Vasistha Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni (1878-1936)


हिडिम्बा भीमदयिता निदाघे घर्मपीडिता।
स्तनवस्त्रं परित्यज्य वधू श्वशुरमिच्छति॥

Hidimba, the beloved of Bhima, oppressed by heaat in summer, longs for her father-in-law (Vayu – the deity of Air) after removing the cloths covering her breasts.

हिडिम्बायाः श्वशुरः वायु इति प्रसिद्धमस्ति।

परीक्षकमतं तु द्रौपदी भीमदयिता इत्यासीत्। किंतु गणपतिमुनेः मतं तु एवमासीत् – हिडिम्बा भीमस्यैव पत्निः किंतु द्रौपदिस्तु पाण्डवानां सर्वेषामपि पत्निः इत्यतः “हिडिम्बा भीमदयिता” इति प्रयोग एव समीचिनः। अन्यच्च द्रौपदिस्तु राजकुलजाता। औष्ण्यनिवारणार्थं उत्तरीयपरित्यागः तस्यै न युज्यते, अरण्यनिवासिन्याः हिडिम्बायास्तु एतादृशः व्यवहारः समुचितः।

Last few days have been a bit hectic at work and so did not really get much time to discover new things via the web. So this post is a bit short and includes some discoveries over the last couple of days.

Bhimsen (Prem Panicker) : Prem Panicker, the former editor of India Abroad and a long time voice on Rediff, has been working on this brilliant project – retelling the Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhim, the second Pandava. Inspired by a Malayalam work Randhamoozham by MT Vasudevan Nair (MTV he calls him), Prem insists that “this is not a translation or a transcreation” but a re-telling and I quote :

What it is, is a re-telling, in which— with profound respect for one of my favorite writers—I intend to stay faithful to the central narrative and its governing emotional undercurrents, but manipulate time lines and incidents, and where necessary even chapter progressions, to suit my own narrative.

So why does he want to do it and what is it that is about the Mahabharata? I suggest you read on.

Reward of Service – Elizabeth Barren Browning (Veritas) : This is a blog that brings a lot of joy every day. Its Poem of the Day pops up in my Google Reader and immediately takes me away from the duniyadari into another world of reflection, peace and quiet. Today it features a poem by “Portuguese” as Robert Browning used to call her. The full poem and many other poems are there on the blog. Here are a couple of lines from this one:

Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes,
After its own like working. A child’s kiss
Set on thy singing lips shall make thee glad;
A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;
A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense
Of service which thou renderest.

That’s all for today.

karya Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Buku ini telah memikatku dalam banyak hal:

Pertama, Cover yang menarik. Yup, terkadang mata saya suka sekali dengan keindahan cover suatu buku. Perpaduan warnanya seperti membawa saya ke Istana Khayalan. Cover aselinya juga keren..I Love Green

Kedua, tokoh utamanya yaitu Drupadi. Saya suka Drupadi. Saya mengenal sosoknya saat membaca Mahabharata. Yang sedikit diceritakan *plus saya skimming juga* tapi sukses meninggalkan bekas di hati.

Ketiga, kata pembuka yang dikutip Divakaruni :
Siapa saudara perempuanmu? Akulah dia.
Siapa ibumu? Akulah dia.
Fajar merekah bagimu seperti juga bagiku.

Keempat, Catatan penulis yang mengantarkan saya masuk ke zaman dimana kisah Mahabharata di mulai.

Yup, Divakaruni sukses menulis kembali kisah agung Mahabharata dengan menggunakan sudut pandang Drupadi. Drupadi, Putri Raja Drupada yang kelahirannya dari dalam api, dimana kelahirannya akan merubah sejarah.

Membaca buku ini seakan-akan mendengar kisah Mahabharata dari mulut Drupadi sendiri, mengulik bagian-bagian yang mungkin tidak tersentuh oleh Byasa dalam Kitab Mahabharatanya. Emosi Drupadi yang dilibatkan dalam setiap penuturan. Bagaimana perasaannya saat kelahirannya yang telah membuat dia mengemban karma. Hubungan dengan ayah dan kakak tersayangnya. Penikahannya dengan Arjuna serta dengan ke-empat Pandawa. Hasrat cinta terpendamnya.Hubunngan dengan perempuan-perempuan penting dalam kehidupan Pandawa. Kedekatannya dengan Krishna dan yang terpenting perasaannya saat menyaksikan perang yang melibatkan semua orang yang Ia kasihi di Kurukshetra.

Sangat mengasyikan memandang Pandawa dari pikiran Drupadi, mereka terlihat manusiawi di mata saya. Bukan hanya tokoh Pandawa saja tapi semuanya, terlihat manusiawi. Apakah karena emosi yang sejak awal sudah ditanamkan Divakaruni melalui Drupadi? Sehingga saya ikut merasakan apa yang dirasakan dari setiap tokoh yang ada dalam kisah ini. Dan, akhirnya saya bisa memandang semua tokoh dari sisi yang berbeda. Bukan melihat siapa yang jahat ataupun siapa yang baik. Tapi lebih karena karma & takdir yang melingkari semua. Karma, what you get is what you give

Dan, akan selalu ada Krishna dalam setiap kehidupan kita

:: just an ordinary me ::

Our unconscious is always awake to stmulii.We can hear/feel even during deep sleep.
Inthe Epic Mahabharata, Lord Krishna instructs his disciple and sister’s husband on a specific war strategy(Chakra Vyuha, a method of organizing armies in the battle field )At that time Krishna’s sister was pregnant with the child.
The child, when he became a young man, could vividly remember the details heard when he was in his mother’s womb, in the battle field.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2009) — They were in a deep sleep, yet sounds, such as a teakettle whistle and a cat’s meow, somehow penetrated their slumber.

The 25 sounds presented during the nap were reminders of earlier spatial learning, though the Northwestern University research participants were unaware of the sounds as they slept.
Yet, upon waking, memory tests showed that spatial memories had changed. The participants were more accurate in dragging an object to the correct location on a computer screen for the 25 images whose corresponding sounds were presented during sleep (such as a muffled explosion for a photo of dynamite) than for another 25 matched objects.
“The research strongly suggests that we don’t shut down our minds during deep sleep,” said John Rudoy, lead author of the study and a neuroscience Ph.D. student at Northwestern. “Rather this is an important time for consolidating memories.”
Most provocatively, the research showed that sounds can penetrate deep sleep and be used to guide rehearsal of specific information, pushing people’s consolidation of memories in one direction over another.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119193632.htm

Songs on the Mahabharata vindt plaats in een leegstaande loods aan jeugdcentrum Scheld’Apen.

Elke vrijdag kan je er vanaf 19u genieten van Volxkeuken, vegetarisch lekkers aan 3 euro. Ideaal voor wie liever met volle maag de stevige rock tijdens de voorstelling wil trotseren.

Data: 26, 27 en 28 november, 3 en 4 december, 10 en  11 december, telkens om 20u30

tickets@despiegel.com

Adres: D’Herbouvillekaai 36, Antwerpen.

Routebeschrijving

I have uploaded the Durga Stuti from the Mahabharata in Kannada, Devanagari and English scripts on the mantras page.

Just before the Mahabharata war, Sri Krishna instructs Arjuna to pray to Lord Durga in order to ensure victory over the Kauravas, led by the mighty Bhishma. Arjuna does so and Lord Durga appears before him and grants him a boon that Pandavas will be victorious. This chanting of Arjuna is known as the Durga Stuti. This is another one of those hundreds of Stotras and Stutis which are part of the Mahabharata epic.

This Durga Stuti is to be chanted for overcoming disease, enemies and other obstacles.

Prabu Suyudana mengutus Adipati Karna, Patih Sengkuni dan para Kurawa pergi ke Gunung Kutarunggu atau Pertapaan Swelagiri, karena dewa memberikan penjelasan bahwa barang siapa memiliki makuta Sri Batararama akan menjadi sakti, serta akan menurunkan raja-raja di Tanah Jawa.

Dalam perjalanannya Adipati Karna pergi ke Pertapaan Duryapura Dimana Anoman, saudaranya Kesaswasidi bertempat di situ yang ditemani raksasa Gajah. Wreksa, Garuda Mahambira, Naga Kuwara dan Liman Situbanda. Karma mengutarakan maksudnya tetapi di tolak Anoman sehingga terjadi peperangan. Karena terdesak Karna melepaskan panah Wijayadanu tetapi dapat ditangkap Anoman dan dibawa ke Swelagiri.

Pihak Pandawa sang Arjuna juga mencari Makutarama, ia dating di Gunung Swelagiri bertemu dengan Kesaswidi menerangkan maksudnya dan oleh sang Begawan dijelaskan bahwa Makutarama itu sebenarnya bukan barang kebendaan, tetapi merupakan pengetahuan budi pekerti bagi raja yang sempurna atau ajaran yang disebut Astabrata. Lebih jauh Begawan Kesaswidi menjelaskan bahwa kelak cucunya yang bernama Parikesit akan berkuasa sebagai raja besar di Jawa dan ia akan menjelma kepadanya. Sedangkan Anoman diperintah untuk meneruskan bertapa di Kendalisada dan kelak pada pemerintahan Prabu Jaya Purusa dari kediri ia akan naik surga.

Arjuna kembali dengan membawa panah Wijayadanu untuk diserahkan Adipati Karna.

Dewi Subadra yang sangat khawatir kepergian suaminya lalu mengembara mencari Arjuna, dan diperjalanan bertemu Batara Narada yang memberikan busana pria, maka Dewi Subadra berubah ujud pria bernama Bambang Sintawaka kemudian ia pergi ke pesanggrahan Kurawa dan sanggup membantu melawan Ajuna.

Bima dan Gatotkaca juga mencari Ajuna di perjalanan mereka dihadang Kumbakarna. Menurut nasihat Wibisana Kumbakarna harus menjelma pada Bima maka terjadi perkelahian yang seharusnya Kumbakarna merasuk pada paha kiri Bima.

Kurawa yang dibantu Sintawaka menentang Arjuna dan peperangan terjadi. Arjuna dapat mengenali musuhnya itu adalah istrinya dan akhirnya kembali ke ujud semula, Dewi Subadra. Para Kurawa menyerang tetapi dapat dihalau Gatotkaca.

Lakon ini termasuk lakon pakem yang sangat popular dan sering dipentaskan.

Sumber: bharatayudha.multiply.com.

From the play 'Aandubali'

It was a plea against war…

OK nothing new. Lots of people make that and then sit back and let the world go on as before, with wars being fought again and again.

But this plea had something new to it.

It was the women characters in Mahabharata who seemed to be making a plea, an emphatic one at that, against war. ‘Aandubali’, a play wrote and directed by veteran dramatist Vayala Vasudevan Pillai, had prominent women characters from the epic, Mahabharata, including Kunti, Draupadi, Subhadra and Gandhari pondering on how their actions had led to the battle fought on the plains of Kurukshetra, the battle for upholding ‘dharma’, the battle of righteousness against evil. These characters go in for some kind of an introspection and try to find out if they could have averted the war that took away many of their near and dear ones.

‘Aandubali’ was presented recently on the stage by M.Phil students of the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts, University of Kerala, at The University Senate Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. Working effectively on symbolic levels, the play had scenes that made viewers sit up and think, on things like the futility of war, the concept of ‘dharma’ and ‘adharma’, death etc.

‘Aandubali’ finds relevance as a play that, though based on the Mahabharata, has universal significance and speaks of things that we can easily relate to.

You know what the trouble with being the all-knowing God types is? No. Obviously you don’t, you are not all-knowing or a God. Well, I am and I know the trouble with it too. And I will tell you about it. The trouble is that you know EVERYTHING.

Why stuff happened. Why stuff will happen. What has to be done etc. etc. So much performance pressure, you know. Being on earth and guiding these mortals to do what has been written in their fates by the almighty himself. Terribly hard I tell you. Let me give you an example. Draupadi’s vastra-haran? Yes. That infamous incident. Well, I knew that the vastra-haran would happen, and I knew that I had to appear to save Draupadi. I even knew of the time, down to the exact second. But you know what happened? Late night drinking session with Balarama. I overslept. Almost didn’t make it to save her. Never will I drink with Balarama again. He must totally quit drinking.

The worst thing about this assignment for me? It has to be the treachery and all the double dealings. I mean, the Pandavas, for all their perfections, are not all that bright. Manipulating them(and it has been really easy at that) to achieve some of my own goals feels bad. But that is how it is. If not me, it will be someone else. I console myself saying that it is necessary for the triumph of good over evil.

Weird concept that, isn’t it? Good and Evil. I mean who is to say that the Pandavas are the ‘Good’ guys and the Kauravas ‘Evil’? Who decides that? If you give a good ear to what the Kauravas have to say, maybe you will find that they believe that they are on the side of good, not the Pandavas. It’s all perception. History will perceive that the Pandavas were the good guys, not the Kauravas. That reminds me, I’ve got to pay off those balladeers to sing and write down some highly imaginative stories about the Pandavas’ righteousness. History has to be made, and it is always on the side of those who control what gets written.

The Girls? (Smiles) The reports are highly exaggerated, I tell you. Handling two of them has been a problem for me, and people have been quoting my liaisons to be in the thousands. Though I do notice that most of the girls seem to get woozy headed around me. I do a quick check of the armpits when that happens(laughs). Seriously though, it’s just the two. And even then, I’d rather have that there’d be only one. Radha is the one I love, but Rukmini is the one I’m supposed to love, being married to her and all that. You see, even us God types have our problems while dealing with the matters of the heart. (Smirks)

Maybe the next project I get will be a better one. But I’ll have to finish this one with good ratings for that. And get a good appraisal from HIM. There are a lot of these one project wonders and I don’t want to be one of them. These Gods get one temple in some far off regional corner with a limited set of worshippers. No pan-religion following for them really. But I have grand plans. Pan-religion following, a chain of temples, universal name acknowledgement. From one corner of the globe to another. And for that to happen, I shouldn’t be sitting idle like this and chatting away. I’ve work to do and I’ve got to get it done. Will be seeing ya then.

And even if we do not meet, I’m sure that you’ll be hearing a lot more of me.

In the evening, I, Taraka and her daughter Gayatri left to see a dance programme at her sister’s daughter’s school. Though we couldn’t stay for long, we made sure that we were present for a few minutes to encourage the little kid and left for Birla Mandir.

After parking the car at a nearby place, we headed towards Birla Mandir. By this time I had come to know how chaotic the traffic in Hyderabad is. People had scant respect for the traffic rules and I was feeling like driving in some maddening crowd.

The steps leading to the temple and small shops along the steps were bustling with tourists. Shops were making brisk business and tourists were busy buying articles.

As it was weekend, the crowd was huge. We had to keep our phones and camera in the cloak room. We went to the temple and Taraka was excited to show the place where she and jeeju had solemnized their wedding

Birla Mandir on the Naubath Pahad is a magnificent Hindu temple of Lord Venkateshwara, built of 2,000 tonnes of pure Rajasthani white marble. The Birla Foundation has constructed several similar temples in India.

The Birla Mandir was built by Raja Baldev Birla. In 1938, the temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. Everyone was not given the permission to enter the premises of temples. Gandhi placed the condition that he would inaugurate the temple only if people belonging to all strata of the society were permitted to offer their prayers in the temple.

The architecture of the temple is a blend of South Indian, Rajasthani and Utkala temple architectures.

The tower over the main shrine reaches a height of 165 ft, whereas the towers over the shrines of Venkateshwara’s consorts, Padmavati and Andal reach a height of 116 ft. The presiding deity is about 11 ft tall and a carved lotus forms the umbrella on the roof. The consorts of Lord Venkateswara, Padmavati and Andal are housed in separate shrines. There is a brass flagstaff in the temple premises which rises to a height of 42 ft.

The temple is built on a 280 feet high hillock called the Naubath Pahad in 13 acres. The construction took 10 years and was consecrated in 1976 by Swami Ranganathananda of Ramakrishna Mission. The temple does not have traditional bells, as Swamiji wished that the temple atmosphere should be conducive for meditation.

Though the chief deity is Lord Venkateshwara, the temple has pan-Hindu character with deities of Shiva, Shakti, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Saibaba. Selected teachings of holy men and Gurbani are engraved on temple walls.

There is also a shrine dedicated to Lord Buddha. Beautiful Fresco paintings, throwing light on the life and works of Buddha, adorn the walls of this temple. At the rear end of the temple, there is an artificial landscape with mountains and waterfalls.

The intricate carvings of the temple, the ceiling and the mythological figures are standing testimony to the dexterity and sculptural excellence of the craftsmen. Beautiful scenes from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are finely sculpted in marble. A number of lofty steps lead the visitor to the sanctum sanctorum. Along the winding path are many marble statues of gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology located in the midst of gardens.

The view from the highest level of the temple offers the viewer a spectacular view of the Hussain Sagar Lake, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Assembly and Birla Planetarium, the Public Gardens and Lumbini Park.

The temple is open between 7 am and 12 noon and between 3 pm and 9 pm.

We sat for a while there and discussed several issues before we left the place. By the time we reached the house, I had gone half mad, thanks to the traffic. Driving in Bangalore is not difficult, but elsewhere it is, for we are more disciplined and follow traffic rules at any cost. But in Hyderabad, it is the vice versa. People look at us strangely if we talk about traffic rules and discipline!

Bekijk een eerste reeks foto’s van de voorbereidingen in de loods.

© StampMedia – Gil Plaquet

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Ons Valerie op stap met de dobbelsteen uit het decor van ‘Songs on the Mahabharata’. Voorbijgangers konden bij haar via de koptelefoon naar de muziek uit de voorstelling van Stefan Wellens luisteren.

Dank je wel, Valerie

Bekijk de beelden uit Songs on the Mahabharata op stap in Antwerpen

The single most famous utterance in Kalidasa’s Abhignyana Sakunthalam is the word Anarya! Sakuntala says it to Dushyanta, when he does not recognise her as his wife.

This has been translated to mean ‘not aryan’ and therefore ‘not noble’. As a white colonial might have said to another ‘Not done ! Not white!”. The term Aryaputra or son of Aryan used to refer to a husband was also of Kalidasa’s time. (This term Aryaputra was Not used by Valmiki in his writing).

• The most interesting thing is that Dushyantha, Rama, Krishna… none of them were “Aryan” so to speak. They were all Indian, or more correctly Gangeyans. (People of Ganga as opposed to people of the Sindhu. And the devotees of Sri Rama and Krishna are more correctly called Gangas than Hindus!)
• The Mahabharata war took place towards the end of Dwapara Yuga and Sri Krishna left his mortal coils in year Kaliyuga zero. We know this from the Srimad Bhagavatham.  (Evidence points to zero Kaliyuga coinciding with 3102 BC).
• The Aryans, were a peaceful people who came to India in the year 1000 Kaliyuga, 1000 years after the Bharata War. This we know from the Reference Bhavishya Purana. These Aryans learnt the Vedas and adopted the caste system. They too blended with locals, therefore you and I have about as much Aryan blood, as Naga blood, Vanara blood, Rakshasa blood, Gandharva blood and so on. ( The Vedas are of the Indian People, people who knew the eastern ocean like Vasishtha, the western ocean like Gauthama and the others who knew the Saraswathi.)

So when Sakuntala is made to say Anarya! by Kalidasa she is ”telling the truth”. At which point Dushyanta should have been made to say - “lady, neither are you!  nor anyone here!”

However even today, the system of saying Ayya/Arya, to refer mean father or sir exists at least in Andhra. In Tamil nadu Ayyar, Aiyar, Iyer and Ayyankar refer to brahmin castes and Ayya is used in the sense of sir to address any man. In the context of Ancient Indian History, Aryans are late entrants as evidenced by sanskrit literature.

Details Below : Reference Bhavishya Purana.

• Kasyapa Muni mentioned below is NOT the Kasyapa of Aditi Kasyapa.  “After 1000 years of  Kaliyuga Kasyapa Muni and Aryavati came to India (earth). They worshipped Saraswathi of Kashmir and had her blessings. (If Kaliyuga began in 3100 BC this event took place in 2100 BC.)
• Their sons were Upadhayaya, Diksita, Pathaka, Sukla, Misra, Agnihotri, Dvi-vedi, Tri-vedi, Catur-vedi and Pandey.
• Then the sage went to the desa known as Misra (Misra literally means mixed) and put all the mlecchas (foreigners) into illusion.
• He made 10,000 people as dvijas (brahmanas), 2,000 people into vaishyas; and the rest of them as shudras.  (See : Indian Caste System: Then and Now: Jati, Varna, Kula)
• He came back with them and staying in Arya-desha  he engaged in the activites of the rishis. (They learnt the Vedas etc)
• They were known as Aryans and their generation gradually increased upto 4 million, both the men and women with their sons and grandsons.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

अस्मत्पूर्वजैः एतद्देशस्य इतिहासः न सम्यक् लिखितः इति प्रायशः वयं सर्वे चिन्तयामः। अस्माकं इतिहासस्य कालानुक्रमविषयेऽपि वैदेशिकाः भारतीयाश्च पण्डिताः न एकमताः। श्रीरामः श्रीकृष्णः कश्चिदन्यः महापुरुषो वा कस्मिन् शतके जीवन्नासीदिति याथातथ्येन वक्तुं इतः पर्यन्तं दुष्करमेवासीत्।

परन्तु अधुना पुण्यनगरवासिना डा. पद्मनाभ विष्णु वर्तक वर्येण त्रिंशत् वर्षाणां अनुसन्धानानन्तरं महाभारत-रामायणयोः वेदस्य च कालाः निर्णीताः। एतेषु ग्रन्थेषु सूचितानां ज्यौतिषिकोल्लेखानां, पौराणिकैः पाषाणशिलालेखैः, ऐतिहासिक प्रमाणैश्च सह समर्थयित्वा डा. वर्तकवर्यः रामायणभारतादीनां कालनिर्णयं कृतवान्।

डा. वर्तकस्य मतमनुसृत्य महाभारतयुद्धं क्रिस्तोः पूर्वं ५५६२ वर्षे, रामरावणयोः संग्रामः क्रिस्तोः पूर्वं ७२९२ वर्षे च अभवताम्। तथा च ऋग्वेदस्य आदिमसूक्तानां रचना क्रिस्तोः पूर्वं २३७२० तमे वर्षे अभवत् इत्यपि सः निर्णीतवान्। एतद्विषये डा. वर्तकवर्येण आङ्गलभाषायां पुस्तकद्वयं रचितमस्ति। ते द्वेऽपि पुस्तके इदानीं अन्तर्जालके उपलभ्येते। एतयोः अन्वये अधः प्रदत्ते स्तः।

The Scientific Dating of Mahabharata War

The Scientific Dating of Ramayana and the Vedas

ग्रन्थकारस्य सङ्केतः
डा. पी. वी. वर्तक्,
५५१, शनिवार् पेठ्,
पुणे, महाराष्ट्रम्
दूरध्वनिः – ०२०-२४४५०३८७
कार्यसमयः – प्रातः ९-११ एवं सायं ६-८

Andhra Pradesh is a place which can make you wonder, it has got everything that can satisfy a tourists. Some say Andhra Pradesh is called the Rice Bowl of India. It has several mind blowing tourist destinations. With a land having such a glorious past cannot be missed. Andhra Pradesh is mentioned in Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas and Jataka Tales. The different caves in Andhra Pradesh takes us back to an era where the legends lived among humans, mythology coexisted among reality. It is an exuberating experience to explore the caves and reanimate the lost legends. The major caves are Belum caves which are the second largest cave in the Indian sub continent, Bora caves in Kirinrandal where the Gosthani River flows through the cave, Undavalli caves where rock cut Buddhist architecture can be seen and Yaganti caves.

Andhra Pradesh has an international airport in Hyderabad with a wide network of flights in and outside the nation. Hyderabad railway station is also one of the major railway stations in the country hence the accessibility is of least concern. There are also several hotels and resorts in Andhra Pradesh.