in the world today.
At the beginning of the kalpa, all grahas were in alignment. But over the ages they have changed their courses. When another kalpa commences, they will again remain in alignment. The "samkalpa" we make before the performance of any ritual contains a description of the cosmos, a reference to the time cycle, and so on.
Vedas - the ancient treasures of India, are researched through out the world these days. Not only because of the rich spiritual concepts but also for the astonishing scientific facts hidden in them. It is generally said that Vedas need to be interpreted properly to get a better understandng. Reason being, one cannot get the in depth meaning by just reading the verse or hymn. Only a spiritual master, guru or a sanskrit pundit can pass the knowledge of light along with the wisdom. Remember, knowledge without wisdom will aid only in destruction rather than construction. Our ancestors understood this completely and that's the reason why they had maintained these resources with great care and passed the knowledge only to those who truly deserve and have obtained enough mind maturity to use the ideas for constructive purposes only. We are here to discuss one such hymn of the Rig Veda which talks about the speed of light. Astonishing, isn't it??? After reading this article, you will realize the above fact that Vedas need to be interpreted correctly in order to obtain the detailed hidden meaning. Let us proceed now....
A sample page from the Rig Veda
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Sayanacharya (1315-1387) , was a minister who flourished under king Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the court of Vijayanagar Empire in South India. He was an important commentator of the Vedas. More than 100 works are attributed to him including these commentaries. In his commentary about the Rig Veda verse 1;50-4 (given above) , he mentions the following phrase.
"Tatha cha smaryate yojananam. sahasre dve dve sate dve cha yojane
Ekena nimishardhena kramaman namostuthe"
which means.....
"Accordingly, it is remembered/declared here that it (sunlight) traverses 2202 yojanas in half a nimisha (in half a twinkling of eyes). Oh Sun, I bow to you."
Calculations :
Vishnu purana describes units of time as follows :
1 Nimesha = 1 blink of an eye (0.213 seconds approx)
1 Kastha = 15 nimesha (3.19 seconds)
1 Kala = 30 kastha (95.85 seconds)
1 Muhurtha = 30 kala (2875.5 seconds = 47.92 minutes)
Yojana - the unit of distance as described in Vishnu purana :
8 Yava = 1 angula
12 Angulas = 1 vitasti
2 Vitastis = 1 aratni
4 Aratnis = 1 danda/danu
2000 Danus = 1 Krosha
4 Kroshas = 1 Yojana (approximately 9 miles)
SPEED OF LIGHT :
According to Syana, light traverses at 2202 yojanas in half a nimesha. Which is calculated as follows:
2202 * 9 (miles) -------------------- = 186084 miles per second 0.1065 (seconds)
Also take a look at this video. Details about Sayana comes in the end...
Speed of Light in Modern Astronomy :
Ole Romer, in 1676, first demonstrated that light travels at a finite speed by studying the apparant motion of Jupiter's moon. He estimated the speed as 220000 kilometers per second (136701 miles) which is about 26% lower than the true value. The estimated speed of light according to modern astronomy now is 186000 miles per second.
So modern astronomy states the speed of light as 186000 miles per second while Syana's calculations come to 186084 miles per second (roughly). Isn't it astonishing to see how close the values are? Can it be just a coincidence? or is it true knowledge which we are slowly losing? It is time to think, realize and take steps to protect our ancient treasures and pass the knowledge to the future generations. As already told in the introduction, this knowledge sharing has to be done with proper care, along with teaching moral and ethical values, so that they are judiciously used. It is sad to note that we no more value our scriptures, traditions and rituals and started adapting western practices. On the other hand, please take a look at what they (westerners) feel and say about our knowledge and wisdom.....
I conclude this post by stating............
"IT IS TIME TO REALIZE AND VALUE THE VISION OF OUR ANCIENT SEERS"
Thank you all for reading. Please share your thoughts.
Goddess Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, is an important deity in Sanathan Dharma. She is the authority of academics and arts (கலைமகள்). She herself carries a veena in her hands to symbolize this. Anyone who wants to learn a new art does so by offering the first prayer to Saraswati in sanathan dharma traditions. Let us learn a quick mantra, the Saraswati Vandhana mantra and its meaning today, which invokes her to seek her blessings and guidance for knowledge and wisdom.
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Mantra :
Yaa Kundendu tushaara haara-dhavalaa
Yaa shubhra vastraa vrithaa
Yaa veenaa varadanda mandithakara
Yaa swetha padmaasana
Yaa bramachyutha shankara prabhritibhir
Devai sadaa vandhitha
Saa maam paatu saraswati bhagavathi
Nihsesha jaadyaa pahaa
Hear the mantra in this video :
Meaning :
I pray to Goddess Saraswati, who is as fair as the jasmine flower, whose beautiful white garland is like frosty dew drops, who is embellished with pretty white attire, whose hands carry the veena and who has the pure white lotus as her throne.
I pray to Goddess Saraswati, who is praised by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and who is always worshiped by the Devas. I offer my prayers to you, mother Saraswati. Please remove my mental dullness, sluggishness and ignorance completely.
"Samudra Manthan" - This is one of my favorite myth in Sanathan Dharma. But now I have other ideas about this legend story. Let me tell you why.... For some time I had the following questions in my mind. "What if this story is not a myth at all?" "What if it is a true science about the cosmos?" "Were our ancestors aware of formation of Galaxies and stars?" . The above questions drove me to go in search for answers and I am amazed by the results. "Hey... I am not alone man!!!" was my typical response. It was because there were already many people who had thought in a similar way and even had written research articles and books about this subject. So here I am, to share my opinions along with plenty of links for your reference. You are welcome to accept or contradict this idea. The choice is yours. I am not authenticating that my opinion about this subject is 100% true, but only stating that a different thought process about Sanathan Dharma myths might bring out more subtle details about the cosmos and the Universe around us which in turn, might unlock innumerable mysteries.
By ESO/M. Kornmesser (http://www.eso.org/public/
images/eso1327a/) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
QUICK VIEW :
Key concept
"Samudra Manthan" - Churning the Milk Ocean
Spiritual version
The legend behind the story, The process of churning, The products emerged, The distribution of nectar, Vishnu's two avatars Kurma and Mohini.
Scientific version
Churning process compared to evolution of Galaxy, Supermassive black hole as the Galactic center compared to Mount Mandhara, Great rift compared to Vasuki, Uchaishravas, the horse, compared to that of Pegasus of Greek Mythology and to a constellation shaped like horse, Products emerging from the churning process compared to birth of celestial objects like stars, planets and constellations.
Other details
Depiction of "Samudra Manthan" in Thailand Airport, Understanding vaikuntha planet, mount kailash and other celestial abodes, Small personification of celestial objects in Earth planet, Views of believers in mythology.
Many reference links included and I suggest the readers to go through them to get a clear picture of this analysis.
The Legend :
By Raja ravi varma [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
Let us first explore this epic story from mythology point of view to aid us in better understanding. According to Bhagavata Purana, this incident happened during the 6th Manvantara, during the period of Caksusha Manu. (We are now living in the 28th Chaturyuga of the 7th Manvantara. Hence this happened approximately about 427.68 million years ago (4320000*71 = 306720000 + 4320000*28 = 120960000 = 427680000). During this reign, the king of heaven was known as Mantradruma (we already saw in one of the previous posts that Indra is only a position and many people come to this position over a period of time) and the Avatara of Vishnu was knows as Ajita. Refer the following links for more details :
Once Sage Durvasa got a special garland from Lord Shiva. He offered that garland to Indra when he met him as a notion of blessing. Indra, due to his ego, placed the garland on his elephant, which in turn threw it on the ground. Durvasa, who became furious at this sight, cursed Indra and all Devas to be deprived of all strength, energy, prosperity and fortune. After the curse, Indra realized his mistake but he could not do anything. Soon after, a war occurred between the Devas and Asuras preceded by King Bali where the Asuras defeated the Devas and gained control over the Universe. Devas, then went to Lord Vishnu for protection. Vishnu advised Devas to be in union with Asuras for some time and to churn the milky ocean along with Asuras for obtaining the nectar which ensures immortality.Vishnu secretly reassured the Devas that even though Asuras help in the process of churning the ocean, the nectar would ultimately be consumed only by the Devas.
A depiction of "Samudra Manthan" in the Suvarnabhumi Airport - Bangkok, Thailand
By Ram Samudrala (Own work by the original uploader) [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
The churning process was not easy. Mount Mandhara became the churning rod and Vasuki, the king of serpents, became the churning rope. The Asuras held the head of Vasuki while the Devas held the tail and the churning process started. But the mountain started to sink in the ocean and Vishnu came to their rescue in the form of Kurma, the giant turtle and held the mountain on this back for support. Many products emerged from this churning process and important ones among them were :
Lakshmi - The Goddess of wealth and fortune
Airavatha - The white elephant which was taken by Indra
Kamadhenu - The wish granting divine cow
Karpakavriksha - The wish granting divine tree
Halahala - The poison - Lord Shiva swallowed this to rescue them
Shanka - The conch which was taken by Vishnu
Parijat - The divine tree which was taken by the Devas
Uchaishravas - The seven headed flying horse (Greek Mythology also refers to a winged white horse called Pegasus)
Chandra - The moon which Lord Shiva placed in his head
Dhanvanthri - The divine doctor with nectar of immortality in his hand
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Devas and Asuras started to fight fiercely again for the nectar. To save the nectar for Devas, Vishnu ordered Garuda to fly away with the pot. While he flew over Earth, four drops of nectar fell in four places viz. Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik and because of this legend, these places were believed to have acquired certain special mystic powers. A Kumbmela is celebrated in these four places every twelve years for this reason. Vishnu, then took the charming "Mohini Avatar", distracted the Asuras and distributed the nectar only to the Devas. However, an Asura named Svarbhanu, disguised himself in the form of a Deva and drank the nectar. Noticing this, Mohini (Lord Vishnu in disguise) cut off the throat of Svarbhanu with sudarshan chakra. Since the nectar already went in his body, this asura did not die but his body was cut in two pieces. The head part of svarbhanu is called as "Rahu" and the body part is called as "Ketu". After consuming the nectar, the Devas regained their strength and defeated the Asuras. This is how the legend goes.......
picture taken from creative commons search
Clarifications before proceeding further :
Sanathan Dharma units of time are infinite and cyclical in nature. Hence we should understand the scriptural stories from this massive time line. "Space" is also infinite according to Sanathan Dharma. The stories sometimes, speak only about Earth, sometimes about the material Universe, some other times, about the whole Cosmos (including multiverse). This is what is making the scriptural stories more confusing and complicating and make us believe that they are only myths. But they are not, if we properly understand them from the massive time and space limits and do not restrict them only to our Earthly objects. For example, when we talk about "Kshir Sagar", we should not think that there is only one milk ocean and it represents only our milky way galaxy. Look at the following statement....
Likewise, when we talk about Mount Kailash, we should understand that that is a depiction of Lord Shiva's abode in this Earth planet, but the originial abode, the original Kailash (in the material Universe) is in the celestial world.
River Ganges, Mount Meru/Mount Mandara and many other things mentioned in scriptural stories do have their own celestial place (probably they might be in different forms too), though a small personification of these exist in Earth. Understanding this concept before proceeding further will result in more clarity. Through out this article, we will see many such things mentioned in mythological stories from a totally different perspective which will enable you to view these stories from an entirely new dimension.
In Modern Cosmology :
Before analyzing further, let us take a quick peek at the following statements. These statements are taken from two different sources. I have included the source links below. Please click and explore the articles to get a clear picture. These statements provide two different dimensions to this legend story.
"In modern cosmology, the Milky Way (The galaxy in which we live) is similarly depicted as a white spiral cloud. The rotating spiral galaxy structure of the milky way corresponds with the ocean of milk being churned. The super massive Black Hole at its center correlates with the extremely heavy Mount Mandara. It is also to be noted that even the name used in modern cosmology is analogous with this ancient reference. This shows that this particular story might have been transmitted as a metaphorical source of knowledge about the cosmos from the ancient times".
By NASA/CXC/Stanford/I. Zhuravleva et al. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Statement 2 - source : Aeongroup :-
"The myth is concerned primarily with establishing the central role of the Axis in creation. This much is very clear. But there is more involved and this has reference to certain important or key features of our material dimension. This simple tale in fact sheds light on the very structure of Form. Indeed this, it must be stated, is the purpose of the myth. And this feature pertains to macrocosms as well as microcosms. It pertains as well to the primordial age as well as to the stages of cosmic evolution well beyond the so-called Big Bang. But was there ever any such thing as a Big Bang? According to the myth creation did not come into being by anything of the sort, and especially not through any process of collapse of energy. It was simply the emergence of an axis and then the conspiracy to set that 'churning'. That the myth refers to the elaboration of the physical components of our universe is obvious from the fact that it adopts the symbol of churning the Milky Ocean, or the Milky Way, and then from this motion gradually the treasures arise as butter would from the curdled, churned creamy substance. There is, in addition, a separation process in the manufacture of butter; the same does indeed occur in the cosmic process until finally the substance of form emerges from this primordial soup, as it were, and the dross is discarded. "
We proceed with statement 1 as our base :
So these two sources talk about two different dimensions. One about celestial bodies emerging and the other one about axis. For this article, let us consider the first one and proceed with our analysis. We already understood that there is one Vaikuntha planet with milk ocean in every material Universe. Churning the milk ocean here could represent our milky way galaxy being churned. It is just a speculation, because there are many spiral galaxies with black hole as center, exactly similar to that of our milky way in the Cosmos. So we cannot pin point exactly that it is our milky way galaxy but it could probably be. And remember this story does not talk about formation of galaxy as it tells only about churning. That means the galaxy already existed at the given time. The products generated from churning the milk ocean could probably be celestial objects within the galaxy like stars, planets or even constellations.
Take a look at this video to know about how stars and planets are formed :
Mount Mandhara - Super massive black hole at the galactic center :
When we talk about spiral galaxies, the super massive black hole occupies the center. Let us proceed with our possibility of milky way galaxy is what described in the churning process and study the super massive black hole at the galactic center of milky way.
By ESO/L. Calçada (ESO website) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The role of supermassive black hole in formation and evolution of galaxies is predominant according to modern science. Refer the following links to know more about this.
The legend story states that Mount Mandhara became the churning rod in the ocean churning process. The supermassive black hole which acts as the galactic center, (according to wikipedia) correlates with that out mount mandhara. Let us close our eyes once and imagine the vast milk ocean as milky way galaxy and the churning rod, mount mandhara as the galactic center. Let us also imagine the churning process. Many stars, planets and constellations are born with the churning. Doesn't it correlate with the role of supermassive black hole in evolution of galaxy?
Vasuki - Great Rift ???
Vasuki, the rope used in the churning process roughly correlates with the great rift, also referred as dark rift. Though it is not very clear at this point, we might get some clarity later,
Let us take one product emerged out of the milk ocean, "Uchaishravas" - the snow white seven headed flying horse. Initially I had mentioned that "Pegasus" - the horse referred to in Greek Mythology correlates with that of Uchaishravas. Let us explore this concept. According to Greek mythology, this horse is transformed into a constellation and placed in sky by the Greek Sky God Zeus. (In one of my previous posts, we saw that Zeus corresponds with the Vedic God Dyaus). Now when we say "Uchaishravas" came from churning the milk ocean, why can't it be a constellation which has the shape of a horse? Though we can't connect dot to dot (due to our lack of knowledge) that a specific constellation is Uchaishravas, the possibility of this product being a constellation is there right?
Pegasus - Flying white horse in Greek mythology :
By Mary Hamilton Frye [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
This mythical story makes some sense now. Isn't it? Though we are not able to identify each and every item associated with this legend story, we now understood that it is connected with cosmic evolution and formation of celestial objects. Kurma, the tortoise, Halahal, the poison, Soma - the nectar and all other things involved in this churning story should also have some insights about cosmic evolution, though we are not able to interpret them properly, at this time. We need to recollect the story of "Dhruva" too. This particular story mentions that "Dhruva" got boon from Vishnu and became a star. "Pole star", is what we call Dhruva in modern astronomy. Even this story talks about formation of a star only, in particular a pole star. Hence, there is every reason to believe that the Vedic seers and our ancient scriptures knew the subtle details involved in the creation and evolution process of the cosmos as a whole, though they are told as stories which most people consider as myth.
A word for believers in myth :
For believers in mythology, including me, even these stories make sense. We believe in the entire concept as a whole, not only the scientific version of it. It is because we believe in the wisdom and knowledge of our ancient seers and firmly trust that they have made these stories also for some purpose. Though we are not able to perceive them, we understand that it is only because of our lack of knowledge. We are already seeing that as and when science advances, we get new dimensions of the same old scriptures and keeping this in mind, we presume that we will encounter more amazing scientific facts in the future too, which will certainly provide more clarity to these epic stories.
Thank you all for reading. Don't forget to share your feedback!!!!
The Mantra which we are going to learn today is the "Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra". Before going into the comprehensive details, let us quickly know some of the basic facts about this mantra. This mantra, also known as the "Tryambaka Mantra" is one of the most powerful ancient Sanskrit mantras. The deity invoked here is the three eyed "Lord Shiva" and the purpose of this mantra is to attain enlightenment by conquering death. "Mrityu" = death and "Jaya" = victory.
By Arun Varadarajan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Origin and Legends behind this mantra :
Raja Ravi Varma [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Sage Markandeya is said to be the founder of this mantra. We all know that Markandeya conquered death by devoting himself to lord Shiva and became immortal. Another legend states that Lord Shiva revealed this mantra to sage Sukracharya. Hence it is sometimes known as Mrita-Sanjeevini mantra. This mantra is found in Shri Rudram Chamakam from the Yajur Veda and also in Rig Veda and Atharva Veda.
Pustivardhanam - One who increases prosperity or welfare, nourishes, strengthens
Urvarukamiva - A kind of cucumber
Bandhanaan - connecting, captivating, binding
Mrtyormuksiya - Release, free, liberate from death
Maamrutaath - Immortality
Interpretation 1 :
"We worship the fragrant, three eyed lord Shiva who fosters and nourishes all beings. May he release us from the cycle of Samsara like how a ripened cucumber is released from its bondage, the creeper. (Like the gardener who separates the ripened cucumber, Lord Shiva, frees the souls from the bondage called samsara). May he liberate us from the fear of death and make us immortal".
Interpretation 2 :
"We worship the fragrant, three eyed lord Shiva who fosters and nourishes all beings. May he release us from the cycle of Samsara like how a ripened cucumber is released from its bondage, the creeper. (Like the gardener who separates the ripened cucumber, Lord Shiva, frees the souls from the bondage called samsara). We understand that immortality may not be possible, but let the Lord release us from the fear of death and grant us the boon of long life".
Benefits of chanting this mantra :
This is a very powerful mantra which is considered to guard a person from fear of death and grant longevity and immortality. Since the power of this mantra is huge and it invokes the fierce form of Lord Rudra (Shiva), great care has to be taken to chant it properly and without errors. This mantra is said to be beneficial for both physical and mental health and has a great healing force. The divine vibrations generated by chanting this mantra wards off a person against evil and negative forces and creates a powerful shield which ensures protection. Chanting this mantra regularly with faith and devotion can :
Restore health and happiness
Guard against any kind of fear
Rejuvenate and heal the senses
Protect from accidents, disasters and other misfortunes
Provide peace and purify the soul
Nullify the negative and evil forces
Give substantial energy and nourishment
Grant immense strength to overcome obstacles
Help conquering enemies both internal and external
Ensure overall well being and prosperity
Can Women Chant?
It is usually said that women cannot chant Veda Mantras. Since this mantra is a part from Vedas, it is better for women to hear it rather than chanting. If you still want to chant, please consult a Guru or a Sanskrit pundit and get their opinion.
Let us obtain the blessings of Lord Shiva by chanting this maha mantra. May the "Tryambaka" shower his grace on us and enrich our lives with good health, wealth and prosperity.
