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- Origins of the serpent cult and Bhāguri’s snake installation from the Sāmaveda tradition
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- The death of Miss Lizzie Willink
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Tweets by blog_supplementTop Posts
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Recent Posts
- Looking back at the goroga attacks and forward at geopolitical developments
- Khitans and Mongols: A story of deep and persistent connections-1
- The rise of the psychopath oligarchy
- The rise of yajña and Kauśika exceptionalism
- Tricakra
- Yantrasiddhi
- The dreadful apport
- 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
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Tag Archives: Veda
The rise of yajña and Kauśika exceptionalism
The extant Vedic ritual is bifurcated into two domains the gṛhya (the household rites and rites of passage) and the śrauta (large-scale/grand rituals). First, in operational terms, they are distinguished by the use of a single fire (the aupāsana) in … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, bhrgu, Hindu, Hindu knowledge, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iran, Iranian, Rigveda, ritual, Samaveda, soma, soma ritual, Veda, Yajurveda
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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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RV 10.78
RV 10.77 and 10.78 are similarly themed sūkta-s to the Marut-s by our ancient clansman Syūmaraśmi Bhārgava. He is mentioned twice by authors within the RV – in RV 1.112.16 by Kutsa Āṅgirasa and in RV 8.52.2 by Āyu Kāṇva. … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, atharvaveda, Greek, Hindu, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, marut-s, Rigveda, rudra, skanda, skandapurANa, Veda
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Alkaios’ hymn to the Dioskouroi: Hindu parallels
In this note we shall see how even a short “sūkta” of the yavana Alkaios to the Dioskouroi (individually named Kastor and Polydeukes), the Greek cognates of the Aśvin-s, offers several parallels to the Hindu tradition in the Veda. In … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ashvins, Greek, Greek thought, Hindu knowledge, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Rigveda, Roman, Veda
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A note on Śrī, Viṣṇu and śṛṅgāra
yaḥ pūrvyāya vedhase navīyase sumaj-jānaye viṣṇave dadāśati । yo jātam asya mahato mahi bravat sed u śravobhir yujyaṃ cid abhy asat ॥ RV 1.156.2 Whoever repeatedly performs rituals to the wise one to the ancient and the new one, Viṣṇu, … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, goddesses, gods, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, religion, Rigveda, Veda, vedic, viShNu
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Sneha, snowstorms, the sun and the moon in enigmatic ṛk-s
That the Indo-European homeland was a cold place with snow is evidenced by widespread survival of two hon-homologous words for snow. Recently, a discussion on one of these words, sparked by some linguist, landed on my timeline on Twitter. From … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged astronomy, atharva veda, atharvaveda, gods, Hindu, Hindu knowledge, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, indology, linguistics, Rigveda, Sanskrit, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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Agni as the divine commander in the Veda and the Purāṇa
With the Sākamedha-parvan with the oblations to Agni Anīkavat having just passed, we present a brief note on Agni as the general of the deva army. Agni is presented as the commander of the deva-s in the brāhmaṇa literature. For … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged agni, Aryan, atharva veda, atharvaveda, brahmana, gods, harivaMsha, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, kaumAra ritual, purAna, purANas, Rigveda, ritual, soma ritual, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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Twin Āditya-s, twin Rudra-s
This note originated as an intended appendix to the article on Rudra and the Aśvin-s we published earlier. The first offshoot from that work, which we published separately, explored the links between Rudra, Viṣṇu and the Aśvin-s in the śrauta … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, atharva veda, atharvaveda, evolution of religions, gods, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, religion, Rigveda, saiva, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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Matters of religion: Varuṇāvasiṣṇavam, Agnāvasiṣṇavam and the vyahṛti-s
Like the clouds lifting after the monsoonal deluge to unveil the short-lived comforts of early autumn, the metaphorical pall over the nation cast by the engineer’s virus was lifting. Somakhya and Lootika were at the former’s parents’ house, relieved that … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, evolution of religions, goddesses, gods, Hindu, Hindu knowledge, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, marut-s, religion, Rigveda, rudra, Samaveda, skanda, Story, Veda, vedAnta, vedic, viShNu, Yajurveda
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Making an illustrated Nakṣatra-sūkta and finding the constellation for a point in the sky
The illustrated Nakṣatra-sūkta Towards the latter phase of the Vedic age, multiple traditions independently composed sūkta-s that invoked the pantheon in association with their home nakṣatra-s as part of the śrauta Nakṣatreṣṭi or related gṛhya homa-s. Of these oldest and … Continue reading
Posted in art, Heathen thought, History, Scientific ramblings
Tagged astronomy, atharva veda, atharvaveda, globular clusters, history of science, nakShatra-s, nebula, nebulae, Rigveda, stars, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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A great statistician, and biographical, numerical musings on ancient game
Recently my friend brought it to my attention that C. Radhakrishna Rao had scored a century. Born in 1920 CE to Doraswamy Nayadu and A. Laxmikanthamma from the Andhra country, he is one of the great mathematical thinkers and statisticians … Continue reading
The phantoms of the bone-pipe
As Vidrum was leafing through some recent case studies to gather the literature for his own production, he received a call from his chauffeur. He had fetched Vidrum’s new car. Vidrum went out to take a look at it. As … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History, Life
Tagged bhairava, bhairava temple, death, ghost, ghosts, gupta, Hindu ritual, kaumAra ritual, mAtR^ikA, Rigveda, ritual, skanda, Story, upanisad, upaniShad, Veda, vedAnta
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Some notes on the Brahmayajña brāhmaṇa and Uttama-paṭala of the Atharvaṇ tradition
PDF version The Brahmayajña brāhmaṇa (1.1.29 of the Gopatha-brāhmaṇa) of the Atharvaveda provides a glimpse of the Vedic saṃhitā canon as known to the brāhmaṇa authors of the AV tradition. The Brahmayajña might be done as part of the basic … Continue reading
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Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, brahmana, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Rigveda, Samaveda, Sanskrit, Veda, vedAnta, vedic, Yajurveda
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Yajus incantations for the worship of Rudra from the Kāṭhaka ritual manuals
This article is available as a pdf document. The notes from it are appended below. The loss of the northern and northwestern Kṛṣnayajurveda traditions due to the Mohammedan depredations of Northern India (aided an abetted by the predatory Anglospheric regimes) … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Kashmir, kaTha, Rigveda, rudra, Samaveda, shatarudrIya, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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RV 10.5
The Ṛgveda is replete with obscure sūkta-s but RV 10.5 might easily take a place in the top tier of those. One might even ask why even attempt to write a commentary on this. We admit we could be plainly … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged Aryan, atharva veda, atharvaveda, evolution of religions, gods, Greek, Greek thought, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, mantra, mantra-sAdhana, mantra-shAstra, religion, Rigveda, Veda, vedAnta, vedic
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Viṣṇu, the Marut-s and Rudra
This note might be read as a continuation of the these two earlier ones: 1) The Aśvin-s and Rudra 2) The roots of Vaiṣṇavam: a view from the numerology of Vedic texts In the Ṛgveda (RV), the Marut-s are seen … Continue reading
Posted in Life
Tagged agni, ashvins, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, indra, Rigveda, rudra, shatarudrIya, varuNa, ved, Veda, vedAnta, vedic, viShNu, Yajurveda
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Notes on miscellaneous brāhmaṇa passages from the Yajurveda
The upasthāna ritual is performed to let the sacrificial fire remain in residence after the primary oblations are complete. In the triple-fire śrauta rite this is done at the āhavanīya altar with several incantations specified in the saṃhitā-s of the … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged Hindu, Hindu knowledge, Hindu mathematics, Hindu ritual, religion, Rigveda, ritual, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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The Aśvin-s and Rudra
The twin Aśvin-s and Rudra are both Indo-Aryan reflexes of two deity-classes which can be reconstructed as likely being present in the Proto-Indo-European religion. Both are likely to have even deeper roots going back to even earlier religious traditions across … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged archaeology, ashvins, astronomy, atharva veda, atharvaveda, Hindu, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, religion, Rigveda, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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Matters of religion-3
Lootika seeing Somakhya contemplating something remarked: “That great clash of men is upon us, where, as the śruti says, our flag will be mingled with that of the enemy in close combat.” Somakhya: “It’s almost as if your mind is … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, Life
Tagged atharva veda, atharvaveda, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, religion, Rigveda, ritual, Story, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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Kaiṭabha, poison and death: meanderings through tradition
For better reading try PDF version The medical Suśruta-saṃhitā, kalpasthāna, chapter 3 contains an unusual mythologem about the origin of poison. It clearly belongs to the Prājāpatya tradition and presents some unusual features. It presented in full below: prajām imām … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged atharvaveda, brahmA, brahmana, death, Hindu, poison, religion, Rigveda, Samaveda, Veda, vedic, Yajurveda
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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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Notes on the Bhadra-sūkta, a hymn for felicity to the Vedic pantheon
For better type-setting and Devanagari rendering use PDF version. Introduction Several sub-schools of the Taittirīya school of the Kṛṣṇayajurveda possess their own collections of mantra-s distinct from their saṃhitā-s known as the mantra-pāṭha-s. These include mantra-s that are often found … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged atharvaveda, deities, deva, devI, goddesses, gods, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, religion, Rigveda, Samaveda, sanAtana-dharma, Veda, vedic, Venus, Yajurveda
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Making of a modern-day mantra-śāstra pamphlet
Originally, all mantra instructions were oral, keeping with the spirit of the śruti. But over time, starting probably around the Mauryan age, written manuals began to supplement the oral teachings. Thus, through the ages practitioners of the mantra-lore have made … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, Life
Tagged atharvaveda, Indo-Aryan, Indo-Iranian, mantra, mantra-sAdhana, mantra-shAstra, religion, Rigveda, Veda, Yajurveda
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A note on āmreḍita-s in the Ṛgveda and issues of word distribution
sa darśataśrīr atithir gṛhe-gṛhe vane-vane śiśriye takvavīr iva । janaṃ-janaṃ janyo nāti manyate viśa ā kṣeti viśyo viśaṃ-viśam ॥ RV 10.91.2 by Aruṇa Vaitahavya He, with visible auspiciousness, a guest in house after house, in forest after forest lurking like … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged grammar, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Hindus, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, linguistics, mantra, religion, Rigveda, ritual, Veda, vedic
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A note on the cow, the horse and the chariot in the Ṛgveda
yasmai tvaṃ sukṛte jātaveda u lokam agne kṛṇavaḥ syonam | aśvinaṃ sa putriṇaṃ vīravantaṃ gomantaṃ rayiṃ naśate svasti || For whom you will make a pleasant world, O Jātavedas! as he does correct rituals for you, O Agni! He endowed with … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged chariot, cow, holy cow, horse, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, indology, Rigveda, Veda, vedic
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The Rāmāyaṇa and a para-Rāmāyaṇa in numbers-II: Evolving early Indo-Aryan warfare
This article might be read in as a continuation of this earlier one. The methods/caveats mentioned therein apply here too. Some of the counts mentioned in this article might be approximate but should be generally in the correct range, i.e. … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged archery, arrow, bow, chariot, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, rAmAyaNa, Veda, war, weapons
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Matters of religion: discussion on vāyavya offerings
Somakhya and Lootika had revived the private one day rite in the manner of their ancestors as had been ordained by the youthful sage Śunaḥśepa Ājigarti. They were resting at the corner of their fire-room in the interval between the … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged Ape, Hanumat, Hindu ritual, indra, rAmAyaNa, religion, shastra, soma, Story, vAnara, vAyu, Veda
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An astronomical interpretation of the anaḍvān sūkta
This may be seen as a continuation of this note: Anatomy and heavens in the boomorphic universe. The anaḍvān sūkta is an enigmatic sūkta from the Atharvaveda which falls in the same class as other sūkta-s which describe a “boomorphic” … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History, Scientific ramblings
Tagged ancient Hindu thought, astronomy, Hindu, Hindu ritual, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, indra, Pleiades, prajApati, Taurus, Veda, vedic
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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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A brief note on animal heads, Celtic human sacrifice, and Indo-European tradition
Our illustrious ancestor Dadhyaṅc Ātharvaṇa is supposed to have possessed privileged knowledge from the great Indra that even the twin gods, the Aśvin-s, sought to get it from him. However, speaking out this secret knowledge would have cost him his … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged agni, Celtic, Hindu, Indo-Aryan, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Veda, vedic
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A note on the pantheon of the Indian Saura tradition
The Indian Saura-mata (or the Hindu sect of the Sun) is an amalgam of two distinct layers [Footnote 1]: 1) The endogenous layer of solar deities going back to the Veda and 2) the neo-morphic layer of Iranic origin which … Continue reading
Posted in art, Heathen thought, History
Tagged Aditya, agni, ancient Hindu thought, atharvaveda, indra, Iranian, Rigveda, Sanskrit, solar worship, vaiShNava, varuNa, Veda
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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 brief note on prahlAda, hiraNyakashipu and an early nArasiMhAkhyAna
The daitya-s prahrAda/prahlAda and virochana are known in the veda itself. The killing of prahlAda and his clan by indra in a battle in the high heavens is alluded to in more than one post-RV vaidika text. This great battle … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought
Tagged Hindu, hiranyakashipu, indra, mahAbharata, narasimha, nR^isiMha, prahlada, purAna, purANas, rAmAyaNa, rudra, Veda, viShNu
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The mayAbheda sUkta: a discursion
In the great pravargya ritual the mAhAvIra pot containing the milk of a cow and a goat, i.e. the gharma offering, is intensely heated until it starts glowing. When the pot starts glowing the hotar looks at it starts reciting … Continue reading
Posted in Heathen thought, History
Tagged gandharva, gharma, Hindu, Hindu ritual, indra, mahAvIra pot, mAyA, mAyAbheda, prANa, pravargya, Rigveda, sun, Veda, yoga vAsiShTha; indrajAla
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The songs of shunaHshepa and nArada
In the nocturnal ritual of the soma rite 27th and 28th sAmavedic stuti-s are described below. These songs are sung sometime between 12.30-1.00 AM. The sAmavedic mantra-s have the following musical pattern with respect to the three sAmavedin ritualists: The … Continue reading
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