The Land of Meluha

The Indus Valley civilization was entirely unknown until 1921, when excavations, revealed the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.This mysterious culture emerged nearly 9000 years ago and thrived for a thousands of years, on from the highly fertile lands of the Indus river.More than a thousand settlements are now known from the Indus valley civilization. The civilization is known to have had a unity of culture, art, script, and technology (even weights and measures). The largest city, Mohenjo Daro is thought to have reached a population of approximately 30,000, suggesting a total population of approximately 5 million people.It was the largest of the four ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. However, of all these civilizations the least is known about the Indus Valley people. This is because the Indus script has not yet been deciphered.

Mohenjo-daro built around 2600 B.C.E., located in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. The discovery of Mohenjo-daro led to tremendous excitement in the archaeological and historical worlds. Although the beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization predated the founding of Mohenjo-daro, and thousands of villages and towns had been discovered throughout the region occupied by the Indus Valley people, Mohenjo-daro represented the largest, most sophisticated city discovered. The city had a sophisticated sewage system with regular manhole covers. Public latrines for every block and sewers large enough to walk in.House drains, which were enclosed systems, were made of clay pipes and were connected to the sewers by open brick gutters.

One of the most spectacular structures at Mohenjo is the 'Great Bath', which is astonishingly well preserved and measures 180 feet north to south and 108 feet east to west. It is described as a vast hydropathic establishment and the most imposing of all the remains unearthed at Mohenjo-Daro.

Ancient Mesopotamian texts speak of trading with at least two seafaring civilizations - Makkan and Meluha - in the neighbourhood of India in the third millennium B.C. This trade was conducted with real financial sophistication in amounts that could involve tons of copper. The Mesopotamians speak of Meluha as an aquatic culture, where water and bathing played a central role.A number of Indus Valley objects have been found buried with Mesopotamians.

The ancient script of the Indus valley people has been found in another location, Easter Island (situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean) which is exactly diametrically opposed to Mohenjo daro. This curious coincidence has yet to be properly explained. The Indus Valley Culture was extant thousands of years before the Easter Island culture began, yet the similarity between the two scripts is uncanny.

Numerous objects found in excavation include seated and standing figures, copper and stone tools, carved seals, balance-scales and weights,gold and jasper jewelry, and children's toys. Many of which, are on display in the Harappan gallery in National Museum in New Delhi. The whole collection of this gallery represents the advanced technology and sophisticated lifestyle of the Harappan people.Most prominent among the objects are the Priest Head, the Dancing Girl made in Bronze and belongs to the early Harappan period, skeleton excavated from Rakhigarhi in Haryana, terracotta images of Mother Goddess and clay pottery. Apart from these, the gallery has sculptures in bronzes & terracotta, Bone objects, Ivory, Steatite, semi-precious Stones, painted pottery and jewelry items.Many seals have been discovered during numerous excavations. These seals were probably used for trading purposes. These seals depict bulls, elephants, unicorns, tigers, crocodiles,and other unknown symbols.

What a fine and well developed civilization it was, is evident from the following video.

http://vimeo.com/65393454

So, how did this ancient civilization vanish, some believe, that it was an ancient nuclear explosion that ended the civilization ! But it is yet to validated scientifically. The mystery is waiting to be solved.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/121116/indus-civilization-2000-years-old-archaeologists

KAMDHENU

' dhenunam asmi kamadhuk '

Among cows, I am the wish fulfilling cow
- Lord Krishna ( Bhagvat geeta, Chapter 10, verse 28 )

Kamdhenu, also called as Surabhi is described as the mother of all cows. She is a divine creature, who provides her owner everything he desires. She is depicted as a white cow with several deities in her body.

One of the most common questions from the West to us is - “Why do you worship cows?” Most of the times,there is a mocking undertone attached to the question. It is understandable, because predominant western religions or ideologies have conditioned people not to respect the so-called lower forms of life and to think that those who do so, are somehow primitive or superstitious.

In India, we not only worship cows, but also elephants, monkeys and lots of other animals too. Infact we have more than 33 million gods !

We believe, that each and everything, in the natural world, is a manifestation of the supreme god and hence it should be respected, revered and treated as god himself.Sanatan Dharma advocates a respect for all creatures and for our environment, because God’s presence is everywhere.In the history of our civilization, we have taken a lot from cows. The cow’s milk is taken to nourish ourselves.The milk was used to make 'Ghee', which is an essential part of almost all our rituals. Even the cows’ dung was extensively used, as fuel and a building material.It is often said, in the West, “a dog is a man’s best friend”. But if we look at the history of the human race, it is more true to say that cows are man’s best friend.They helped man settle down from thier nomadic lifestyles. Ancient Indians saw it as a mark of ingratitude to take so much from an animal, and then to kill and eat it. Such ungratefulness and lack of respect creates a negative and exploitative tendency in us as a species.

Today, some of the major crises facing our planet are due to unrestrained exploitation of nature, including other creatures. In our quest for more, humans have not hesitated to take so much, without any sense of balance. This has left many species on the verge of extinction and has caused seemingly irreversible environmental changes, such as global warming, ozone layer disruption and huge deforestation.We are constantly exploiting the same mother nature who is our provider.

What does reverence of the cow have to do with this? Not much you may think at first. But if the issue is examined with a deeper vision, we will find that cow protection stems from an outlook towards life and nature that could help prevent and overcome the current problems. Aspects of Vedic culture such as respect for the cow and other forms of life create and reinforce a mentality and outlook of gratefulness, appreciation and humility. Humanity has shamelessly exploited nature. The whole problem arises from a mistaken feeling that nature and other creatures are simply here at our disposal, and we owe nothing to the nature. If we strive to appreciate how much we receive, we would not have abused our planet and its inhabitants.

I was extremely happy to read in the papers recently, that Mr Manohar Lal Khattar, chief minister of Haryana, has promised to ban cow slaughter in his state. Finally, someone makes a beginning! We as a nation, have to not just respect, but more importantly, protect our divine mother cow.

The Legend of Agastya

Maharishi Agastya, also known as Agathiyar, was one of the great sages of ancient India. He was the son of MitraVaruna Rishi and the apsara Urvashi. He is also referred to as Kumbhasambhava or Kumbha Muni - meaning born from a pot. About a hundred years ago, the whole idea of someone being born from a pot or a vessel must have sounded extremely ridicules,unbelievable or even super natural romanticism. However, with so many in vitro fertilization methods and test tube babies, amongst us now, it doesn't sound all that unbelievable, does it ? There was a time, in 1600s, when Galileo an Italian physicist, mathematician claimed that the earth is not flat, but round and it revolves around the sun. He was dramatically persecuted by the Church and ridiculed upon. However, in Ancient India,Yajnavalkya (c. 9th–8th century BCE) recognized that the Earth is spherical in his astronomical text Shatapatha Brahmana. This is also recognized in another Vedic Sanskrit text Aitareya Brahmana composed around the same time, and in a later Sanskrit commentary Vishnu Purana.

So you see, science is a very relative thing !

Coming back to Rishi Agastya, the marriage of Lord Shiva to Uma, the daughter of the king of mountains Himavan was going to be conducted at Mount Kailas. All the people in the world and all the creatures began to flock to the north. The earth was in danger of toppling over, as the weights of North and South were not in balance. Upon beholding this the Lord said, "This cannot be allowed to happen. We need a suitable weight to counterbalance this northern tilt. Only Agastya can do this job." He then summoned Agastya and bade him to go south and use his yogic powers to balance the earth. Agastya was pleased with this honor, but was also saddened, because then he won't be able to witness this divine marriage. Perceiving the thoughts in the Rishi's mind, Shiva granted him a boon that himself and Uma will appear before Agastya, whenever the latter happened to think of them. Pleased, Agastya began his southward journey." He is one of the most revered sages of south India.

Siddhar were spiritual adepts who possessed the ashta siddhis, or the eight supernatural powers. Sage Agathiyar is considered the guru of all Siddhars, and the Siddha medicine system is believed to have been handed over to him by Lord Muruga, son of the Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Siddhars are the followers of Lord Shiva. Agathiyar is the first Siddhar. His disciples and other siddhars contributed thousands of texts on Siddhar literature, including medicine and form the propounders of the system in this world.He is also considered as the Father of Tamil literature and compiled the first Tamil grammar called Agathiyam. He is regarded to have lived in the 6th or 7th century B.C and specialized in language, alchemy, medicine and spirituality (yogam and gnanam).There are 96 books in the name of Agathiyar. In Tamil language, the term 'Agam' means inside and 'iyar' means belong. One who belongs inside (soul) is Agathiyar.

There are several stories around Agastya Rishi's life, but I find this one very interesting.

IIvala and Vatapi were two demon brothers. Vatapi could changed himself into any form he desired, like a shape shifter. IIvala knew the Sanjivini Mantra.Hence, the demons used to trick people into eating Vatapi who would assume the form of a goat and then, IIlava would say the mantra, enabling Vatapi to tear the stomach and come out. Agastya wanted to put an end to their ways. Hence we met them and as expected Ilava offered Vatapi as food to the Sage. The Sage after eating simply said “Vatapi Jeerno Bhava " ( may Vatapi be digested ). By his yogic powers, he completely dissolved Vatapi. Enraged by his brother's death, Ilvala attacked the Rishi, who promptly reduced him to ashes !

A lot of people strongly object to mixing of mythology with science and spirituality. But I think there are no boundary walls separating the three. Where one begins and the other ends is for us to find out!

The Power of One

A little more than 30 years ago, a teenager named Jadav "Molai" Payeng began burying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in northern India's Assam region to grow a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavor, so he moved to the site so he could work full-time creating a lush new forest ecosystem. Incredibly, the spot today hosts a sprawling 1,360 acres of jungle that Payeng planted — single-handedly.

It all started way back in 1979, when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng, only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the turning point of his life.

"The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested," says Payeng, now 47.

While it's taken years for Payeng's remarkable dedication to planting to receive some well-deserved recognition internationally, it didn't take long for wildlife in the region to benefit from the manufactured forest. Demonstrating a keen understanding of ecological balance, Payeng even transplanted ants to his burgeoning ecosystem to bolster its natural harmony. Soon the shadeless sandbar was transformed into a self-functioning environment where a menagerie of creatures could dwell. The forest, called the Molai woods, now serves as a safe haven for numerous birds, deer, rhinos, tigers and elephants — species increasingly at risk from habitat loss.

Despite the conspicuousness of Payeng's project, forestry officials in the region first learned of this new forest in 2008 — and since then they've come to recognize his efforts as truly remarkable, but perhaps not enough.

"We're amazed at Payeng," says Gunin Saikia, assistant conservator of Forests. "He has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero."

THE GURU

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
गुरुरेव परंब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutation to the noble Guru, who is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, the direct Parabrahma, the Supreme Reality.

The teacher is like Lord Brahma as he generates the knowledge within us,like Lord Vishnu as he Operates the ideas/knowledge in our mind unto the right path, and like Lord Mahesh (Shiva) as he destroys the ignorance in our minds and leads us towards enlightenment.

Most of us can remember at least one teacher who had a profound effect on our early life, someone who had a positive impact on us and made us the person we are today.

A teacher's role in our lives and the society at large is very significant and invaluable. The ancient Indian understood this and hence had the great Guru-Shishya parampara. "Gu" means dark and "Ru" means light. So, "Guru" may be translated as darkness to light, or possibly one who leads from darkness to light. The Guru is a teacher who guides the Shishya. He is a mentor who leads the Shishya (student) from blindness or ignorance to bliss,wisdom, and enlightenment.

Guru Shishya Parampara has been the most ancient and is also known as the best system of eduction.The student while living in a Gurukul would help to the Guru with the household work and at the same time, living under a stringent discipline,spending moderate lifestyle and perpetually practicing whatever education has been given to the student by the Guru.Knowledge, whether it be Vedic studies, maths,science, architecture, music or spiritual, was imparted through the developing relationship between the guru and the disciple. It is considered that this relationship,based on the genuineness of the guru,and the respect, commitment, devotion and obedience of the student, is the best way for subtle or advanced knowledge to be conveyed. The student eventually masters the knowledge that the guru embodies.

The Britishers took away a lot from us. But amongst the worst things they did to our society was the destruction of the Gurukul form of education which in turn, eliminated the entire Guru-Shishya Parampara.It was one of the most wonderful system of education from the ancient India. In this day and age, there is rapid deterioration of education system, quality and morality of the teachers. At the same time, there is little respect for the teachers and the teaching profession at large. It is very important for us to revive the ancient system of education. It is the

need of the hour.

From early childhood itself, young minds should be driven towards seeking knowledge and blessed are those who get the guidance to move away from the darkness of ignorance towards illuminating wisdom !

Rudra Abhishek

There is a huge controversy surrounding the movie PK on different media like newspapers, television and social media. I haven't seen the movie, so I don't really want to comment on it, however, in several reports I have read that the movie attempts to remove "empty" and "bizarre/crazy " rituals followed by Hindus. One such ritual targeted by the movie is pouring of milk over the Shiva Ling. Yes, we have been doing it from time immemorial !

You see the ancient Indians were very wise people. They had absolutely sound,logical and scientific reason behind every ritual they performed. However, with time, the rituals have remained but the science is forgotten.

The Sanskrit word ‘Lingam’ means symbol. Thus the literal meaning of Shiva Lingam is the symbol of Shiva. The Shiva Lingam represents him, the Supreme Shiva¸ who is formless.

During the Samudra manthan, Lord Shiva drank the drank the poison,due to which, his throat turned blue. Hence, the name - Neelkanth. So essentially, the foods that are not meant for human consumption (considered poison) during a certain period of time were offered to Lord Shiva.For example, according to the science of Ayurveda,every person has 3 components in him: Vata(Air), Kapha (Cough) and Pitta(Acids).All the three components are necessary for the smooth functioning of the body.But when the proportion of these components becomes abnormal,lots of diseases come and make the person suffer.During the month of Shravan,the Vata component of a person becomes high in proportion.At such times,he must avoid foods that increase the Vata component. Milk is very difficult to digest during that period. In olden days it was probably difficult to educate everybody about the usefulness of a crop or about fruit and berries which had to be avoided. Thus this ritual showed people as to which food could be consumed and which was to be avoided.

Many believe that Shiva Lings, were ancient nuclear powerhouses. The shape of a Shiva Ling is identical to modern atomic reactors. A Shiva Ling is traditionally rooted in standing water below the ground level. Over the emblem also hangs a pitcher which constantly drips water over the Shiva Ling. It is meant to cool down the Lingam, which generates a lot of energy.

It is only in a Shiv temple that the water flowing from the Lingam is not consumed as holy water. The water from a Lingam is not drunk for precisely the same reason as the water from a nuclear reactor is not potable- it is charged water. Why are shiv temples always found near a source of water, say a river or lake? That is because shiv Lingams- just like modern day reactors need water for cooling the core. Do you know that no one is allowed to cross the spout of a Shiva Lingam during pradakshina- circumambulation of the Lingam during worship? People have to turn back as soon as they approach the spout because the spout represents irradiated water.

Devotees of Shiva complete only 3/4th round of the Shiva Ling. They must turn back from the water outlet. They are not supposed to cross that waste water channel. Priest’s say “the water coming out of Shiva Ling is “impure” and that one must not touch it at any cost’. Hence the waste water emerging from the Shiva Ling depicted radioactive waste and hence traditionally should not be crossed.

We put Bael leaves (bilipatra) on a Shiva Ling. These leaves are believed to have a capability to absorb radioactive radiation and hence protect vulnerable lives around a ling.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15204705

In a study carried out, ground water in Varanasi was found to have a much higher radioactive Uranium content than permissible limit. What is the reason for such a high Uranium content in Varanasi? We know that the Kashi Vishvanath Jyotirling is situated in Varanasi. Maybe, that is the reason. More scientific studies need to be performed in this field.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/uranium-in-groundwater-in-varanasi-study/article1296287.ece

Pouring of the milk also has spiritual significance. 'Abhishek' is a Sanskrit term which means ‘to cleanse.’ The term is used to describe the religious activity of giving holy bath to a deity. While performing the Abhishek, the Shiva Ling is cleansed with milk. The importance of the ritual being, milk is a sign of purity. And as we pour this milk over the Linga, we not only cleanse it, but also our self and hence wash our sins away. It is a way a devotee connects with his God.

In Sanatan Dharma, it is believed, that there are infinite ways for a person to be one with the infinite supreme God.Whether one chooses to do so, by devoting oneself to Lord Shiva or by feeding food and milk to the poor or any other way, is a personal decision. We should never forget that it is only in our great land, that we get to choose our own God and our own way to attain Moksha !

ॐ नमः शिवाय

The Real Pythagoras

Recently, at the inauguration of the 102nd edition of the Indian Science Congress, union minister of science and technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan, mentioned that it was our scientists, from ancient India who discovered the Pythagoras theorem and we have always shared our knowledge with the whole world selflessly. This is something that each of us should be proud of. Right ? To my utter shock, many people including several scientists, objected to and mocked the comment.

But Dr Harsh Vardhan is absolutely right !!

Ancient Indian mathematicians discovered the Pythagoras theorem. This might come as a surprise to many, but it’s true that Pythagoras theorem was known much before Pythagoras and it was Indians who actually discovered it at least 1000 years before Pythagoras was born!

It was Baudhayana who discovered the Pythagoras theorem. Baudhayana listed Pythagoras theorem in his book called Shulba Sutra (800 BCE). It is also one of the oldest books on advanced Mathematics. The word 'Shulba' in Sanskrit means rope or cord. Hence Shulba Sutra was a book of geometry. The actual shloka (verse) in Baudhayana Shulba Sutra that describes Pythagoras theorem is :

dīrghasyākṣaṇayā rajjuḥ pārśvamānī, tiryaḍam mānī,

cha yatpṛthagbhūte kurutastadubhayāṅ karoti.

The above shloka can be translated as – A rope stretched along the length of the diagonal produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together.As you see, it becomes clear that this is perhaps the most intuitive way of understanding and visualizing Pythagoras theorem (and geometry in general) and Baudhāyana seems to have simplified the process of learning by encapsulating the mathematical result in a simple shloka in a layman’s language.

Though, Baudhayana was not the only Indian mathematician to have provided Pythagorean triplets and proof. Apastamba also provided the proof for Pythagoras theorem, which again is numerical in nature but again unfortunately this vital contribution has been ignored and Pythagoras was wrongly credited by Cicero and early Greek mathematicians for this theorem. Baudhayana presented geometrical proof using isosceles triangles so, to be more accurate, we attribute the geometrical proof to Baudhayana and numerical (using number theory and area computation) proof to Apastamba.

Apart from the two, another ancient Indian mathematician called Bhaskara later provided a unique geometrical as well as numerical proof of the Pythagoras theorem, which works for all types of triangles (not just isosceles as in some older proofs).

Mathematicians and scientists from all over the world are now acknowledging and accepting the accomplishments of ancient Indians in the fields of maths and science. Now its our turn to do the same !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudhayana

http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses/m309-01a/kong/sulbasutra_geometry.htm

http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emt668.student.folders/headangela/essay1/pythagorean.html

http://www.mff.cuni.cz/veda/konference/wds/proc/pdf06/WDS06_101_m8_Sykorova.pdf

http://www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/FOP/FoP%20papers/ancmathsources_Dani.pdf

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/239543134_The_Baudhyana_rautastra_critically_edited_and_translated

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Projects/Pearce/Chapters/Ch4_2.html