Monthly Archives: June 2008

The mysterious kuchumAra

Posted on June 30, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

A modern Hindu might be deeply offended to learn about kuchumAra. He is a mysterious fellow mentioned in the kAmasUtra by vAtsyAyana as a teacher of the aupaniShadika section (i.e. the 7th division of the kAmashAstra) of the version of … Continue reading →

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The battle with the AkrAnta

Posted on June 29, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The ari-s had always wished evil to befall us and tried a dreadful prayoga that unleashed the grAhin on us. We were tormented by the grAhin even as we headed to the rudhira-sIma. But we invoked skanda to come to … Continue reading →

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The neglect of human sociobiology

Posted on June 29, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

I was at a workshop on new channels of scientific communication. One big theme was the need for the greater openness in scientific communication. It was felt that biologists were less prone to openness than physicists, and much more prone … Continue reading →

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A notable brAhminical clan

Posted on June 25, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Some research into the brAhmaNa-s of the drAviDa country of the vaDama sect and the bhArgava gotra leads to an interesting family that was active in the Middle Vijayanagaran period in the court at Hampe. The patriline belonged to the … Continue reading →

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kaumAra gaja graha

Posted on June 24, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

We observed a description of the the terrifying elephant graha of kArttikeya in the kAshyapa saMhita of the kaumAra tantra-s. The same graha and the underlying mythology are alluded to in the section 129 of the kAshyapa tantraM, the magico-medical … Continue reading →

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lashunotsava or gandha-maha

Posted on June 24, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

Hindu tradition mentions the following tale regarding the discovery and the use of garlic. The brAhmaNa sushruta’s curiosity was aroused by a foul-smelling bulb and he made enquiries regarding it to the renowned medical expert divodAsa, the king of kAshI. … Continue reading →

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The story of the nAstIka attack on rAmeshvaraM

Posted on June 20, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

An exchange with my acquaintance SRA on apotropaic rites related to temples prompted me to record this brief note. The light of the theravAda bauddha-s, the mighty king parAkrama-bAhu the Great (i.e. parAkrama-bAhu-I), came to power in Shri Lanka around … Continue reading →

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The pAshupata-brahmopaniShat (pAshupata brahma [brAhmaNo] upaniShad; PBU)

Posted on June 17, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The pAshupata-brahmopaniShat (pAshupata brahma [brAhmaNo] upaniShad; PBU) The PBU (known as pAshupata-brahmopaniShat or pAshupata brAhmaNopaniShat) is a somewhat neglected upaniShad, which is usually classified as a yoga upaniShad. As is usual of several later upaniShad-s it is attributed to the … Continue reading →

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The atharvashiras preserved in the purANic texts

Posted on June 16, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

I just decided to record this note even though I did not complete the earlier one on the PBU. Upon reading my note on the PBU (as it currently stands), ekanetra made an inquiry regarding the atharvashiras upaniShad(ASU), which alludes … Continue reading →

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Some icons from Nepal

Posted on June 7, 2008 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

In the order shown in the figure 1) kurukullA 2) indra 3) mahiShamardini 4) vasudharA/lakShmI 5) indra 6) vajrapANI 7) shveta-tArA 8) rudrAkSha 9) indra

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