Monthly Archives: August 2003

Kasar Gavlis

Posted on August 30, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Near Baramati lived a band of Kasar Gavlis, who sold their curds and milk in brass pots. One day they were visited by viShUchikA. They all died as a result. The vacuum was filled by a roving band of Maharatta … Continue reading →

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Bow-making in Hindu lore

Posted on August 20, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The making of the bow is discussed in dhanurveda. It states that a bow should have 3 material: iron, horn and wood and should be 4 cubits in length. The Bow string is supposed to be made of bamboo fiber, … Continue reading →

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A Hindu contribution: the war elephant

Posted on August 19, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

It has often been stated that many of the martial failures of Hindus has been due to the use of ponderous and slothful elephants in war. However, the Indians seem to have persisted with elephants until very recently. They first … Continue reading →

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rohiNi’s cart

Posted on August 17, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

In Greco-Roman star lore the constellation Auriga is the charioteer. Traditionally, in India too the constellation is refered to as the sArathi, which means the same thing. The mainstream Western scholarship has believed that this is a recent acquisition of … Continue reading →

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Netaji Palkar

Posted on August 15, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

In 1667, the great Maharatta general Netaji was arrested by the lowly Hindu traitor Mirza Raje Jaisingh under the orders of the Padishah Awrangzeb and placed in the custody of the Qazi of Delhi. The Maharatta was give given three … Continue reading →

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Charlotte’s tale

Posted on August 13, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Charlotte narrated me a strange incidence as we were recuperating from a session in the wild observing local fungal genera. Normally I do not suffer such tales lightly, but on this occasion I found some strange connection with certain imprints … Continue reading →

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Vedic human sacrifice

Posted on August 11, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The Indo-Aryan kshatriyas performed a peculiar rite called the puruSha-medha that has been spoken of by Indians in hushed tones. Much like the cow sacrifice and horse sacrifice, which people have tried to explain away as not implying a real … Continue reading →

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Orang-utan behavior

Posted on August 9, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The great ape of East , the Orang was until recently thought to be rather limited in its behavioral complexity. The lineage of the Orangutan is an ancient one, including Sivapithecus, which inhabited the subcontinent under 16 Million years. Given … Continue reading →

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Prakrit

Posted on August 5, 2003 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

hattha=handbahira=outsidevahu=son’s wifekOra=horsetObI=washerkANI=storypai=brotherlihai=writesuha=happinesssAhA=branchmaueda=crownkayala=plantainkoha=angermeha=clouddIva=islandvihalai=splitsubha=goodmakkaDa=monkeyNaha=nail The Dravidian language Tamil retains a large number of old loans from Maharashtri Prakrit, even though its descendent language Marathi does not. This suggests that the prakritic base of other IA languages were overlayed by a secondary layer … Continue reading →

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