Tag Archives: Veda

A note on the cow, the horse and the chariot in the Ṛgveda

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

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 →

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The Rāmāyaṇa and a para-Rāmāyaṇa in numbers-II: Evolving early Indo-Aryan warfare

Posted on July 16, 2017 by

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 →

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Matters of religion: discussion on vāyavya offerings

Posted on December 11, 2016 by

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 →

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An astronomical interpretation of the anaḍvān sūkta

Posted on May 29, 2016 by

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 →

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Rudra’s portion of the ritual offering, the Kaṭha Āraṇyaka and the Atharvaśiras: a brief journey through early śaiva thought

Posted on November 4, 2015 by

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 →

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A brief note on animal heads, Celtic human sacrifice, and Indo-European tradition

Posted on August 23, 2015 by

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 →

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A note on the pantheon of the Indian Saura tradition

Posted on August 12, 2015 by

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 →

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