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- A further image of rAjAdhirAja from shailendra Java https://t.co/y29AaNz9Ir 17 hours ago
- A further gaNesha pendant from the champA kingdom in what's today Vietnam. https://t.co/amxnJg48VB 17 hours ago
- Interesting graphs in this article by Haidt: jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/mental-healt… While Haidt himself likes to play equal-equal i… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 17 hours ago
- There is an interesting parallel across steppe-derived civilizations that persisted across time & even post-settlem… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago
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- Some ruminations on asteroids and meteoritic falls
- Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
- The Vyomavyāpin in the Pāśupata-tantra and a discursion on nine-fold Rudra-mantra-s
- Bhāskara-II’s polygons and an algebraic approximation for sines of pi by x
- Origins of the serpent cult and Bhāguri’s snake installation from the Sāmaveda tradition
- Two simple stotra-s, sectarian competition, and the Varāha episode from the archaic Skandapurāṇa
- The zombie obeys: a note on host manipulation by parasites and its ecological consequences
- Cārucitrābhisambodhi
- RV 10.78
- The turning of the yugacakra
- A sampler of Ramanujan’s elementary results and their manifold ramifications
- A catalog of attractors, repellors, cycles, and other oscillations of some common functional iterates
- The wink of the Gorgon and the twang of the Lyre
- Some poems
- The Kaumāra cycle in the Skandapurāṇa’s Śaṃkara-saṃhitā
- Some notes on the runiform “Altaic” inscriptions and the early Turk Khaghanates: Orkhon and beyond
- Vikīrṇā viṣayāḥ: India and the Rus
- Alkaios’ hymn to the Dioskouroi: Hindu parallels
- Some notes on the Indo-European aspects of the Anatolian tradition
- The death of Miss Lizzie Willink
- Indo-European expansions and iconography: revisiting the anthropomorphic stelae
- Geopolitical summary: March 2022
- Human retroviruses, sociology of science, and biographical ruminations
- Transcripts of conversations: the addiction principle:
- Phantom impressions-1
- A note on Śrī, Viṣṇu and śṛṅgāra
- Are civilizational cycles the norm?
- On the rise of the mātṛkā-s and the goddess Cāmuṇḍā
- Huns, Uralics, and empires of the steppe
- Some observations on the Lekkerkerker-Zeckendorf decomposition of integers
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Pages
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Search this Blog
Archives
mAnasa-taraMgiNI supplement
- A further image of rAjAdhirAja from shailendra Java https://t.co/y29AaNz9Ir 17 hours ago
- A further gaNesha pendant from the champA kingdom in what's today Vietnam. https://t.co/amxnJg48VB 17 hours ago
- Interesting graphs in this article by Haidt: jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/mental-healt… While Haidt himself likes to play equal-equal i… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 17 hours ago
- There is an interesting parallel across steppe-derived civilizations that persisted across time & even post-settlem… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago
Top Posts
-
Recent Posts
- Some ruminations on asteroids and meteoritic falls
- Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
- The Vyomavyāpin in the Pāśupata-tantra and a discursion on nine-fold Rudra-mantra-s
- Bhāskara-II’s polygons and an algebraic approximation for sines of pi by x
- Origins of the serpent cult and Bhāguri’s snake installation from the Sāmaveda tradition
- Two simple stotra-s, sectarian competition, and the Varāha episode from the archaic Skandapurāṇa
- The zombie obeys: a note on host manipulation by parasites and its ecological consequences
- Cārucitrābhisambodhi
- RV 10.78
- The turning of the yugacakra
- A sampler of Ramanujan’s elementary results and their manifold ramifications
- A catalog of attractors, repellors, cycles, and other oscillations of some common functional iterates
- The wink of the Gorgon and the twang of the Lyre
- Some poems
- The Kaumāra cycle in the Skandapurāṇa’s Śaṃkara-saṃhitā
- Some notes on the runiform “Altaic” inscriptions and the early Turk Khaghanates: Orkhon and beyond
- Vikīrṇā viṣayāḥ: India and the Rus
- Alkaios’ hymn to the Dioskouroi: Hindu parallels
- Some notes on the Indo-European aspects of the Anatolian tradition
- The death of Miss Lizzie Willink
- Indo-European expansions and iconography: revisiting the anthropomorphic stelae
- Geopolitical summary: March 2022
- Human retroviruses, sociology of science, and biographical ruminations
- Transcripts of conversations: the addiction principle:
- Phantom impressions-1
- A note on Śrī, Viṣṇu and śṛṅgāra
- Are civilizational cycles the norm?
- On the rise of the mātṛkā-s and the goddess Cāmuṇḍā
- Huns, Uralics, and empires of the steppe
- Some observations on the Lekkerkerker-Zeckendorf decomposition of integers
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Tag Archives: shiva
The Vyomavyāpin in the Pāśupata-tantra and a discursion on nine-fold Rudra-mantra-s
The Pāśupata-tantra is a poorly understood śaiva text that is believed to be affiliated with the Pāśupata tradition of Lakulīśa. While the colophons of some manuscripts present it as “Lakulīśa-pravartita-Pāśupata-tantram”, internally, it presents itself as a teaching of Nandin to … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, Life
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, Hindu, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, kaula, mantra, mantra-sAdhana, mantra-shAstra, pA~ncharAtra, religion, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva, tantra, tantra age
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Origins of the serpent cult and Bhāguri’s snake installation from the Sāmaveda tradition
Mathuran Nāga installations From the few centuries preceding it down to the first few centuries of the Common Era we see numerous installations of snake deities, i.e., Nāga-s, at various archaeological sites throughout northern India (most famously at the holy … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, atharvaveda, balabhadra, Hindu, Indo-Aryan, mahAbharata, mantra, mantra-sAdhana, mantra-shAstra, religion, Rigveda, Samaveda, saMkarShaNa, shiva, snake, tantra, tantra age, tantras, vaiShNava, Veda, viShNu, Yajurveda
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Two simple stotra-s, sectarian competition, and the Varāha episode from the archaic Skandapurāṇa
The Ur-Skandapurāṇa (SkP) or the “archaic” Skandapurāṇa ( the Bhaṭṭārāi edition known as the Ambikā-khaṇḍa) is a Śaiva text with affinities to the Pāśupata branch of that tradition. Though it is aware of the mantra-mārga traditions like the Mātṛ-tantra-s and … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged gods, Hindu, Hindu knowledge, Hindu ritual, indra, kumAra, narasimha, nR^isiMha, padma purana, purAna, purANas, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva, skanda, skandapurANa, vaiShNava, vamana, vamAna-purANa, varAha, viShNu
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The Kaumāra cycle in the Skandapurāṇa’s Śaṃkara-saṃhitā
Many khaṇḍa-s, māhātmya-s and saṃhitā-s attach themselves to the sprawling “Mega-Skandapurāṇa”. We use this term to distinguish it from the “Ur-Skandapurāṇa”, which was first published by Bhaṭṭārāi in the late 1980s and is now known to survive as three related … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged gods, heathen, Hindu, Hindu ritual, karttikeya, kaumAra, kaumAra ritual, kumAra, kumArasaMbhava, mantra, purAna, purANas, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva, shiva purana, skanda, skandapurANa, tantra, tantras, viShNu
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On the rise of the mātṛkā-s and the goddess Cāmuṇḍā
The roots of the mātṛkā-s in the śruti and the Kaumāra tradition The standard list of 7/8 goddesses known as the mātṛkā-s is a hallmark feature of the classical religion: Brāhmī, Māheśvarī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī, Indrāṇī, Cāmuṇḍā, sometimes with the … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged bhairava, bhairava temple, erotic, evolution of religions, goddesses, gods, Hindu, Hindu ritual, kaula, kaumAra ritual, kumAra, mantra, mantra-sAdhana, mantra-shAstra, mathurA, mAtR^ikA, matsya purANa, religion, ritual, rudra, saiva, seven goddesses, shaiva, shakta, shatarudrIya, shiva, temple, twelve goddess
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The strange case of the Āpastamba sprite
This is the second of the two stories that arose from incidents during the visit of Yaśaśravas, Somakhya’s cousin. With the autumnal vacations, Somakhya was having a good time with his visiting cousin, giving him lectures on the theory and … Continue reading
Matters of religion: the Vāyavīyaṃ Kaubera-vratam
The bus came to halt at the underground stop. Vrishchika of pretty tresses got off the bus and walked up the stairs to reach the over-bridge. She reached the middle of the bridge and stood there looking out expectantly at … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, Life
Tagged atharvaveda, evolution of religions, goddesses, gods, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, kubera, religion, Rigveda, rudra, shiva, Story, varuNa, vAyu, Veda, Yajurveda
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Śiva-gaṇa-s and Andhakāsura-vadha in the Vāmana-purāṇa
On Twitter, one of our acquaintances going by the name @GhorAngirasa had a discussion on the significance of the number 66 in śaiva tradition. That reminded us of an unfinished article where we had noted this number in the context … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged Hindu, Hindu ritual, indra, pAshupata, purAna, purANas, religion, shaiva, shiva, vamAna-purANa, viShNu
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A rambling talk on the śaiva mantra tradition
A rambling talk we had given on the śaiva tradition. Talking is easier but less precise than writing. So please be aware of the insufficiency that goes with the domain of any talk while perusing this material. Part 1; Introduction to … Continue reading
A note on lost Śaiva centers: consideration of examples from Magadha and Vaṅga
To be read in conjunction with this handout: Harihara in the Indosphere One of the poorly understood but immensely important facets of Hindu history is the role of the saiddhāntika Śaiva-s in the cultural unification of the Indosphere within the … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, Anti-Hindu, Army of Islam, Hindu, history, India, medieval Hindu literature, Mohammedanism, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva, tantra
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Rudra’s portion of the ritual offering, the Kaṭha Āraṇyaka and the Atharvaśiras: a brief journey through early śaiva thought
A version of this article was published first at India Facts There is a persistent motif of the deva Rudra (Śiva) being originally refused ritual offerings of the yajña to which the other deva-s were entitled. Rudra eventually acquires his … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, Hindu, Rigveda, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva, upaniShad, Veda, vedic
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Battle of the agents
As PDF It was the last day of school and the exams were to begin at the start of the next week. Following their parents stern instructions, Jhilleeka and Varoli decided not hangout after school and were returning home on … Continue reading
Posted in art, Heathen thought, Life
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, fungi, land snails, shiva, skanda, Story
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The indrajAla-sUktaM and the atharvan military ritual
An atharvan military ritual for kShatriya-s headed to war involves deployment of AV-vulgate 8.8 or its cognate AV-P 16.29. The ritual is specified by the kaushika sUtra 16.9-20 and some details are provided by the atharvan commentators dArila and keshava. … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, castor, Hindu ritual, indra, indra's web, indrajAla, kShatriya, net, rudra, shiva, trap, Veda, vedic, war
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A stotra to shiva and viShNu with a few allusions to kumAra thrown in
The stotra is attributed to the R^iShi agastya and is embedded in the vAmana purANa:
Some comments of on the vyapohana stava and its pantheon
The vyapohana stava is an important saiddhAntika purificatory incantation. It may be compared with other works composed by deshika-s of the Urdhvasrotas such as: 1) the vyomavApistava of the Kashmirian commentator bhaTTa rAmakANTha-II; 2) the shiva-pUjA-stava of j~nAnashambhu, a scholar … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, Hindu, pAshupata, rudra, shaiva, shiva, tantra
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Vignettes from the kumAra saMbhava
The mAtR^i-s and gaNa-s of rudra: The image of rudra being accompanied by female deities is an ancient one which goes back to the shruti. In the shatarudrIya of the yajurveda the following mantra-s are seen: nama AvyadhinIbhyo vividhyantIbhyash cha … Continue reading
Posted in art, Heathen thought
Tagged bioluminescent fungi, brahmA, elephant, Himalayas, ichor, kAlidAsa, kavI, kumArasaMbhava, musth, naturalist, poet, poetry, prajApati, sAMkhya, saptamAtR^ikA, seven mothers, shiva, umA
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A narrative on the kAlAmukha-s: implications for the bhairava-srotas
We had earlier briefly considered the kAlAmukha-s on these pages. While once prominent in both the north and south of the country, their last occurrences are recorded only in the south (though they clearly acknowledge their connections to the northern … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ganesha, kAlAmukha, kApAlika, kumAra, rudra, saiva, shaiva, shiva
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The “paurANic” element of the pashchimAmnAya
In the days after the fierce battle of dvAdashAnta, after we had overthrown the kR^ityAstra that struck us, we were resting in the city of the karnATa-s. There while meditating on the aghora mantra we experienced that connection with samayA … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged goddesses, kaula, rudra, shaiva, shiva, tantra, tantra age, tantras
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