Monthly Archives: March 2006

trika and kaula teacher graph

Posted on March 31, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

This is study in progress and will evolve with time

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Hsuan Tsung divided by two : Please NO

Posted on March 29, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

We climbed up the turret there was a closely fought encounter going on the plain. We had sent a division to protect the home ground under an young and consentious captain, however, he was pretty inexperienced. The formidable Kappa having … Continue reading →

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Notes on early pAncharAtra vaiShNavism

Posted on March 27, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

It is likely that in the later period the vaiShNavas were ignorant on why the name pA~ncharatra came into being. This ignorance of the meaning of the name is plainly seen in the explanation provided by the prashna saMhitA and … Continue reading →

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Some musings on the aushanasa adbhutAnI and its deities

Posted on March 26, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The work on omens attributed to ushanA kAvya the bhArgava (narrated by kAvya to nArada the kANva) is a well-known hindu work that formed the basis for many such future works that are abundant in Sanskrit literature. In thrust and … Continue reading →

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shrI vidyAraNaya yati and his shrIvidyArNava

Posted on March 26, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The shrIvidyArNava is an excellent tAntric manual that was used as textbook for mantra shAstra instruction amongst certain brahminical schools. It contains 2 halves called pUrva and uttara ardha-s of 18 chapters called shvAsas each. It runs into 1459 devanagari … Continue reading →

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mAdhyamikA the average bhAratIya nArI

Posted on March 26, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Three views of mAdhyamikA with slightly different corrections for noise Finally, we did get to the average bhAratIya nArI business because ST maintained a database of our classmate’s photos from a certain period in a quaint little thing called the … Continue reading →

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Who is he?

Posted on March 24, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

We had a discussion with K, ST and R about some web sites they were reading about obtaining the average facial type of a given population. They pointed me to a great free morphing software that did it- SQIRLZ MORPH. … Continue reading →

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The Atharvanic rudra gAyatrI

Posted on March 22, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The Atharvanic tradition records a special rudra gAyatrI that might be used in regular japa in place of the traditional rudra sAvitrI. This mantra is:tasmai devAya vidhmahe | mahAdevAya dhImahi | tan no rudro .anumanyatAM ||This is known as the … Continue reading →

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Erketu and the titanosaurs

Posted on March 21, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The titanosaurs were the last great radiation of the sauropods. Earlier it was thought that the era of the sauropods was gone with the Jurassic. But over the past two decades the finds of the titanosaurs, show that this lineage … Continue reading →

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The wall of bagalAmukhi

Posted on March 18, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

R told me that her amongst her chosen devatAs whose mantras are perfect with her is bagalAmukhI. Fourier of maNgalagrAma, was initiated into bagalAmukhI vidyAs by the powerful chera magician. bagalAmukhi deployments can be terrifying for the victim and there … Continue reading →

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Jurapterxy- wrong inferences?

Posted on March 16, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Finally the fossil nicknamed Boersti in German was published today. It was officially named Juravenator starki. It is definitely an important fossil that throws much light on the early evolution of coelurosaurs, because Jurassic forms are generally scarce. But there … Continue reading →

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Weather and plants

Posted on March 14, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

We were experiencing a peculiar weather pattern. There was an unusual spring like weather over the past few days -like the premature gift of indra, even before the vishuvAn day had arrived. We noted that a number of plants fired … Continue reading →

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New anomuran crustacean

Posted on March 13, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The jewel of the clan of the foes of the foremost of the amAvasus brought to my attention that a remarkable new anomuran crustacean was discovered. Anomurans are a sister group of the crabs or the Brachyurans. Whereas the Brachyurans … Continue reading →

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Some more special idols worshipped in the family

Posted on March 12, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

chakra-nArAyaNa: The icon of viShNu combined with the sudarshana wheel. He is offered the combined tarpanaM of the ugraviShNu and the bahuchakra mantras. This a replica of the idol housed in the Madhurai shrine, the city with which one of … Continue reading →

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The left-handed aShTha-mukha gaNDabheruNDa nR^ikeshari mantra

Posted on March 11, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

It is said that there are two emanations of the mantra of the most terrible aShTha-mukha gaNDabheruNDa nR^isimha (AMGN)- a dakShiNa and vAma form. The right-handed form is said to lie in the text termed the bhIma-tantra which is a … Continue reading →

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jAtavedase… and shredhI vyavahAra

Posted on March 11, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The hymn RV 1.99 is a peculiar hymn in many ways: jātavedase sunavāma somam-arātīyato ni dahāti vedaḥ | sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṃ duritātyaghniḥ || It is addressed to agni jAtavedas: We extract soma for jAtavedas; may he … Continue reading →

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The tilottamA prayoga

Posted on March 9, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The bhUta tantras recommend the worship of apasaras and provide the outlines for these rites. However, their proper deployment remains unknown except to one who has mastered the true rahasyas. The mantras of the practioners of the chInAchAra are nowhere … Continue reading →

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The Jaziya revolt of Dilli

Posted on March 7, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

There are many accounts of the Jaziya incident floating around in literature, but the account by the official apologist (Khafi Khan) of Awrangzeb is the clearest and from the horse’s mouth. In consultation with his mullahs Awranzeb imposed Jaziya on … Continue reading →

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The death of reNukA

Posted on March 6, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Our ancestress reNukA, the ikShvAku princess and wife of jamadagni, is supposed to have had a checkered career. She is supposed to have been adultrous having had an affair with a yadu prince of mArtikavata, which led to our illustrious … Continue reading →

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sAdhana idols of the clan

Posted on March 5, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

A number of idols have been routinely used by my family in various upAsanas. A few are detailed below: The rudra family: The wooden kumAra on the left is our patron deity, the deity of the clan and the protector … Continue reading →

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vIragaNapati

Posted on March 5, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

My mAtAshrI always draws or paints her own images for her sAdhanas. The most striking of these which is used is the ashvAruDha vIragaNapati. It was of course copied from the original work by a Maharatta artist which was done … Continue reading →

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Su-lu Khan’s heroic struggle against the army of Islam

Posted on March 4, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

When one glances at the map of central Asia one sees Samarqand, Khorezm, Khorasan, Khotan and Bokhara, all once great centers of Indo-Iranian culture, now civilizational tragedies under the mushroom cloud of the Islamic terror. The Turkic struggle against Islam … Continue reading →

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trishiro-bhairava

Posted on March 4, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Images of the hallowed trishirobhairava from kAshmIr, whose avatAra puruSha is dattAtreya. These idols were originally from temples of trishiro bhairava near parihAsapura. They show the left side ugramukha which is (rudra murti) and may have a kapAla, kamaNDalu and … Continue reading →

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Some musings on xenarthran and mammalian evolution

Posted on March 3, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The living xenarthrans (defined by their unique zygapophysis articulations in the lumbar vertebrae) appear to be last representatives of a great adaptive radiation of mammals of the South American land mass. During the connection with North America, the xenarthrans were … Continue reading →

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Meiolaniid turtles

Posted on March 1, 2006 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Meiolaniids are amongst the most fascinating turtles. The first remains of them were found by an Australian collector Bennett who correctly identified them as turtles and sent them to the obnoxious anti-Darwinian anatomist Richard Owen in England. Owen wrongly thought … Continue reading →

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