nuseri wrote:To kmaherali:Ya Ali madad.
My MHI uses the word inspiring it mean other than 99% uninspiring and unwarranted.for example flowers with beautiful fragnance are just dozens out of hundred of species.
There is no Ismaili tradition which is uninspiring. MHI in one of his Farmans said:
"I would like you to hold strong to the traditions of Ismailism."(Peshawar, 23rd November 1964)
Why would the Imam tell us to hold strong to the uninspiring traditions?
Ya Ali madad.
He has specifically mentioned the word 'hold strong'.and not blindly follow.and followed by the word Ismaili traditions which implies our Sufi/baatin tariqa not Khoja or ginan traditions.
When MHI uses the word inspiring or IMAM SMS says spiritual/ruhaniyat ginans .IT MEAN SPECIFICALLY selected or advised Ginan,and every Ginans written under the sun many which were ordered to be burnt,discarded, sidelined in last 140 years.
Harping on unwarranted stuff a one line stand of NAFARMANI and not at all scholastic grasp.
It is wise to understand few ginans qualitatively than tocopy paste all n sundry wholesaley.
nuseri wrote:Ya Ali madad.
He has specifically mentioned the word 'hold strong'.and not blindly follow.and followed by the word Ismaili traditions which implies our Sufi/baatin tariqa not Khoja or ginan traditions.
The present Imam has called the Ginans a Wonderful Tradition. Why do you keep forgetting this imporatnt fact?
Has the Imam himself made any distinction about which are Ruhaniyyat and which are not?
Western religions are based on the premise of a Male God, but Eastern religions give equal emphasis to both Male and Female aspects of divinity. For example, Hindu Theology, believes God to be a balance of the Male and the Female Powers, the Purush and Prakriti, otherwise referred to as Shiva and Shakti.
The Historical Perspective;
Historically, the cult of the Mother Goddess was more widespread all over the globe than it is now. Older Western religions viz. the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Native American, included Goddess worship as a central part of their cultures.
In fact, more than 50 figurines of the Goddess have been found in excavations from all over Europe, dating more than 20,000 years ago, of which, Venus of Willendorf, is the most famous. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Celts, Incas, Aztecs, all had their favorite goddesses,
The Celts had Abnoba- a goddess of rivers and forests and
Agrona- the goddess of war;
Greeks had Rhea- the Mother of Gods;
Aphrodite- the goddess of Love and Beauty and
Athena- the goddess of Wisdom and War.
Similarly, the Egyptians revered Bast- the protector of the pharaoh and
Isis- the goddess of magic, motherhood and fertility.
There are many more examples from Native American, Chinese, Japanese and Polynesian mythologies indicating that most ancient religions gave as much importance to the feminine aspect of God as the masculine.It is also interesting to note that most of these depictions look at the Goddess as the Guardian of Nature and have a Maternal connotation just like the Mother Goddess in the Indian sub-continent. Excavations from the Indus-Saraswati Civilization, have thrown up abundance of seals and figurines that suggest goddess-worship. Sometimes its a male-god or tribal chief worshiping a goddess while on other seals there are seven attendants accompanying the central goddess.
The female figurines in terracotta found at Mohenjo-daro are comparable to similar artifacts excavated from archaeological sites in Baluchistan, Elam, Mesopotamia, Transcaspia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, Crete, the Balkans and Egypt.
Famous Scottish anthropologist, James George Frazer, believes that all diverse goddesses worshiped in Europe were derived from a single concept originating from the Indo-European Neolithic cultures. The figurines also show an exaggerated fertility aspect suggesting the role of the goddess as a MOTHER-figure heralding a tradition that is still unbroken in Hinduism.
Goddess Worship in Hinduism;
Throughout its millenia-old history, Hinduism provided its followers with the freedom of worshiping God in whichever form they want. Thus, were born the Four major sects of Hinduism:
Vaishnavism, worship of Lord Vishnu and His Avatars
Shaivism, worship of Lord Shiva
Shaktism, worship of the Goddess or Devi
Smartism, nonsectarian worship of all gods as different forms of the Supreme Brahman
These different sects provide different concepts, rituals and spiritual exercises for different modes of Awareness of the soul. Thus, Shaivism and Shaktism identify the Goddess as the consort of Shiva but while the Goddess is one half of the Complete Whole in Shaivism, she is Supreme in the latter. In Vaishnav tradition, Goddess is considered Lord Vishnu's Yogmaya who takes the form of Mother Durga to look after the Material Creation as Her own child.
The worship of Mother Goddess actually shows a FIVE-FOLD approach by the devotees.
The first approach is that in all ancient communities of the world, that personifies Divinity as the Mother Goddess. Rigved refers to Her as the Mahimata, or Earth-Mother; Viraja, the Universal-Mother; and Aditi, the Mother-of-Gods.
In the second approach, Goddess is visualized Mystically in the form of Shakti, the Cosmic Energy which is the Source of all Creation. All things, material and abstract are only the manifestations of the Divine Female.Both the Puraans and Upanishads contain numerous references to Goddess as Shakti. The Mahabharat mentions Pradyumna’s worship of Goddess Katyayani, Aniruddha’s hymn to Goddess Chandi and Yudhishthira’s hymn to Goddess Durga.
The third approach, identifies the Goddess in the form of Dash-Mahavidyas or the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, who represent a spectrum of feminine divinity, from horrific goddesses at one end, to the ravishingly beautiful at the other. Worshiped by the followers of Tantrism, they are led by the fiercest of all, Goddess Maha Kali. The devotees understand them as different aspects of the same Great Goddess suited to the tastes, temperaments, and mental levels of spiritual aspirants
The ten goddesses are: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Matangi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala, and Kamala.
The fourth approach is again devotional in nature, but here the goddess is (surprisingly) worshipped as the patron of the man-of-arms.
These are the super-women worshiped by warriors when they are going to war! The various warrior goddesses are known as the Saptamatrikas, or the Seven Mothers and are expansions of Goddess Durga. This group comprises of the warrior avatars of even otherwise benign goddesses such as Saraswati and Lakshmi, Thus in the Matrika cult, Brahma's consort in martial mode is Brahmani, Shiva's better half is Maheshwari and Vishnu's consort is Vaishnavi.
The fifth approach is of the Puranas like the Skanda Puraan, Brahmavaivarta Puraan, Devi Bhagwat Puraan, Prapancha-saratantra, Linga Puraan etc. which describe the various goddesses as consorts of the Male gods. Thus, while Devi Durga is described as the Core Goddess, other goddesses are described as Her expansions who form the Vital Energy (Shakti) of the Gods without whom, it is impossible for them to vanquish the Demons.
This fifth approach also covers all assorted local goddesses worshipped in India's towns and villages and accords them the status of being one with the Supreme Goddess Durga. The principal three forms of the Devi according to the each of the three gunas of course are Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati.
In Ismailism we have the notion of both the masculine and the feminine aspects of God. The Imam is the Spiritual Father who is the object of our devotion and to whom we return. The Pir is the Spiritual Mother who creates and nurtures the soul leading towards the real recognition and experience of Imamat.
At present we do not have a separate Pir who acts as such. The Imam is both the Imam and the Pir. When he sends blessings to his followers, he describes them as 'Paternal and Maternal' blessings.
kmaherali wrote:In Ismailism we have the notion of both the masculine and the feminine aspects of God. The Imam is the Spiritual Father who is the object of our devotion and to whom we return. The Pir is the Spiritual Mother who creates and nurtures the soul leading towards the real recognition and experience of Imamat.
At present we do not have a separate Pir who acts as such. The Imam is both the Imam and the Pir. When he sends blessings to his followers, he describes them as 'Paternal and Maternal' blessings.
But I have read some where in this forum that a female can't be Imam.
Assuming that it can happen within our lifetimes, how would the world end indeed? A lot of people believe, it would happen because of a Nuclear War - a very plausible scenario a decade ago but currently the chances of that seem a little less.
Others believe, the world would end because of a Meteor crash - this again is a possibility as there are loads of meteors hurtling past Earth everyday in their journey around the Sun. From time to time, one or the other of these meteors keeps scaring the scientists with its proximity to Earth. It has happened in the past (when the Dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago) so the chance of that happening again can not be ruled out!
Others, believe in Global Warming or Earthquakes triggering a Great Deluge that would submerge the entire landmass and drown everything in its colossal Tsunamis. This again is a decent possibility since we have been observing the melting of Antarctic Ice sheets and frequent Earthquakes in the sea-bed. The Tsunamis that hit south-east Asia few years back reminded us of how fragile our relationship with nature is!
All these are possible and extremely probable events that may happen anytime in our future. Also there is one other factor and that is Ice, that is destined to wipe out the entire civilizational progress of Humanity and that too in a not too distant future!!
End of the World in Hindu Mythology
Strictly speaking, Hindu Mythology does not believe in a SINGLE event of destruction of the World, or even a single event of creation for that matter.
Time in Hinduism, is not Linear i.e. it doesn't start and end at specific points, rather, it is Cyclical and never-ending. This eternal cycle of Life and Death; Birth and Re-birth; Formation and Dissolution is called the Kaal-chakra or the Wheel of Time.
The Cyclical Destruction of the World as we know it, occurs in events singularly known as a Pralaya that takes place at the end of a Chatur-Yuga. A cycle of Four Yugas is known as a Maha Yuga or a Chatur-Yuga and at the end of this cycle, our Earth experiences a cataclysmic event which has the capacity to wipe out all life from the face of the planet.
Ancient Puranas detail this concept further and describe different types of Pralayas:
A Pralaya at the end of a Chatur-Yuga (every 4.32 Million Solar Years),
Manvantar Pralaya at the end of the rule of each of the Manus (every 307 Million Solar Years),
Naimittik Pralaya at the end of the Day of Brahma (4.32 Billion Solar Years) and lastly,
Prakritik Maha Pralaya at the end of Brahma's Lifetime (311.4 Trillion Solar Years)!
Description of Pralaya;
In various Puranas, the description of Pralaya that happens at the end of a Chatur-yuga is extremely applicable to what is referred to as the Great Deluge in Bible and Quran.
In these as well as the Hindu legends of Manu, entire Earth was inundated by Water which swallowed up the land and gobbled up most living as well as non-living things surviving on it. In all the three traditions, One Man was chosen by God to continue the legacy of Human race.
In Hinduism, this man is Vaivasvat Manu and in Bible and Quran he is called Noah.
The belief in a Great Deluge is not limited to the three above mentioned religions alone.. it was widely believed by a lot of ancient mythologies as well viz:
In Sumer and Babylonia Atrahasis, Ziusudra, Xisuthrus and Utnapishtim are the different heroes credited with the same feat as Manu. Each of these is credited hoarding with cattle, wild animals and birds on the boat to constitute “the seed of all living creatures” in the next Eon.
According to Tibetan legends, Tibet was almost totally inundated, until the god Gya drew off the waters through Bengal, and sent teachers to civilize the people, who repopulated the land.
In the Ifugaos of Philippines and the Kammu of Thailand, a brother and sister were the only survivors after the flood and they were responsible for populating the Earth with different races.
For the Batak of Sumatra, the giant snake on whose head Earth rests, Naga-Padoha (Hindu Shesh-Naag?), grew tired of its burden and shook it off into the sea. But the god Batara-Guru caused a mountain to fall into the water to preserve his daughter and the human race is descended from her.
In Egyptian mythology, Set sent forth the deluge to destroy the evil Sebau, the Sami, the Apap-dragon ( Hindu Vrtra) and the long-armed ones. There is another story, about Horus steering his ark across the cosmic ocean as six poles are capsized leaving only the seventh one as dry land, upon which he rested.
In the Greek myths, Zeus sends a flood to destroy all of humanity but Prometheus warns his son, Deucalion, about the coming deluge, and advises him to build an ark.
In Norse mythology, the flood occurred at the dawn of time before the world was formed. Ymir, the first giant, was killed by the god Odin and his brothers and his blood drowned almost the entire race of giants with the exception of the frost giant Bergelmir and his wife. They escaped in a ship and survived, becoming the progenitors of a new race of giants.
According to the Quechua Native Americans, a llama tells his human owner about an impending flood and saves him; for the Mayans, the gods used a flood to destroy the wooden people, an early imperfect version of humanity.
The Michoacan of Mexico have the same story as Manu and the hero here is a guy called Tezpi. The Tarahumara and the Toltecs of Mexico also have their own versions of the flood myth.
In New Guinea legends, Lohero and his brother were angry with their neighbors, so they put a human bone into a small stream. Soon a great flood came forth, and the people had to retreat to the highest peaks until the sea receded.
In Africa, the Kwaya residing around Lake Victoria believed that the ocean was once enclosed in a small pot kept by a man and his wife which was by mistake shattered by their daughter-in-law, and the resulting flood drowned everything.
The Yoruba of southwest Nigeria talk about an adro-gynous god Olokun who in a fit of rage, destroyed nearly everybody in a great flood.
In North-central Siberia, Yenisey-Ostyak believe that during the seven day flood some people and animals were saved by climbing on floating logs and rafters. A strong north wind blew for seven days and scattered the people, which is why there are now different peoples speaking different languages.
According to Tuvinian tails of Mongolia, the giant frog (or turtle) which supported the earth moved, which caused the cosmic ocean to begin flooding the earth. An old man who had guessed something like this would happen built an iron-reinforced raft, boarded it with his family, and was saved.
It is more than likely that all the above myths refer to the same phenomenon, one which we scientifically know to have taken place, that of the Ice Age.
There have been at least five major ice ages in the Earth's past. The earliest well established ice age, called the Huronian, formed around 2.4 to 2.1 Billion years ago and the latest one started about 2.58 million years ago when the spread of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere began!
Since then, the world has seen cycles of glaciation with ice sheets advancing and retreating on 40,000 and 100,000 year time scales called Glacial periods, and Glacial retreats called the Interglacials. We are currently in an interglacial, and the last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. But everything changed 20,000 years ago when extensive ice sheets covered large swaths of Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Consequently, whatever civilizations were existing before, were forced to migrate to warmer places or perish.
During Ice-Age, water was taken from the oceans to form the ice, thus Global Sea-levels must have dropped, forming bridges between land-masses for animals to migrate. However, during Deglaciation, or Meltdown, the ice-water returned to the oceans, causing the SEA-LEVEL to rise by as much as 110-120 meters!! And what can be the result of such a meltdown?? Of course we get what is theologically labeled as The Great Deluge!! Throughout our history, the busiest cities have been located either on the banks of mighty rivers or near busy coastlines. All the melted ice lead to a RISE in sea-levels, inundating huge chunks of land and ALTERING the shape of the planetary landmass.
Consequently, there would have been wide-spread displacement of people and populations leading to probably the BIGGEST catastrophe in the History of Human civilization. No wonder then, that mythologies from such different parts of the World narrate the same story.
The existing hubs of civilization were inundated and the tracts of land connecting different continents too got submerged altering the course of our history. A case in point is the Bering Bridge which was the landmass connecting Russia to America. This small tract of land performed a vital function as numerous species of animals, as well as the ancient humans migrated to and populated the American continent through the same bridge!
The flood waters would wipe clear all evidence of civilization from the face of Earth leaving only a few stranded pockets at the highest altitudes of the Planet! One such place is Manali high in the Northern Himalayas where the Ark of Vaivasvat Manu is believed to have docked.
And as far as cyclicity goes, already, many scientists predict a coming of the next Ice Age as we may have reached the end of the current period of Interglacial interval. The predictions have created a lot of debate and not surprisingly, there have been major movies based on the same theme.
But it could mean something more sinister! As our violent earthquake-prone history has proved, Ganges might go through some major tectonic change and disappear like Saraswati. If that happens it would be catastrophic for millions of people living on the banks of the river!
Every grain of Time brings with it either Creation or Destruction. The eminent Austrian Physicist Fritjof Capra, in his monumental work {Tao of Physics}, calls it the Dance of Shiva. As each atom is created, another is destroyed and this continues forever in a cyclical manner.
Everything we amass in this life will all be taken away one day by the hands of Time. The same thought must have inspired Oppenheimer, Father of the Atomic Bomb to quote Lord Krishna, from the Bhagvad Gita - Time, I am, the Destroyer of All.
The sooner we realize the transient nature of all existence and start on the Path of Spirituality, the easier it would become to deal with that 'Final Moment' in the End.
The Late Prince Sadruddin made the following remarks on apocalyptic thinking...
Creation is sacred. Life and nature need not be exploited to instill fear in our hearts. For the Hindus, we have entered the Kali Yuga, the dark age, while St. John's Apocalypse evokes the divine judgement for human sins through his vision of the final destruction of the earth. Though there is cause for apocalyptic rhetoric in the chemical and radioactive pollution of soil and water and the depletion of the ozone layer, the problem with cyclical or terminal Apocalypses is that they deeply imprint the mind with negative and destructive behaviour patterns. One is escapism: "God will judge, but we are the faithful who will escape. And really this isn't our home, anyway, since heaven is our kingdom". There is an "us/them" dilemma here, with a judgement on the others. What we need to do is formulate a language that draws people back into community and responsibility. Apocalyptic visions point the other way.
Ayurveda "life-knowledge"; or Ayurveda medicine, is a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of complementary or alternative medicine In the Western world, Ayurveda therapies and practices (which are manifold) have been integrated in general wellness applications and as well in some cases in medical use.
The main classical Ayurveda treatises begin with legendary accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the Gods to sages, and thence to human physicians Thus, the Sushruta Samhita narrates how Dhanvantari, "greatest of the mighty celestial," incarnated himself as Divodāsa, a mythical king of Varanasi, who then taught medicine to a group of wise physicians, including Sushruta himself. Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia Therapies are typically based on complex herbal compounds, while treatises introduced mineral and metal substances (perhaps under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasaśāstra). Ancient Ayurveda treatises also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, perineal lithotomy, the suturing of wounds, and the extraction of foreign objects.
Although laboratory experiments suggest it is possible that some substances in Ayurveda might be developed into effective treatments, there is no evidence that any are effective as currently proffered. Ayurveda medicine is considered pseudoscientific Other researchers consider it a protoscience, or trans-science system instead. Close to 21% of Ayurveda U.S. and Indian-manufactured patent medicines sold through the Internet were found to contain toxic levels of heavy metals, specifically lead, mercury, and arsenic The public health implications of contaminated metals in India is unknown.
Some scholars assert that Ayurveda originated in prehistoric times, and that some of the concepts of Ayurveda have been discovered since the times of Indus Valley Civilization and earlier. Ayurveda significantly developed during the Vedic period and later some of the non-Vedic systems such as Buddhism and Jainism also developed medical concepts and practices that appear in the classical Ayurveda treatises. Humoral balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness. Ayurveda names three elemental substances, the doshas (called Vata, Pitta and Kapha), and states that a balance of the doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease. Ayurveda has eight canonical components, which are derived from classical Sanskrit literature. Some of the oldest known Ayurvedic texts include the Suśrutha Saṃhitā and Charaka Saṃhitā, which are written in Sanskrit. Ayurveda practitioners had developed various medicinal preparations and surgical procedures by the medieval period.
Eight components
The earliest classical Sanskrit works on Ayurveda describe medical science as being divided into eight components. This characterization of the physicians' art as the teaching found in "the medicine that has eight components" The componenets are;
Kāyacikitsā: general medicine, medicine of the body
Kaumāra-bhṛtya: the treatment of children, paediatrics
Śalyatantra: surgical techniques and the extraction of foreign objects
Śālākyatantra: treatment of ailments affecting ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. ("ENT")
Bhūtavidyā: pacification of possessing spirits, and the people whose minds are affected by such possession
Agadatantra: toxicology
Rasāyanatantra: rejuvenation and tonics for increasing lifespan, intellect and strength
Vājīkaraṇatantra: aphrodisiacs and treatments for increasing the volume and viability of semen and sexual pleasure.
Several philosophers in India combined religion and traditional medicine—notable examples being that of Hinduism and Ayurveda. The philosopher Nagarjuna—known chiefly for his doctrine of the Madhyamaka (middle path)—who wrote medical works The Hundred Prescriptions and The Precious Collection.
The central theoretical ideas of Ayurveda developed in the mid-first millennium BCE, and show parallels with Sāṅkhya and Vaiśeṣika philosophies and with Buddhism and Jainism. Balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness. For example, to suppress sneezing is said to potentially give rise to shoulder pain. However, people are also cautioned to stay within the limits of reasonable balance and measure when following nature's urges. For example, emphasis is placed on moderation of food intake, sleep, and sexual intercourse.
Ayurveda names seven basic tissues (dhatu), which are plasma (rasa), blood (rakta), muscles (māmsa), fat (meda), bone (asthi), marrow (majja), and semen (shukra). Like the medicine of classical antiquity, Ayurveda has historically divided bodily substances into five classical elements viz. earth, water, fire, air and ether. There are also twenty gunas (qualities or characteristics) which are considered to be inherent in all substances. These are organized in ten pairs of antonyms: heavy/light, cold/hot, unctuous/dry, dull/sharp, stable/mobile, soft/hard, non-slimy/slimy, smooth/coarse, minute/gross, and viscous/liquid.
Ayurveda also names three elemental substances, the doshas (called Vata, Pitta and Kapha), and states that a balance of the doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease. One Ayurvedic view is that the doshas are balanced when they are equal to each other, while another view is that each human possesses a unique combination of the doshas which define this person's temperament and characteristics. In either case, it says that each person should modulate their behavior or environment to increase or decrease the doshas and maintain their natural state.In medieval taxonomies of the Sanskrit knowledge systems, Ayurveda is assigned a place as a subsidiary Veda. Some medicinal plant names from the Atharvaveda and other Vedas can be found in subsequent Ayurveda literature. The earliest recorded theoretical statements about the canonical models of disease in Ayurveda occur in the earliest Buddhist Canon.
Practice
Ayurvedic doctors regard physical existence, mental existence, and personality as a unit, with each element being able to influence the others. This is a holistic approach used during diagnosis and therapy, and is a fundamental aspect of Ayurveda. Another part of Ayurvedic treatment says that there are channels (srotas) which transport fluids, and that the channels can be opened up by massage treatment using oils and Swedana (fomentation). Unhealthy channels are thought to cause disease.
Diagnosis
Ayurveda has eight ways to diagnose illness, called Nadi (pulse), Mootra (urine), Mala (stool), Jihva (tongue), Shabda (speech), Sparsha (touch), Druk (vision), and Aakruti (appearance). Ayurvedic practitioners approach diagnosis by using the five senses. For example, hearing is used to observe the condition of breathing and speech. The study of the lethal points or marman marma is of special importance.
Treatment and prevention
Two of the eight branches of classical Ayurveda deal with surgery (Śalya-cikitsā and Śālākya-tantra), but contemporary Ayurveda tends to stress attaining vitality by building a healthy metabolic system and maintaining good digestion and excretion. Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga, and meditation. One type of prescription is a Sattvic diet.
Ayurveda follows the concept of Dinacharya, which says that natural cycles (waking, sleeping, working, meditation etc.) are important for health. Hygiene, including regular bathing, cleaning of teeth, skin care, and eye washing, is also a central practice.
Substances used;
Plant-based treatments in Ayurveda may be derived from roots, leaves, fruits, bark, or seeds such as cardamom and cinnamon. In the 19th century, William Dymock and co-authors summarized hundreds of plant-derived medicines along with the uses, microscopic structure, chemical composition, toxicology, prevalent myths and stories, and relation to commerce in British India. Animal products used in Ayurveda include milk, bones, and gallstones. In addition, fats are prescribed both for consumption and for external use. Consumption of minerals, including sulphur, arsenic, lead, copper sulfate and gold, are also prescribed. The addition of minerals to herbal medicine is called rasa shastra.
Ayurveda uses alcoholic beverages called Madya, which are said to adjust the doshas by increasing Pitta and reducing Vatta and Kapha. Madya are classified by the raw material and fermentation process, and the categories include: sugar-based, fruit-based, cereal-based, cereal-based with herbs, fermentated with vinegar, and tonic wines. The intended outcomes can include causing purgation, improving digestion or taste, creating dryness, or loosening joints. Ayurvedic texts describe Madya as non-viscid and fast-acting, and say that it enters and cleans minute pores in the body.
Purified opium is used in eight Ayurvedic preparations and is said to balance the Vata and Kapha doshas and increase the Pitta dosha. It is prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery, for increasing the sexual and muscular ability, and for affecting the brain. The sedative and pain-relieving properties of opium are not considered in Ayurveda. The use of opium is not found in the ancient Ayurvedic texts, and is first mentioned in the Sarngadhara Samhita (1300-1400 CE), a book on pharmacy used in Rajasthan in Western India, as an ingredient of an aphrodisiac to delay male ejaculation. It is possible that opium was brought to India along with or before the Islamic conquest. The book Yoga Ratnakara (1700-1800 CE, unknown author), which is popular in Maharashtra, uses opium in a herbal-mineral composition prescribed for diarrhea. In the Bhaisajya Ratnavali, opium and camphor are used for acute gastroenteritis. In this drug, the respiratory depressant action of opium is counteracted by the respiratory stimulant property of Camphor. Later books have included the narcotic property for use as analgesic pain reliever.
Cannabis indica is also absent from the ancient Ayurveda books, and is first mentioned in the Sarngadhara Samhita as a treatment for diarrhea. In the Bhaisajya Ratnavali it is named as an ingredient in an aphrodisiac.
Ayurveda says that both oil and tar can be used to stop bleeding, and that traumatic bleeding can be stopped by four different methods: ligation of the blood vessel, cauterisation by heat, use of preparations to facilitate clotting, and use of preparations to constrict the blood vessels. Oils are also used in a number of ways, including regular consumption, anointing, smearing, head massage, application to affected areas.
The Atharveda is the "knowledge storehouse of atharva?, the procedures for everyday life".
The Atharveda is composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and it is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books. About a sixth of the Atharveda text adapts verses from the Rigveda, and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is in poem form deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text, the Paippalada and the Saunakiya have survived into modern times. Reliable manuscripts of the Paippalada edition were believed to have been lost, but a well preserved version was discovered among a collection of palm leaf manuscripts in Odisha in 1957.
The Atharveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas", an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars. The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs, and nature derived potions as medicine. Many books of the Atharveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy. The text is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity".
It was likely compiled as a Veda contemporaneously with Samaveda and Yajurveda, or about 1200 BC - 1000 BC. Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Atharvaveda includes a Brahmana text, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations. The latter layer of Atharveda text includes three primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy. These include the Mundaka Upanishad, the Mandukya Upanishad and the Prashna Upanishad.
The oldest name of the text, according to its own verse 10.7.20, was Atharvangirasah, a compound of "Atharvan" and "Angiras", both Vedic scholars. Each school called the text after itself, such as Saunakiya Samhita, meaning the "compiled text of Saunakiya". The "Atharvan" and "Angiras" names, imply different things, with the former considered auspicious while the latter implying hostile sorcery practices. Over time, the positive auspicious side came to be celebrated and the name Atharva Veda became widespread. The latter name Angiras which is linked to Agni and priests in the Vedas.
The Atharveda is a collection of 20 books, with a total of 730 hymns of about 6,000 stanzas. The text is a historical collection of beliefs and rituals addressing practical issues of daily life of the Vedic society, and it is not a liturgical Yajurveda-style collection.
The Cara?avyuha, a later era Sanskrit text, states that the Atharvaveda had nine shakhas, or schools: paippalada, stauda, mauda, saunakiya, jajala, jalada, brahmavada, devadarsa and cara?. Of these, only the Shaunakiya recension, and the more recently discovered manuscripts of Paippalada recension have survived. The Paippalada edition is more ancient. The two recensions differ in how they are organized, as well as content. For example, the Book 10 of Paippalada recension is more detailed, more developed and more conspicuous in describing monism, the concept of "oneness of Brahman, all life forms and the world".
The Atharveda Samhita originally was organized into 18 books, and the last two were added later. These books are arranged neither by subject nor by authors (as is the case with the other Vedas), but by the length of the hymns. Each book generally has hymns of about similar number of verses, and the surviving manuscripts label the book with the shortest hymns as Book 1. Most of the hymns are poetic and set to different meters, but about a sixth of the book is prose.
Most of the hymns of Atharveda are unique to it, except for the one sixth of its hymns that it borrows from the Rigveda, primarily from its 10th mandala. The 19th book was a supplement of a similar nature, likely of new compositions and was added later. The 143 hymns of the 20th book of Atharveda Samhita is almost entirely borrowed from the Rigveda.
The hymns of Atharveda cover a motley of topics, across its twenty books. Roughly, the first seven books focus primarily on magical poems for all sorts of healing and sorcery, Books 8 to 12 are speculations of a variety of topics, while Books 13 to 18 tend to be about life cycle rites of passage rituals.
The Srautasutra texts Vaitana Sutra and the Kausika Sutra are attached to the Atharveda Shaunaka edition, as are a supplement of Atharvan Prayascitthas, two Pratishakhyas, and a collection of Parisisthas. For the Paippalada edition of Atharveda, corresponding texts were Agastya and Paithinasi Sutras but these are lost or yet to be discovered.
The Atharveda Samhita contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf. The most frequent goal of these hymns charms and spells were long life of a loved one or recovery from some illness. In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet. Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering a household. Some hymns were not about magic spells and charms, but prayer qua prayer and philosophical speculations.
The Atharveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example, the verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant. (for example),
Let marrow be put together with marrow, and joint together with joint,
together what of the flesh fallen apart, together sinew and together your bone.
Let marrow come together with marrow, let bone grow over together with bone.
We put together your sinew with sinew, let skin grow with skin.
Atharvaveda 4.15, Paippalada Edition.
Numerous hymns of the Atharveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness. Hymn 5.21 of the Paippalada edition of the text, for example, states,
Heaven our father, and Earth our mother, Agni the men-watcher,
let them send the ten days fever far away from us.
O fever, these snowy mountains with Soma on their back have made the wind, the messenger, the healer for us,
Disappear from here to the Maratas.
Neither the women desire you, nor the men whosoever,
Neither a small one, nor a grown-up weeps here from desire of fever.
Do not harm our grown-up men, do not harm our grown-up women,
Do not harm our boys, do not harm our girls.
You who simultaneously discharge the balasa, cough, udraja, terrible are your missiles,
O fever, avoid us with them.
Atharveda 5.21, Paippalada Edition
Several hymns in the Atharveda such as hymn 8.7, just like the Rigveda's hymn 10.97, is a praise of medicinal herbs and plants, suggesting that speculations about the medical and health value of plants and herbs was an emerging field of knowledge in ancient India. The Atharvedic hymn states (abridged),
The tawny colored, and the pale, the variegated and the red,
the dusky tinted, and the black – all Plants we summon hitherward.
I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single,
I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men.
The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess,
Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare the remedy.
Atharveda 8.7, Shaunakiya Edition.
Spells and prayers to gain a lover, husband,
The contents of Atharveda have been studied to glean information about the social and cultural mores in Vedic era of India. A number of verses relate to spells for gaining a husband, or a wife, or love of a woman, or to prevent any rivals from winning over one's "love interest".
May O Agni!, a suitor after our own heart come to us, may he come to this maiden with fortune!
May she be agreeable to suitors, charming at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through a husband!
As this comfortable cave, O Indra!, furnishing a safe abode hath become pleasing to all life,
thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune, beloved, not at odds with her husband!
Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of fortune;
upon this bring, hither the suitor who shall be agreeable to thee!
Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, the suitor, bend his mind towards her;
turn thou the attention of every agreeable suitor towards her!
Atharvaveda 2.36.
Speculations on the nature of man, life, good and evil,
The Atharveda Samhita, as with the other Vedas, includes some hymns such as 4.1, 5.6, 10.7, 13.4, 17.1, 19.53-54, with metaphysical questions on the nature of existence, man, heaven and hell, good and evil. Hymn 10.7 of Atharveda, for example, asks questions such as "what is the source of cosmic order? what and where is planted this notion of faith, holy duty, truth? how is earth and sky held? is there space beyond the sky? what are seasons and where do they go? does Skambha (literally "cosmic pillar", synonym for Brahman penetrate everything or just somethings? does Skambha know the future? is Skambha the basis of Law, Devotion and Belief? who or what is Skambha?"
The wonderful structure of Man
How many gods and which were they,
who gathered the breast, the neck bones of man?
how many disposed the two teats? who the two collar bones?
how many gathered the shoulder bones? how many the ribs?
Who brought together his two arms, saying, "he must perform heroism?"
Which was the god who produced his brain, his forehead, his hindhead?
Whence now in man come mishap, ruin, perdition, misery?
accomplishment, success, non-failure? whence thought?
What one god set sacrifice in man here?
who set in him truth? who untruth?
whence death? whence the immortal?
Atharveda 10.2.4 - 10.2.14, Paippalada Edition (Abridged).
The Atharveda, like other Vedic texts, goes beyond the duality of heaven and hell, and speculates on the idea of Skambha or Brahman as the all pervasive monism. Good and evil, Sat and Asat (truth and untruth) are conceptualized differently in these hymns of Atharveda, and the Vedic thought, wherein these are not dualistic explanation of nature of creation, universe or man, rather the text transcends these and the duality therein. Order is established out of chaos, truth is established out of untruth, by a process and universal principles that transcend good and evil.
Prayer for peace,
Some hymns are prayer qua prayer, desiring harmony and peace. For example,
Give us agreement with our own; with strangers give us unity
Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love.
May we agree in mind, agree in purpose; let us not fight against the heavenly spirit
Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow fly, for day is present !
Atharveda 7.52.
Brahmana[edit]
The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it.
Mundaka Upanishad[edit]
The Mundaka Upanishad, embedded inside Atharveda, is a poetic-style Upanishad, with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras. However, these mantras are not used in rituals, rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge. In ancient and medieval era Indian literature and commentaries, the Mundaka Upanishad is referred to as one of the Mantra Upanishads.
The Mundaka Upanishad contains three Mundakams (parts), each with two sections. The first Mundakam, states Roer, defines the science of "Higher Knowledge" and "Lower Knowledge", and then asserts that acts of oblations and pious gifts are foolish, and do nothing to reduce unhappiness in current life or next, rather it is knowledge that frees. The second Mundakam describes the nature of the Brahman, the Atman (Self, Soul), and the path to know Brahman. The third Mundakam continues the discussion and then asserts that the state of knowing Brahman is one of freedom, fearlessness, liberation and bliss. The Mundaka Upanishad is one of text that discuss the pantheism theory in Hindu scriptures. The text, like other Upanishads, also discusses ethics.
Through continuous pursuit of Satya (truthfulness), Tapas (perseverance, austerity), Samyajñana (correct knowledge), and Brahmacharya, one attains Atman (Self, Soul).
Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.5.
Mandukya Upanishad[edit]
The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of all the Upanishads, found in the Atharvaveda text. The text discusses the syllable Om, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, asserts the existence and nature of Atman (Soul, Self).
The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Karika, a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft cited texts on chronology and philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.
Prashna Upanishad[edit]
The Prashna Upanishad is from the Paippalada school of Atharvedins.
The text contains six Prashna (questions), and each is a chapter with a discussion of answers. The first three questions are profound metaphysical questions but, do not contain any defined, philosophical answers, are mostly embellished mythology and symbolism. The fourth section, in contrast, contains substantial philosophy. The last two sections discuss the symbol Om and Moksha concept.
The Prashna Upanishad is notable for its structure and sociological insights into the education process in ancient India.
eji athar ved maa(n)he je koi maaher
dash maa(n)he din dayaal mawlaa betthaa chhe zaaher
........aartee keeje.........4
O momins! If one engages in the study of the Stable Scripture - Ginans, he/she will know that the Mercy of Religion is physically seated as the tenth manifestation of the Lord.
kmaherali wrote:In Ismailism Athar Ved is the Stable Scripture and is comprised of the Ginanic literature.
Interesting interpretation. The Stable Scripture or Stable Book would be compatible then with "THE" Book which is refered to in the expression "People of The Book"
Ya Ali Madad.
Pir is absolutely right.
There are few ROCK SOLID MOMINS but many pillar strong haqiatis who may still be blinkered .Pillars can shake and can come tumbling down on strong movement beneath it.
For that they have move from millions words in mind to two words in the heart.
Has any Pir written about this?
agakhani wrote:Kbhai,
I do not agree with the meaning you have taken word " Athar"
Actually, Athar means : (actual word ASTHIR in Gujarati) unstable, unsteady, shaky, changing, fickle
THAR (actual word is 'STHIR" in Gujarati ) means stable, unchangeable, unshaky. stable e.t.c.
Eji, Thar thar moman bhai koi koi raheshe ji, means stable imani will be very few:
Good point. I picked the idea about Stable Veda form an article by Dominique-Sila Khan:
"In conclusion, it may be said that , in conformity with the spirit of Ismailism, the ritual complex of the Satpanthis ought not to be regarded solely as a "revision" of Tantra, but also as its "consumation", in the same way that the Nizari sect as a whole, in its Indian form, may be viewed as the culmination of earlier Hindu systems. This is further corroborated by the fact that the spiritual message of the Satpanth and its religious literature were considered to be a secret "fifth Veda." called the Athar Ved (literally, the "immobile, stable Veda" not to be confused with the fourth Veda the Atharva Veda). Here as well, we may detect a reference to Tantric revelation, which is also viewed as a fifth Veda that, unlike the four original Vedas, is accessible to women as well as men from every caste."
So it seems that the writer of the article above may have got it wrong in regard to the idea of the stable Veda.
However we may still consider Athar Veda as being the fourth or final Veda which are comprised of the Satpanthi literature - the Ginans.
In the Ginan: Trann Trann Ved Na Dhee-aavo Muneevarbhaai, Sayyed Imam Shah says:
trann trann ved na dhee-aavo muneevar bhaai
kaayare khovo purav janam nee kamaai jee.....................1
Do not follow the teachings of the three (previous) scriptures
(which are redundant), o brother believers. By being timid, why
do you lose the good earnings of the past lives (which have
enabled you to attain this exalted path)?
ejee athar ved bole e prabhu saachaa
fal chhe paakaa(n) pann deese chhe kaachaa(n)jee............20
The fourth scripture (the Ginans) is spoken by the True Guide.
The fruits are indeed ripe (sweet in essence) but are perceived as raw (bitter outwardly).
The Veda may be named, states Monier Williams, after the mythical priest named Atharvan who was first to develop prayers to fire, offer Soma, and who composed "formulas and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities". Monier Williams notes that the now obsolete term for fire used to be Athar.(1)
The oldest name of the text, according to its own verse 10.7.20, was Atharvangirasah, a compound of "Atharvan" and "Angiras", both Vedic scholars. Each school called the text after itself, such as Saunakiya Samhita, meaning the "compiled text of Saunakiya". The "Atharvan" and "Angiras" names, states Maurice Bloomfield, imply different things, with the former considered auspicious while the latter implying hostile sorcery practices. Over time, the positive auspicious side came to be celebrated and the name Atharva Veda became widespread.(2)
Michael Witzel states Atharvan roots may be 'atharwan' or "(ancient) priest, sorcerer", with links to Avestan "priest" and Athr, "superior force".(3)
1. Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dixtionary, Oxford University Press.Entry for Athervan, page17.
2. Maurice Bloomfield, The Atharvaveda, Harvard University Press, pages 7-10.
3. Michael Witzel. Linguistic Evidence for cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia.
HYMNS OF ATHARVEDA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ATHARVEDA IS COLLECTION OF 20 BOOKS, WITH 730 HYMNS AND ABOUT 6000 STANZAS.
THE FIRST DIGIT NUMBERS ARE BOOK NUMBERS AND NEXT TO IT ARE CHARM NUMBERS.
I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES AND POSSESSION BY DEMONS OF DISEASE (BHAISHAGYKNI).
V, 22. Charm against takman (fever) and related diseases.
VI, 20. Charm against takman (fever).
I, 25. Charm against takman (fever).
VII, 116. Charm against takman (fever).
V, 4. Prayer to the kushtha-plant to destroy takman (fever).
X1X, 39. Prayer to the kushtha-plant to destroy takman (fever), and other ailments.
I, 12. Prayer to lightning, conceived as the cause of fever, headache, and cough.
I, 22. Charm against jaundice and related diseases.
VI, 14. Charm against the disease balâsa.
VI, 105. Charm against cough.
I, 2. Charm against excessive discharges from the body.
II, 3. Charm against excessive discharges from the body, undertaken with spring-water.
VI, 44. Charm against excessive discharges from the body.
I, 3. Charm against constipation and retention of urine.
VI, 90. Charm against internal pain (colic), due to the missiles of Rudra.
I, 10. Charm against dropsy.
VII, 83. Charm against dropsy.
VI, 24. Dropsy, heart-disease, and kindred maladies cured by flowing water.
VI, 80. An oblation to the sun, conceived as one of the two heavenly dogs, as a cure for paralysis.
II, 8. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
II, 10. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
111, 7. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
I, 23. Leprosy cured by a dark plant.
I, 24. Leprosy cured by a dark plant.
VI, 83. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
VII, 76. A. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
VII, 74. A. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
VI, 25. Charm against scrofulous sores upon neck and shoulders.
VI, 57. Urine (gâlâsha) as a cure for scrofulous sores.
IV, 12. Charm with the plant arundhatî (lâkshâ) for the cure of fractures.
V, 5. Charm with the plant silâki (lâkshâ, arundhatî) for the cure of wounds.
VI, 109. The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds.
I, 17. Charm to stop the flow of blood.
II, 31. Charm against worms.
II. 32. Charm against worms in cattle.
V, 23. Charm against worms in children.
IV, 6. Charm against poison.
IV, 7. Charm against poison.
VI, 100. Ants as an antidote against poison.
VI, 13 Charm against snake-poison.
VI, 12. Charm against snake-poison.
VII, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents, scorpions, and insects.
VI, 16. Charm against ophthalmia.
VI, 21. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
VI, 136. Charm with the plant nitatni to promote the growth of hair.
VI, 137. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
IV, 4. Charm to promote virility.
VI, 111. Charm against mania.
IV, 37. Charm with the plant agasringi to drive out Rakshas, Apsaras and Gandharvas.
II, 9. Possession by demons of disease, cured by an amulet of ten kinds of wood.
IV, 6. Charm against demons (pisâka) conceived as the cause of disease.
II, 25. Charm with the plant prisniparnî against the demon of disease, called kanva.
VI, 32. Charm for driving away demons (Rakshas and Pisâkas).
II, 4. Charm with an amulet derived from the gangida tree, against diseases and demons.
X1X, 34, Charm with an amulet derived from the gafigpida-tree, aoainst diseases and demons.
X1X, 35. Charm with an amulet derived from the gangida-tree, against diseases and demons.
VI, 85. Exorcism of disease by means of an amulet from the varana-tree.
VI, 127. The kîpudru-tree as a panacea.
X1X, 38. The healing properties of bdellium.
VI, 91. Barley and water as universal remedies.
VIII, 7. Hymn to all magic and medicinal plants, used as a universal remedy.
VI, 96. Plants as a panacea.
II, 32. Charm to secure perfect health.
IX, 8. Charm to procure immunity from all diseases.
II, 29. Charm for obtaining long life and prosperity by transmission of disease.
II. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH (ÂYUSHYÂNI).
111, 11. Prayer for health and long life.
II, 28. Prayer for long life pronounced over a boy.
III, 31. Prayer for health and long life.
VII, 53. Prayer for long life.
VIII, 1. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
VIII, 2. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
V. 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and death.
IV, 9. Salve (âñgana) as a protector of life and limb.
IV, 10. The pearl and its shell as an amulet bestowing long life and prosperity.
X1X, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life.
III IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS, AND ENEMIES (ÂBHIKÂRIKÂNI).
I, 7. Against sorcerers and demons.
I, 8. Against sorcerers and demons.
I, 16. Charm with lead, against demons and sorcerers.
VI, 2. The soma-oblation directed against Demons (rakshas).
II, 14. Charm against a variety of female demons, conceived as hostile to men, cattle, and home.
111, 9. Against vishkandha and kâbava (hostile demons).
IV, 20. Charm with a certain plant (sadampushpâ) which exposes demons and enemies.
IV, 17. Charm with the apâmârga-plant, against sorcery, demons, and enemies.
IV, 18. Charm with the apâmârga-plant, against sorcerers and demons.
IV, 19. Mystic power of the apâmârga-plant, against demons and sorcerers.
VII, 65. Charm with the apâmârga-plant, against curses, and the consequences of sinful deeds.
X, 1. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
V, 31. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
V, 14. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
VIII, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talisman made from wood of the sraktya-tree.
X, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet derived from the varana-tree.
X, 6. Praise of the virtues of amulet of khadira-wood in the shape of a ploughshare.
IV, 16. Prayer to Varuna for protection against treacherous designs.
II, 12. Imprecation against enemies thwarting holy work.
VII, 70. Frustration of the sacrifice of an enemy.
II, 7. Charm against curses and hostile plots, undertaken with a certain plant.
III, 6. The asvattha-tree as a destroyer of enemies.
VI, 75. Oblation for the suppression of enemies (nairbâdhyam havih).
VII 37. Curse against one that practises hostile charms.
VII, 13. Charm to deprive enemies of their strength.
IV. CHARMS PFRTAINING TO WOMEN (STRIKARATKV1).
II, 36. Charm to obtain a husband.
VI, 60. Charm for obtaining a husband.
VI, 82. Charm for obtaining a wife.
VI, 78. Blessing for a married couple.
VII, 36. Love-charm spoken by a bridal couple.
VII, 37. Charm pronounced by the bride over the bridegroom.
VI, 81. A bracelet as an amulet to ensure conception.
III, 23. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam).
VI, 11. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam).
VII, 35. An incantation to make a woman sterile.
VI, 17. Charm to prevent miscarriage.
I, 11. Charm for easy parturition.
I, 34. Charm with licorice, to secure the love of a woman.
II, 30. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
VI, 8. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
VI, 9. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
VI, 102. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
II, 25. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a woman.
VII, 139. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a woman.
VII, 38. Charm to secure the love of a man.
VI, 130. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
VI, 131. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
VI, 132. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
IV, 5. Charm at an assignation.
VI, 77. Charm to cause the return of a truant woman.
VI, 18. Charm to allay jealousy.
VII, 45. Charm to allay jealousy.
I, 14. A woman's incantation against her rival.
III, 18. Charm of a woman against a rival or co-wife.
VI, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his virility.
I, 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics from a woman.
VI, 110. Expiatory charm for a child born under an unlucky star.
VI, 140. Expiation for the irregular appearance of the first pair of teeth.
V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY (RÂGAKARMÂNI).
IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king.
III, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled king.
III, 4. Prayer at the election of a king.
III, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the parna-tree, designed to strengthen royal power.
IV, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of a king.
I, 9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success.
VI, 38. Prayer for lustre and power.
VI, 39. Prayer for glory (yasas).
VIII, 8. Battle-charm.
I, 19. Battle-charm against arrow-wounds.
III, 1. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
III, 2. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
VI, 97. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve of battle.
VI, 99. Battle-charm of a king on the eve of battle.
XI, 9. Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help in battle.
XI, 10. Prayer to Trishamdhi for help in battle.
V, 20. Hymn to the battle-drum.
V, 21 Hymn to the battle-drum, the terror of the enemy.
VI. CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, INFLUENCE IN THE ASSE-NIBLY, AND THE LIKE (SÂMMANASYÂNI).
III, 30. Charm to secure harmony.
VI, 73. Charm to allay discord.
VI, 74. Charm to allay discord.
VII, 52. Charm against strife and bloodshed.
VI, 64. Charm to allay discord.
VI, 42. Charm to appease anger.
VI, 43. Charm to appease anger.
II, 27. Charm against opponents in debate, undertaken with the pâtâ-plant.
VII, 12. Charm to procure influence in the assembly.
VI, 94. Charm to bring about submission to one's will.
VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY IN HOUSE, FIELD, CATTLE, BUSINESS, GAMBLING, AND KINDRED MATTERS.
111, 12. Prayer at the building of a house.
VI, 142. Blessing during the sowing of seed.
VI, 79. Charm for procuring increase of grain.
VI, 50. Exorcism of vermin infesting grain in the field.
VII, 11. Charm to protect grain from lightning.
II, 26. Charm for the prosperity of cattle.
III, 14. Charm for the prosperity of cattle.
VI, 59. Prayer to the plant arundhatî for protection to cattle.
VI, 70. Charm to secure the attachment of a cow to her calf.
II, 28. Formula in expiation of the birth of twin-calves
VI, 92. Charm to endow a horse with swiftness.
111, 13. Charm for conducting a river into a new channel.
VI, 106. Charm to ward off danger from fire.
IV, 3. Shepherd's charm against wild beasts and robbers.
111, 15. A merchant's prayer.
IV, 38. A. Prayer for success in gambling.
VII, 50. Prayer for success at dice.
VI, 56. Exorcism of serpents from the premises.
X, 4. Charm against serpents, invoking the horse of Pedu that slays serpents.
XI, 2. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protection from dangers.
IV, 28. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protection from calamities.
VII, 9. Charm for finding lost property.
VI, 128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet.
XI, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon.
VIII. CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND DEFILEMENT.
VI, 45. Prayer against mental delinquency.
VI, 26. Charm to avert evil.
VI, 114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in the sacrifice.
VI, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins.
VI, 112. Expiation for the precedence of a younger brother over an older.
VI, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes.
VI, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of sins.
VI, 27. Charm against pigeons regarded as ominous birds.
VI, 29. Charm against ominous pigeons and owls.
VII, 64. Expiation when one is defiled by a black bird of omen.
VI, 46. Exorcism of evil dreams.
VII, 115. Charm for the removal of evil characteristics, and the acquisition of auspicious ones.
IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS IN THE INTEREST OF THE BRAHMANS.
V, 18. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brahmans.
V, 19. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brahmans.
V, 7. Prayer to appease Arâti, the demon of grudge and avarice.
XII, 4. The necessity of giving away sterile cows to the Brahmans.
XI, 1. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.
XII, 3. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.
IX, 3. Removal of a house that has been presented to a priest as sacrificial reward.
VI, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of gifts.
XX, 127. A kuntâpa-hymn.
X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS.
XII, 1. Hymn to goddess Earth.
XIII, 1. Prayer for sovereign power addressed to the god Rohita and his female Rohinî.
XI, 5. Glorification of the sun, or the primeval principle, as a Brahman disciple.
XI, 4. Prâna, life or breath, personified as the supreme spirit.
IX, 2. Prayer to Kâma (love), personified as a primordial power.
X1X, 53. Prayer to Kâla (time), personified as a primordial power.
X1X, 54. Prayer to Kâla (time), personified as a primordial power.
XI, 7. Apotheosis of the ukkhishta, the leavings of the sacrifice.
IX, 1. Hymn to the honey-lash of the Asvins.
Ya ALI madad.
Looks like a sane avataar of the living creature is still lurking around.
Going deep into back ground of Ginans is a waste of time,energy and resources.
We have a living Noor giving hidayat of the time.
Here's a bunch of sour grapes in search out of frustration n time pass.source or back ground if any of material of person 700 years back blessed with Noor from ALI and further go back 2000-5000 in vedic,shastraa,etc ERA.
Wisdom is not recollections of the PAST but a responsibility for the FUTURE.
it is foolishness of digging the past if essence level of inspiration is not attained.
It can lead to tantra.mantra & black magic,Illusion & hypnotism.
nuseri wrote:Ya ALI madad.
Looks like a sane avataar of the living creature is still lurking around.
Going deep into back ground of Ginans is a waste of time,energy and resources.
We have a living Noor giving hidayat of the time.
Yes we have a living Imam that has instructed us to go back to our primary sources and we have the Noor which made a Farman saying Farman and Ginans are the same. The Noor which says Ginans are to be preserved for generations yet to be born. The same Ginans that you have been insulting for already some times now.
I request you to stop glorifying the Imam if in your heart his Farmans means nothing to you. That is also your right but do not make a show of your ignorance here. Thank you.
This section is on Hindu Mythology and Indian terminology. If you are not educated in those fields, please stay away from this thread.
agakhani wrote:Kbhai,
I do not agree with the meaning you have taken word " Athar"
Actually, Athar means : (actual word ASTHIR in Gujarati) unstable, unsteady, shaky, changing, fickle
THAR (actual word is 'STHIR" in Gujarati ) means stable, unchangeable, unshaky. stable e.t.c.
Eji, Thar thar moman bhai koi koi raheshe ji, means stable imani will be very few:
Good point. I picked the idea about Stable Veda form an article by Dominique-Sila Khan:
"In conclusion, it may be said that , in conformity with the spirit of Ismailism, the ritual complex of the Satpanthis ought not to be regarded solely as a "revision" of Tantra, but also as its "consumation", in the same way that the Nizari sect as a whole, in its Indian form, may be viewed as the culmination of earlier Hindu systems. This is further corroborated by the fact that the spiritual message of the Satpanth and its religious literature were considered to be a secret "fifth Veda." called the Athar Ved (literally, the "immobile, stable Veda" not to be confused with the fourth Veda the Atharva Veda). Here as well, we may detect a reference to Tantric revelation, which is also viewed as a fifth Veda that, unlike the four original Vedas, is accessible to women as well as men from every caste."
So it seems that the writer of the article above may have got it wrong in regard to the idea of the stable Veda.
However we may still consider Athar Veda as being the fourth or final Veda which are comprised of the Satpanthi literature - the Ginans.
In the Ginan: Trann Trann Ved Na Dhee-aavo Muneevarbhaai, Sayyed Imam Shah says:
trann trann ved na dhee-aavo muneevar bhaai
kaayare khovo purav janam nee kamaai jee.....................1
Do not follow the teachings of the three (previous) scriptures
(which are redundant), o brother believers. By being timid, why
do you lose the good earnings of the past lives (which have
enabled you to attain this exalted path)?
ejee athar ved bole e prabhu saachaa
fal chhe paakaa(n) pann deese chhe kaachaa(n)jee............20
The fourth scripture (the Ginans) is spoken by the True Guide.
The fruits are indeed ripe (sweet in essence) but are perceived as raw (bitter outwardly).
EJI PIR VINA PAAR NA PAMIYE
JO BHANEY PAANCHEY VED
The Age of Kali - Kaliyug is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of Mahayugas. According to Hindu cosmology, time is cyclical and you can consider the four Yugas to be similar to the four seasons that keep recurring in perpetual eternity.
In each successive yuga (Satya to Treta to Dvapar to Kali), all human virtues keep getting diminished including mankind's intellect, age, honesty, values and so on.
Beginning of Kaliyuga;
By the calculations of Aryabhatta, the most celebrated mathematician of ancient India, Kaliyug began between the 18th to 20th of February 3102 BCE which tells us that we are currently in the 5118th year of this Era. In India Ugadi/Navreh is celebrated and the reason why it is called Yug-aadi is because this is the day Kaliyug began ( also it is the day when Brahma began creation).
Srimad Bhagavatam [12.2.31] records Kali-yuga as having begun when the constellation of the seven sages or Big Dipper passed through the Nakshatra of Magh. This took place roughly 36 years after the battle of Mahabharat that wiped out millions off the face of the Earth. The question is why it didn't start immediately after the war? but according to Vaishnav tradition, the demon Kali could not step on the planet till the time Krishna, the Supreme Lord was present on it. It was only after Krishna's departure that Kaliyuga could descend.
Scientific Basis of Yugas?
The length of Kali Yuga, the smallest of the four Yugas is believed to be 432,000 years which is the basic unit of Yuga calculation. The Dvapar-Yuga is twice this time, Treta is thrice and Satyuga is four times this period with the total adding up to 4.32 Million years. That is a staggering period and none of us would be alive to see the end but one can certainly see if such a huge number holds any significance in science.
Science says that Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle but is elliptical in shape. One need to understand the concept of ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY which states that the shape of Earth's orbit changes over time and can vary between nearly circular (low eccentricity) to more elliptical (high eccentricity). While the change is a part of nature's process, what is important from our point of view is that these variations occur over a period of 413,000 years - quite close to the basic unit of a Yuga!
Earth's orbit changes from circular to elliptical over one Yuga Unit of Time.
This change in orbital eccentricity has a profound effect on the conditions prevailing on Earth including massive temperature changes but this is not all. Each Yuga is supposed to have a period of dawn and dusk that takes about 10% of its time ~ 43,000 years. Is there a scientific phenomenon that repeats during this duration? The answer is YES and that is the change in the angle of Earth's axis known as the AXIAL TILT - Earth does not rotate in space like a perfect sphere but tilts just like a spinning top giving rise to seasons. What is interesting is that the angle of the tilt does not stay constant but keeps changing taking approximately 41,000 years to shift between a tilt of 22.1° and 24.5° and back again and this again leads to massive climate changes on the planet.
Descriptions of Kaliyug
Hindu scriptures mention that during the 432,000 years of Kali, humanity shall deteriorate and fall into barbarism. The world teems with fanatics and extremists and religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, physical strength and memory diminish with each passing day.
Shrimad Bhagavatm says that the demon of Kali descended as soon as Krishna had left the planet. Arjun's granson Parikshit who was the ruler of the known world then encountered him in the form of a richly attired goon who was beating an ox mercilessly. The emperor stopped his chariot and immediately headed towards the spot to stop him but the man continued till three of the four legs of the animal were broken.
As Parikshit lifted his sword to kill the brute, he fell on his knees and begged to spare his life. He told the emperor that he was none other than Kali, the embodiment of Kaliyuga and his time on Earth had begun. In order to spread his rule he had to break the pillars of Dharma that the OX represented!
The emperor knew he could not halt the progress of Kali but he stopped him from completely maiming Dharma. The demon was allowed to reside in four places - gambling houses and taverns, in people with unbridled sexual desires, in slaughter-houses where innocent animals were killed and in riches and gold. No wonder then that most of the crimes we see today happen either in a state of intoxication or are related to the misuse of natural resources or because of excessive greed for money or sex!
To make it easier to understand the effect of Kali, following are the descriptions from Shrimad Bhagavatam, Ling Puraan, Vishnu Puraan and Mahabharat:
LEADERSHIP;
Kings take to seizing property, rather than protecting the citizenry. Rogues and criminals become leaders to exploit and enslave their people. In this age, merely possessing wealth is considered a sign of good birth, proper behavior, and fine qualities. Law and justice are determined by one's prestige and power.
LOVE;
Marriage ceases to exist as a holy union - men and women simply live together on the basis of bodily attraction and sexual pleasure. Women wander from one man to another. One's beauty is thought to depend on one's hairstyle. Monks break their vows of celibacy. Women, children, and cows - always protected in an enlightened society - are abused and killed during this age.
SOCIETY;
Men no longer look after their parents in their old age, and fail to provide for their own children. Filling the belly is said to be the only purpose in life. Cows are killed once their milk production drops. Humans give in to intoxication, fornication and killing of animals without any restraint; family structure breaks up and children are abused and abandoned. Thieves are numerous and rapes are frequent. Everyone uses vulgar language.
Farmers abandon living close to nature. They become unskilled laborers in congested cities. Many dress in rags, or are unemployed, and sleep on the streets.
RELIGION
Atheism flourishes. Religious observances are performed solely for the sake of reputation. False doctrines and misleading religions spread across the globe. People prefer false ideas and do not hesitate to persecute religious preachers. Interestingly, not just Hindu but Buddhist texts also predict a decline in religion. Buddhism is prophesized to completely disappear during the Kali Yuga, and it will be virtually impossible for a person to find any opportunity for spiritual realization.
These descriptions are so apt for our society that they leave you wondering whether the authors had undertaken time-travel to visit the current age! Not only is this the exact current scenario but the accuracy of these predictions also fills one with a sense of hopelessness. However, one ray of sunshine exists in this gloom.
The Silver Lining;
The Brahma-Vaivarta Puraan [4.129] records a coversation between Lord Krishna as He is preparing to leave Earth at the end of Dvapar Yuga and Goddess Ganga. Krishna tells the goddess who is distraught by the knowledge of Kaliyug's imminent arrival that she would be instrumental in delivering the souls of humans for the first five thousand years of this era.
The Yugas follow a cyclical pattern of Satya-Treta-Dvapar-Kali and at the end of Kali, the golden age of Satyuga returns again in a continuous cycle. There is no swinging back through Dvapar and Treta as believed by certain followers of Hindu Dharma.
Ya ALI Madad.
When our spiritual father makes a Farman.like in the case of Fatimid traditions.
Does Father has highest level of desire,aspiration & expectations from his child.
At ignorance.one would try to physical laws then,form of prayers,size of beard kept.
A rational one tries to know the history of great stalwart on who they were and what they wrote, nevertheless try to be a qualitative historians.
If father desires to be original and forward thinkers like them.SO BE IT.
Now ask your self what father desires out of you.
When tradition word is mentioned for ginans ,it mean selective INTELLECTUAL CORPUS. not every written material,coming in that heading many of which were directed to be discarded,sidelined and even to be burnt.
I am NOT against Ginan,but get annoyed on unwarranted one,by digging into that amount to being a NAFARMAN MOMIM.
I stand by the truth.read Imam SMS farman which ginans he selected. That is Farman bardari.
Imam want al of us to be as inspiring as those Pirs and not particularly historians of them grave diggers.
Study the level of ALI's desire and redefine the word traditions.
shivaathervedi wrote:The length of Kali Yuga, the smallest of the four Yugas is believed to be 432,000 years which is the basic unit of Yuga calculation. The Dvapar-Yuga is twice this time, Treta is thrice and Satyuga is four times this period with the total adding up to 4.32 Million years. That is a staggering period and none of us would be alive to see the end but one can certainly see if such a huge number holds any significance in science.
Ismailis don't believe they are in Kali Yuga, they have past it and now are in the ascending cycle of Dwapura Yuga.
There is an interesting book explaining the theory of Yugas and a different perspective of history than what we have conventionally accepted.
The introduction of the book can be accessed online at:
nuseri wrote:
When tradition word is mentioned for ginans ,it mean selective INTELLECTUAL CORPUS. not every written material,coming in that heading many of which were directed to be discarded,sidelined and even to be burnt.
If you have any Farman or Hidayat stating that we should be selective about out traditions please provide one here otherwise you are talking out of your imagination.
Reflect on the Farman below:
"While working through the topics which you must discuss, I am sure you will never forget that our faith is based on thousands of years of history and that we should learn from history and not think our past is of no use now and that it can therefore be rejected, abbreviated or altered. "(Friday, September 25, 1964)
I hope the above Farman will for once and for all impress upon your mind that there is value in history and it should not be rejected as you are suggesting.
for your kind information there are many Ismailis who believes that this is Kaliyug Please do not impose that wrong interpretation of Swami Yuktshwar and yours!! Please leave it just for you!