Monthly Archives: February 2006

On Bajirao-I

Posted on February 28, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The muni and me stood on the elevated wall of the plinth of the shanivAr palace (Shaniwar palace) on a blazing Indian afternoon about an year ago. That was all that was left of the palace built by the famed … Continue reading →

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shrI shyAmol rAm’s exposition of mahAchInakrama

Posted on February 25, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

While mahAchInakrama is a not a path of tantra usually followed by the shrauta-smArta ritualist, it was once secretly practiced by several, including brahminical paNDitas. Some believe such paNDitas practicing mahAchInakrama where fallen brahmins, often associated with the nAstIka matas, … Continue reading →

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saH janAsaH indraH

Posted on February 24, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

yáH sháshvato máhy éno dádhAnAn ámanyamAnAñ ChárvA jaghAna | yáH shárdhate nAnudádAti shR^idhyAM yó dásyor hantA sá janAsa índraH || He who struck the evildoers, before even they realized, by shooting his arrow; He who forgives not the boldness of … Continue reading →

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shri shyAmol rAm the vAmAchArin

Posted on February 23, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

R, narrated to me a remarkable tale that with her due acquiscience I present. Some details are left out due to the directive of the narrator. molArAm was a remarkable man from the realm of pradyumna shAh deva. He was … Continue reading →

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The praise of rudra

Posted on February 22, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

001 namas te deva-devesha devAri-balasUdana | 002 devendra-bala-viShTambha deva-dAnava-pUjita || Salutations to one who is lord of all the gods to the destroyer of the enemies of devas. One who is the inciter of the strength of the celestial chief. … Continue reading →

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The younger shatarudriya

Posted on February 21, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

A gentleman had asked if there might be a substitute for the shatarudriya, that could recited by someone who was not initiated into the path of the veda or eligible to receive the vedic rahasya. Me, the muni and aurvasheyI … Continue reading →

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Mental and neural convergence

Posted on February 19, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Even though we and the little dinosaurs have evolved our brains convergently, for long we seem to have recognized ourselves cognitive peers. The udgAtar-s of yore noted how satyakAma jAbAli acquired the rahasya of “one foot of the brahman” from … Continue reading →

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Does the bee eater really have a mind ?

Posted on February 19, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Our acquaintance and his field team concluded the following. They observed (like many others before them) that the little green bee eaters, a reasonably frequent bird in the haunts of the Maharatta country, which builds nests as tunnels, avoids visiting … Continue reading →

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The bird’s call and other issues

Posted on February 18, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The songs and the calls of the only surviving dinosaurs around us range from the prosaic to the rich. They were the inspiration for many forms of art and science. In the long past when we were whiling away time … Continue reading →

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A note on the vaikhAnasa tradition

Posted on February 16, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The vaikhAnasas appear to represent an archaic branch of vaiShNavas who are distinct from the more popular and numerous pA~ncharAtrins. The vaikhAnasas however were and are still influential in few south Indian temples including the world’s most famous shrine, venkaTAdri … Continue reading →

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On the name itself

Posted on February 15, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

We were passing noting the immersion of the folks in the pAsha of moha. We were trying to take the upward passage when we encountered the terrific kR^ityA. The kR^ityA was blocking our path even as the kR^ityA of rudra … Continue reading →

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The chakras of viShNu

Posted on February 14, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

From viShNu emanate several chakra missiles, all of which may follow the deadly sudarshana and discs when used in battle against the dAnavas and rAkShasas. They represent the sum of the deadly destructive fury of viShNu. Likewise, the sampUrNa chakra … Continue reading →

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A rather edifying plot

Posted on February 12, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

There has been much abuzz in our maNDala on the genetic support for Aryan invasion and allied issues of racial differentiation of human populations. In this regard, most of us in the know, now clearly see that the thing called … Continue reading →

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Continued

Posted on February 12, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

-Then we spoke of Messier and Mechain’s objects in the sky. We simple yarned of the good old day when we conquered every Messier object with our small scope. Messier is supposed to have discovered 20 comets and 103 deep … Continue reading →

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The interlocution

Posted on February 12, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The might of agni invoked by the mantra of vAmadeva had finally repulsed one of the attacks comprehensively. We hoped the same mantra may also overthrow the other bAdhamAna. Having kept aside the duties and cares, hemmed in by the … Continue reading →

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Tyrannosaurs and morphological evolution in coelurosaurs

Posted on February 11, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The recent find of the tyrannosaur Guanlong going back to the late Jurassic, around 156-161 Myr is of interest when placed in the context of the oldest bird, Archaeopteryx, which from a slightly later Jurassic layer dating to around 150 … Continue reading →

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The rise of tyrannosaurs

Posted on February 10, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

In my youth I wondered about the emergence of tyrannosaurs, their origins and relationship with other theropods. In those days the tyrannosaurs we knew were few in number and all pretty similar. There was the famed Tyrannosaurus rex, which was … Continue reading →

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The wanderings

Posted on February 8, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

yo vai rudraH sa bhagavAn yash cha mR^ityus tasmai vai namo-namaH || sa rudro vasu-vanir-vasudeye namovAke vaShaTkAro .anu saMhitaH |tasyeme sarve yAtava upa prashiShamAsate |tasyAmU sarvA nakShatrA vashe chandramasA saha || yo .agnau rudro yo .apsv antar ya oShadhIr vIrudha … Continue reading →

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Attaining atharvaNa mantra GYAna

Posted on February 6, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Acquiring the atharvaveda either requires you to be born as a scion of the atharvan clan or acquire it through a separate upanayanam. The key to this new upanayanam is the need for the student to chant the sUktaM known … Continue reading →

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ekAnamshA: a deity of tantric vaiShNavism

Posted on February 4, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The core pantheon of the sAttvata branch of the pA~ncharAtra texts is the chaturvyuha or the serial emanations of nArAyaNa. The primary manifestation of nArAyaNa is vAsudeva, from whom emerge saMkarShaNa and pradyumna. From pradyumna emerges aniruddha. This pantheon appears … Continue reading →

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The herb grids of the kubjikA mata

Posted on February 3, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

A stream of the kubjikA tradition has evolved out of the more archaic atharvanic tradition. One of the most important links between the kubjikA mata and the older atharvan tradition is the kubjikA upaniShad. kubjikA is identified with pratya~NgirA or … Continue reading →

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The maNDala theory

Posted on February 2, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The brAhmaNa of old had laid out the intricacies of artha; viShNusharman explained that for dullards like us through the mouth of the jackal. And then daNDin, that scaler of great literary pinnacles, had parodied the same. The gods in … Continue reading →

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