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Sriman Swamy
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 9/6/20

Sriman Swamy was a sannyasin and Honorary Secretary of "The Cow Memorial Fund" of Allahabad, a movement for the protection of cattle and the improvement of agriculture in India.

On August 7, 1889, he wrote the following letter to Lucifer:

In reply to your enquiries I may say that I certify on my word as a Sanyassi that I have twice visited Tibet since the year 1879; that I have personally become acquainted with several Mahatmas, among whom were the two known to the outside word as Mahatma “M” and Mahatma “K. H.”; that I spent some time in their company; that they told me that they and other Mahatmas were interested in the work of the Theosophical Society; that Mahatma “M” told me he had been the (occult) guardian of Madame Blavatsky from her infancy.

And I further certify that in March 1887 I saw Mr. Damodar K. Mavalankar at L’hassa, in a convalescent state. He told me, in the presence of Mahatma “K. H.” that he had been at the point of death in the previous year.[1]

In a letter to her friend N. D. Khandalavala, Mme. Blavatsky told him that this letter contained two "fibs": (a) "Damodar never was at Lhassa nor Sriman Swamy either, and not being permitted to say where he saw Damodar he gave a wrong name"; and (b) "My Master never told him what he says of me, but he heard it from a chela".

Notes

1. Sriman Swamy, "News of Damodar" published online at http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/srimanswamy.htm

******************************

News of Damodar: A Letter from Sriman Swamy
Reprinted from Lucifer (London), Volume 5
September 1889, p. 68.

The following letter has been forwarded to the Theosophist (1) for publication. It is the reply of the Sriman Swamy, the Secretary of “The Cow Memorial Fund” (a movement for the protection of cattle and the improvement of agriculture that promises to become national), to the enquiries of a friend of Damodar, who had heard that the Swamy had lately visited Tibet, and was anxious to know whether he had heard or seen anything of our absent brother. Since then I have had two conversations with the Swamy, in the course of which he corroborated what he had said in his letter, and left on my mind the impression of being an able and sincere man, imbued with patriotic sentiments, and perfectly loyal to the Empress and her Government; anxious only that the true state of affairs should be understood, and perfectly willing to trust to the justice and generosity of the English people to institute remedies for the evils that he believes to exist.

RICHARD HARTE.
Acting Editor of the Theosophist.

Madras, August 7th, 1889
To . . . . . .
DEAR SIR AND BROTHER,

In reply to your enquiries I may say that I certify on my word as a Sanyassi that I have twice visited Tibet since the year 1879; that I have personally become acquainted with several Mahatmas, among whom were the two known to the outside word as Mahatma “M” and Mahatma “K. H.”; that I spent some time in their company; that they told me that they and other Mahatmas were interested in the work of the Theosophical Society; that Mahatma “M” told me he had been the (occult) guardian of Madame Blavatsky from her infancy.

And I further certify that in March 1887 I saw Mr. Damodar K. Mavalankar at L’hassa, in a convalescent state. He told me, in the presence of Mahatma “K. H.” that he had been at the point of death in the previous year.

(Signed) Sriman Swamy.
Hon. Sec. Cow Memorial Fund of Allahabad.

BA [Blavatsky Archives] Editorial Note: In a letter dated "London, 21-Nov., 1889" to Mr. N. D. Khandalavala, Madame Blavatsky made the following comments on the letter written by Sriman Swamy:

"My Dear Mr. Khandalavala,

I have given to your letter of the 25th Oct., the closest attention, though there is nothing in it I did not know before; and now shall answer it with all seriousness. . . . As regards the state of the Indian Sections of the Society, and the complaints against Olcott, I observe the following things. . . .

. . . That Damodar is believed to have been driven away by harsh treatment to live or die as he pleased; and that he is, in fact, dead.

. . . . That the publication of Sriman Swamy's letter by me [in Lucifer] is traceable to Col. Olcott's 'craving for strange stories and his anxiety to publish them without throughly verifying them in the first instance.'

. . . Let me reply. . . .

. . . Damodar is not dead, and Olcott knows it as well as I do. I had a letter from him not more than 3 months ago. . . .

. . . No matter what your lying Sriman Swamy may, or may not be --- one cannot always tell --- he passed successfully through a cross examination by Mr. Subba Row, who pronounced him a real 'chela of the 2nd Class' to several witnesses in Madras --- Judge Srinivas Row among others, Olcott, etc. Without help he [Sriman Swamy] identified the two portraits [of the Masters M. and K.H.] saying which was which, and gave facts not obtainable from books. The certificate he gave was sent [to me] by Harte as a duplicate of what was to appear in the Theosophist, and I printed it [in the September 1889 issue of Lucifer] for reasons of my own, even after Harte had written that he suppressed it (1) (through funk of the disbelieving Hindus) at Adyar. I made no comments on it [when published in Lucifer] because there were two fibs in it: (a) Damodar never was at Lhassa nor Sriman Swamy either, and not being permitted to say where he saw Damodar he gave a wrong name; and (b) My Master never told him what he says of me, but he heard it from a chela. I printed it with the lies, for two reasons --- firstly, since I published it at all I had no right to change one word; secondly, I wanted to see what they would say in India to this; in India where every lie is believed and repeated most readily, while truth is rejected, smothered shot out of the guns (metaphorically) by rulers and by the ruled. Aye, India does crucify truth as readily as it is crucified here [in England]. Therefore, it was not yet intimated to me Mr. Subba Row had discovered his mistake about the Swamy being 'a chela of the 2nd Class,' whatever it may mean in India, as in Tibet it means nothing. . . ." The Theosophist (Adyar, Madras, India), August 1932, pp. 618-619, 623-625.

(1) The letter from Sriman Swamy was never published in the Theosophist. H.P. Blavatsky printed it in Lucifer. See Madame Blavatsky's comments above. ---BA Editor.]

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Franz Hartmann
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 9/6/20

-- The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombas of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and the Substance of His Teachings Concerning Cosmology, Anthropology, Pneumatology, Magic and Sorcery, Medicine, Alchemy and Astrology, Philosophy and Theosophy, by Franz Hartmann, M.D.

Dr. Franz Hartmann

Franz Hartmann (November 22, 1838 in Donauwörth, Bavaria; August 7, 1912 in Kempten im Allgäu) was a German medical doctor, Theosophist, occultist, astrologer, and author. His works include several books on esoteric studies and biographies of Jakob Böhme and Paracelsus. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into German and was the editor of the journal Lotusblüten. He was at one time a co-worker of H. P. Blavatsky and H. S. Olcott at Adyar. In 1896 he founded a German Theosophical Society.

Early Years

When Franz was about one year old, his parents (his father Dr. Karl Hartmann, was a well-known physician; his mother, Elize von Stack, was of Irish descent) moved to Kempten in Southern Bavaria, where his father had been appointed Government physician. Franz was educated there, first under the guidance of his grandfather who had served the French army under Napoleon, and later in the local public school.

Even when he was very young, Franz Hartmann felt as if he had two distinct personalities in him: one was a mystic, a dreamer and an idealist, while the other was obstinate and self-willed, inclined to all sorts of mischief. He loved solitude, shunned the company of schoolmates, and reveled in the midst of nature, where intercourse with the spirits of nature was to him a very real thing. He was educated in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and his mind was influenced at first by its ceremonies, but none of the priests could give him any satisfactory explanation about the mystery and power back then. He was also interested in natural sciences, especially chemistry, and languages.[1][2]

Youth

At the age of 21 he volunteered for the Bavarian artillery and took part in the war between Austria and Italy in 1959. He then studied medicine and became a physician in 1859. As a student he excelled but he also enjoyed dueling, drinking and other amusements. He emigrated to America in 1865 and became an American citizen in 1867. He traveled around the U.S. and Mexico and worked as a doctor, first in St. Louis and then in New Orleans.

During his travels, Franz Hartmann deliberately associated himself with people of various religious backgrounds. He boarded a whole year in the house of a Jewish Rabbi. He had come to realize the utter emptiness of Christian beliefs, especially among the Protestants.[3]

Around 1871, he was beginning to show an interest in spiritualism:

Though adverse to Spiritualism, his curiosity nevertheless prompted him to visit a certain “materializing séance” held by a medium, where he witnessed very startling phenomena. He became interested and attended lectures by Professor J.M. Peebles, whose philosophy appeared to him to be rational, even though it overthrew all the materialistic theories.[4]

He studied the events and life of a medium in Denver, seeing firsthand the dangers of the occult, as the medium became increasingly under the power of the channeled spirit, and eventually slipped into madness. As his interest in spiritualism continued to develop, he visited a number of American Indian tribes to research their religious beliefs, and at some point was active in the Spiritualist circles of New Orleans.[5]

The Theosophical Society

Leaving the world of travel and spirits for a time, he married a woman from Texas, where they resided on her ranch. It was short lived however, as she died within months. In 1879 he went to Colorado and settled for the time being at Georgetown, feeling very much at home in the Rocky Mountains. During that time, he learned about Theosophy, coming across a copy of A. P. Sinnett’s book The Occult World. He contacted Col. H. S. Olcott, a correspondence ensued, and Col. Olcott invited him to the Theosophical Society's headquarters in Adyar. Hartmann was approved for membership in the Theosophical Society on March 25, 1883.[6]

Before leaving for India he stopped at Salt Lake City to study the life of the Mormons, and then proceeded to San Francisco where he fell desperately in love. A serious inner struggle ensued, but at last the desire for occult knowledge gained the upper hand. Hartmann left California on October 11, 1883 on board the SS Coptic.[7][8]

He arrived in Adyar on December 4, 1883[9] and served as the delegate of the three existing American branches to the December 1883 convention.[10] In February 1884, when the Founders left for Europe, he was appointed chairman of the newly created Board of Control to manage the affairs at headquarters during their absence. The Coulumb Affair came to a head while he was serving in that capacity, but he remained loyal to the TS and the Founders throughout. Later, he published a Report of observations Made During a Nine Months' Stay at the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society, which is said to be unsurpassed historically because of its objectivity and honesty. Hartmann did play a significant part in that drama. He was an unusual man and the Masters did show interest in him. As far as is known, he received at least ten letters from them, which have been preserved only partially.[11]

Dr. Hartmann left India with H.P.B. and her small party in March 1885 and after they had reached Europe, Dr. Hartmann remained with her at Naples and at Torre del Greco. When H.P.B. moved to Würzburg, he first went to Munich, to see his sister, Countess von Spreti, then to Kempten, in Bavaria, to visit his relatives and to have a look at the place where he had spent his youth.

Subsequently, he visited H.P.B., both at Würzburg and in London before she passed away. There was a time after the drama at Headquarters H.P.B had her doubts about Hartmann, but in the letter she wrote him on April 3, 1886 she told him the “Master’s voice told me I was mistaken in you and had to keep friends”.[12]

Dr. Hartmann longed to go back to America but when he was almost ready to leave he made the acquaintance of an occult student who was the leader of a small body of real Rosicrucians and decided to stay in Kempten to study with a group of mystical students, most of whom were poor people, without scholastic education of any kind, but had experienced within themselves some genuine spiritual conditions. Much of what Hartmann wrote in his later books was based on instructions he received from these people.[13]

Contact with Mahatma Morya

He had the opportunity to see Mahatma M. in his astral form:

On the evening of December 4, 1883, I arrived at Madras and was kindly received by Mr. G. Muttuswami Chettyar, who conducted me to his carriage, and away we went towards Adyar, situated in a suburb of the city of Madras, about six miles from the landing place of the steamer.

Before retiring to rest, I expressed a desire to see the pictures of the Mahatmas, these mysterious beings, superior to man, of whom I had heard so much, and I was taken upstairs, to see the "shrine" in which those pictures were kept. The pictures represented two men with oriental features and in corresponding dress. The expression of their faces was mild and yet serene.

[Some time later] I [saw] Mahatma [Morya] in his astral form. He appeared to me, accompanied by the astral forms of two chelas. His presence left an exhilarating and elevating influence, which did not fade away until several days after.[14]

Letters from Mahatma Koot Hoomi

Even though Sven Eek has written that at least ten letters were sent by the Mahatmas to Dr. Hartmann, only two have been published. During 1884, when Hartmann was involved with the Board of Control and the Coulomb affair, he received two letters of guidance from Mahatma Koot Hoomi, or K.H.

In Letter 28 of Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom First Series, K.H. writes about the qualities that make Damodar valuable.

In Letter 73 of Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom Second Series, K.H. dicussses how best to work with Madame Coulomb.

Lotusblüten

In 1888, Hartmann travelled for a while in the U.S.A. but returned soon to his home country. In 1893 he became the editor of Lotusblüten which appeared between the years 1893-1900, containing sixteen volumes. It was later revived under the title of Neue Lotusblüten (1908-1912, five volumes). [15]The issues of these periodicals contain many interesting articles from able writers, besides Hartmann’s own essays, some of which later appeared in book-form.

Founding of the Internationale Theosophische Verbrüderung [International theosophical fraternization]


German Theosophical magazine THEOSOPHIE HEUTE

Around the turn of the century, Hartmann was living in Austria and was then Director of a sanatorium for tuberculosis. At the time of the so-called “split” in the Theosophical Society, he identified himself with the American Organization headed by William Quan Judge, known then under the name of the Theosophical Society in America. After Judge’s death in 1896, he supported for a while the activities of Katherine Tingley, and was elected, August 1896, President of a Theosophical Group founded by her in Germany while on a round-the-world trip. His association with Katherine Tingley did not last, however, and he soon disbanded the group, and founded in Munich on September 3, 1897, a body known as the Internationale Theosophische Verbrüderung, on lines which he considered to be closer to those indicated by H.P.B. in the early days. It was under the jurisdiction of a three-member Council, the Doctor himself remaining until his passing the Corresponding Secretary of the group. A year after the founding, the seat of this group was transferred to Leipzig.[16]

The Society is still active today under the name Theosophische Gesellschaft in Deutschland e.V., holding summer conferences in Calw, Germany and other events in Berlin, Dresden, Gelsenkirchen, and Heidelberg. They have their own website with general information about the Society and the goals of Theosophy. Anybody who is interested can apply for membership. The yearly fee is 30 Euro.[17]The Society publishes the magazine "THEOSOPHIE HEUTE" (Theosophie Today) three times a year.[18] They also have a library in Heidelberg where members and non-members can borrow books.[19]

Magical Healing from a Distance


Dr. Franz Hartmann

In his autobiography Hartmann shares a personal experience with Dr. J. R. Newton, [20] a spiritual healer who amongst scholars today remains almost completely unknown but who was in the 1860s and 1870s one of the most celebrated and widely recognized non-medical healer of his day. [21] He explains, that Dr. Newton “performed unbelievable medical cures of people who turned to him by writing letters, who he never saw and without any external remedies, simply through his mental will".[22]”. Hartmann had been suffering for 36 years from a skin disease, most likely psoriasis, which was a huge burden in his life which kept him from getting any sleep. He had consulted numerous medical authorities in Europe and America but nobody could help him and eventually he started using chloroform and chloral to get a few hours of sleep every night. He decided to write Dr. Newton a letter and one night he sat at around 8:00 on the veranda of a farm close to an Indian tribe and described what followed: “I suddenly felt an electric shock run through my limbs and at the same moment I had the inner conviction that this was the magic healing power of Dr. Newton. The following night was the first in which I had peace and from that moment on I was completely healed". [23]”. Shortly afterwards he received a letter by Dr. Newton who told him the exact time (which overlapped with the described occurrence) who had written that he had sent him a mild electric shock which would be sufficient to heal him.

Ordo Templis Orientis

Dr. Hartmann was one of the co-founders of Ordo Templis Orientis (O.T.O.), international fraternal and religious organization, along with Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, Henry Klein and Charles Détré.

In 1902, Hartmann assisted Reuss in obtaining warrants from John Yarker to form a Sovereign Sanctuary in Germany for the Masonic Rites of Memphis and Mizraim, and to form a German Grand Orient for the Cernau Council Scottish Rite. Hartmann initially held high offices in both the Sovereign Sanctuary and the Grand Orient. In 1906, Reuss combined the two organizations under the umbrella of Kellner’s Ordo Templi Orientis, and Hartmann was given the title of “Honorary Grand Master of the Sovereign Sanctuary.”[24]

Later years

Dr. Hartmann died on August 7, 1912, from heart-failure at Kempten, in Southern Bavaria – the place of his birth.

Writings and Lectures

Hartmann was one of the most prolific writers on occultism of his time. The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 272 articles by or about Hartman. In 1884/1885, Hartmann published in The Theosophist several articles published under the pseudonym "American Buddhist" or "AB." Among these is the series "Practical Instructions for Students of Occultism," which formed the basis for his book, Magic, White and Black.

Hartmann inspired many members and gave hundreds of lectures in Germany. He wrote both in German and English. The Theosophical work was forbidden during the Nazi-regime and many of Hartmann's German books were destroyed by the Nazis but have been reprinted after 1945.[25]

He was the author of the following books in English:

• 'Report of observations Made During a Nine Months' Stay at the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society. Madras: [the author], 1884.
• The Talking Village of Urur. A novel lampooning his colleagues at Adyar.
• Magic, White and Black. 1885. Available at Hathitrust.
• The Life and Doctrines of Paracelsus. 1887.
• An Adventure among the Rosicrucians. 1887. Available at Hathitrust.
• Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians. 1888.
• The Principles of Astrological Geomancy. 1889.
• In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom. 1890. Available at Hathitrust.
• The Talking Image of Urur. 1890.
• The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme. 1891. Available at Hathitrust.
• Occult Science in Medicine. 1893. Available at Hathitrust.
• The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, of Hohenheim, Called Paracelsus the Great. 1894. Available at Hathitrust.
• Among the Gnomes. 1895.
• The Life of Jehoshua. 1909. Available at Hathitrust.

German works:

• Wahrheit und Dichtung. Translated into English by Robert Hütwohl in Truth and Fiction: The "Theosophical Society" and the Miracle-Cabinet of Adyar. Santa Fe: Spirit of the Sun Publications, 1997. A critical appraisal of the events of 1884.

Additional resources

• "Hartmann, Franz" in Theosophy World.
• "Dr. Franz Hartmann, 33° 90° 95° IX°" in United States Grand Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis.
• "Franz Hartmann" at Mystical Missal
• "Franz Hartmann" by Boris de Zirkoff
• "Dr. Franz Hartmann" by T. Apiryion
• Letters of H.P.B. to Dr. Franz Hartmann
• "Memorable Recollections from the Life of the Author of the Lotusblüten - Installment 1" and "Installment 2"
• "Franz Hartmann's Lotusblüten Journal"
• "Autobiography of Dr. Franz Hartmann" The Occult Review
• "Hartmann, Franz" (in German)

Notes

1. de Zirkoff, Boris. Franz Hartmann. http://www.philaletheians.co.uk/study-n ... rtmann.pdf Web. N.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016
2. Dr. Hartmann, Franz. Autobiografische Schriften: Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der “Lotusblüten”. Schatzkammerverlang, o.J. (ca. 1978), page 8 ff
3. Boris de Zirkoff. Franz Hartmann. Web. N.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
4. Boris de Zirkoff, "Dr. Franz Hartmann, German physician, author, traveller, and Theosophist" at Philalethians website, page 4.
5. Eek, Sven. Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1965, page 598ff
6. Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at http://tsmembers.org/. See book 1, entry 1811 (website file: 1A/55).
7. Fergeson, Robert, Franz Hartmann. Franz Hartmann. Web. N.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.
8. de Zirkoff, Boris. Franz Hartmann. Web. N.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
9. Linton, George. Reader’s Guide to the Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett. Theosophical Publishing House, January 1972.
10. Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005), 5.
11. Eek, Sven. Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1965, page 601.
12. Letters of H.P.B. to Dr. Hartmann. Letter VI. http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/blavatskyhartmann6.htm. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.
13. de Zirkoff, Boris. Franz Hartmann. Web. N.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
14. A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas Case 42, compiled and edited by Daniel H. Caldwell
15. Eek, Sven. Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1965, page 607
16. de Zirkoff, Boris. Franz Hartmann. http://www.philaletheians.co.uk/study-n ... rtmann.pdf Web. N.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
17. Theosophische Gesellschaft in Deutschland e.V. N.d. http://theosophische-gesellschaft.org/C ... schaft.htm. Web. 10 October 2016.
18. Theosophische Gesellschaft in Deutschland e.V. N.d. http://theosophische-gesellschaft.org/C ... chrift.htm. Web. 10 October 2016.
19. Theosophische Gesellschaft in Deutschland e.V. N.d. http://theosophische-gesellschaft.org/C ... iothek.htm. Web. 10 October 2016.
20. Dr. Hartmann, Franz. Autobiografische Schriften: Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der “Lotusblüten”. Schatzkammerverlang, o.J. (ca. 1978), page 64
21. Cutten, G.B. Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing. Web. n.D. Web. 16 Oct. 2016https://ppquimbymbeddydebatedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/a-story-untolde28094chapter-three1.pdf Web. 16 Oct. 2016
22. Dr. Hartmann, Franz. Autobiografische Schriften: Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der “Lotusblüten”. Schatzkammerverlang, o.J. (ca. 1978), page 64
23. Dr. Hartmann, Franz. Autobiografische Schriften: Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der “Lotusblüten”. Schatzkammerverlang, o.J. (ca. 1978), page 65
24. "Dr. Franz Hartmann, 33° 90° 95° IX°" in United States Grand Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis. Accessed 5 December 2019.
25. Gertrude Bäzner letter to Boris de Zirkoff. 18 February 1969. Boris de Zirkoff Papers. Records Series 22. Theosophical Society in America Archives.

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Ragunath Row [Dewan Bahadur Ragunath Row] [Ragoonath Row] [Raghunath Row] [Rajanath Rao] [Ragoonath Rao]
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 9/7/20

Dewan Bahadur Ragunath Row (also spelled Ragoonath or Raghunath) was the first President of the Madras Theosophical Society, of which T. Subba Row was the Corresponding Secretary.

On June 3, 1882, Mme. Blavatsky answered a letter of his that was later published under the title of Hindu Widow Marriage. In 1887 Mme. Blavatsky remarked about him:

Ragunath Rao, a Brâhmana of the highest caste, who has presided for three years over The Theosophical Society of Madras, and who is at present Prime Minister (Dewan) of the Holkar, is the most fervent reformer in India.

He is fighting, as so many other Theosophists, the law of widowhood, on the strength of texts from Manu and the Vedas. He has already freed several hundred young widows, destined to celibacy because of the loss of their husbands in their childhood, and he has made possible their remarriage in spite of the hue and cry of protest on the part of orthodox Brâhmanas. He laughs at castes; and the one hundred odd Theosophical Branches in India help him in this all-out war against superstition and ecclesiastical cruelty.[1]

In December 1888, when Col. Olcott left for Japan, he appointed Ragunath Row as part of a committee to exercise all Executive functions on his behalf during his absence.

Notes

1. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. VIII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1990), 82.

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Mahatma
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 9/7/20

Mahatma (devanāgarī: महात्मन् mahātma) is a Sanskrit term meaning "Great Soul". This epithet is commonly applied to saints, spiritual teachers, and even prominent people.

In Theosophical literature the term is used to refer to the Masters of the Wisdom.

General description

In The Theosophical Glossary H. P. Blavatsky defines the term as follows:

Mahâtma. Lit., “great soul”. An adept of the highest order. Exalted beings who, having attained to the mastery over their lower principles are thus living unimpeded by the “man of flesh”, and are in possession of knowledge and power commensurate with the stage they have reached in their spiritual evolution. Called in Pali Rahats and Arhats.[1]

The Mahatmas are occultists who have developed the psychic and spiritual powers that are still latent in most human beings:

A Mahatma is a personage who, by special training and education, has evolved those higher faculties and has attained that spiritual knowledge which ordinary humanity will acquire after passing through numberless series of incarnations during the process of cosmic evolution, provided, of course, that they do not go, in the meanwhile, against the purposes of Nature. . .

The occultist, when he has identified himself thoroughly with his Atma [True Self], acts upon the Buddhi [Mind that knows], for, according to the laws of Cosmic Evolution, the Purusha [Spirit]— the universal seventh principle –– is perpetually acting upon and manifesting itself through Prakriti [Nature] — the universal sixth principle. Thus the MAHATMA, who has become one with his seventh principle [Atman]— which is identical with Purusha, since there is no isolation in the spiritual monad [The One]— is practically a creator, for he has identified himself with the evoluting and the manifesting energy of nature.[2]

However, since the Mahatmas are incarnated, they are subject to limitations when acting through the body. As Master K.H. wrote in one of his letters to A. P. Sinnett:

For you know — or think you know, of one K.H. — and can know but of one, whereas there are two distinct personages answering to that name in him you know. The riddle is only apparent and easy to solve, were you only to know what a real Mahatma is. You have seen by the Kiddle incident — perchance allowed to develop to its bitter end for a purpose — that even an "adept" when acting in his body is not beyond mistakes due to human carelessness.[3]

See also

• Adepts
• Masters of Wisdom
• A list of Wiki articles on individual Mahatmas and Adepts

Online resources

Articles

• Mahātma at Theosopedia
• Mahatmas and Chelas by H. P. Blavatsky
• Theosophical Mahatmas by H. P. Blavatsky

Notes

1. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 201.
2. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. VI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1989), 261-262.
3. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 433.

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Henry Kiddle
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 9/7/20

Henry Kiddle was an American educator with an interest in spiritualism, best known for accusing Mahatma Koot Hoomi of plagiarism. He was born on January 15, 1824 in Bath, England. During the years 1846-1856, he was principal of a grammar school. He became deputy superintendent, and later superintendent, of schools in New York City. However, in 1879, he was forced to resign due to adverse public reaction to his belief in spiritualism. That year, New York Authors' Publishing Company published a book called Spirit Communications - Presenting a Review of the Future Life, with Kiddle as editor. He died in 1891.[1]

The Kiddle Incident

On August 15, 1880, Mr. Kiddle gave a lecture at Mount Pleasant, New York convention, entitled "The Present Outlook of Spiritualism". This speech was published in the same month in Boston in the The Banner of Light magazine.

In December 1880 certain passages from this talk appeared in one of the Mahatma Letters received by Mr. Sinnett. In 1881, the latter published his book The Occult World, in which much of this letter was reproduced verbatim.

Mr. Kiddle read the book and, he claimed, wrote to Sinnett through his publisher, although it is possible that this letter was not received. On September 1, 1883, he wrote to Stainton Moses (M.A. Oxon), then editor of Light (Vol. III, No. 139, Sept. 1, 1883, p. 392), accusing Mahatma K. H. of plagiarism. Sinnett responded to this letter at once, from which resulted a great deal of correspondence.[2]

For some time the Mahatma did not bother to answer the charges of plagiarism, apparently attaching little importance to it. But seeing how distressed Sinnett was over the whole matter, he undertook to explain. Eventually, the Master allowed to refute the charges publicly without giving much explanation, only based on the fact that he had used Mr. Kiddle's sentences modifying them to express his own ideas, and therefore he was not plagiarizing concepts but only using well-constructed sentences in English to suit his own purposes:

Having distorted the ideas "appropriated", and, as now published — diverted them from their original intention to suit my own "very different purpose", on such grounds my literary larceny does not appear very formidable after all?[3]

Mme. Blavatsky published in The Theosophist an editorial entitled "Have we to Lower the Flag of Truce?" arguing on these lines.[4]

But in one of his letters the Master explained to Mr. Sinnett how this came to happen, although he asked the Englishman to keep the explanation to himself and a few other Theosophists. He wrote:

I had directed my attention some two months previous to the great annual camping movement of the latter [the American Spiritualists], in various directions, among others to Lake or Mount Pleasant. Some of the curious ideas and sentences representing the general hopes and aspirations of the American Spiritualists remained impressed on my memory, and I remembered only these ideas and detached sentences quite apart from the personalities of those who harboured or pronounced them. Hence, my entire ignorance of the lecturer whom I have innocently defrauded as it would appear, and who now raises the hue and cry.[5]

The case got more confused because the letter precipitated by a young and inexperienced chela omitted some passages where the Master made more explicit his reference to ideas of the American Spiritualists. He explained:

Well, as soon as I heard of the charge — the commotion among my defenders having reached me across the eternal snows — I ordered an investigation into the original scraps of the impression. At the first glance I saw that it was I, the only and most guilty party, — the poor little boy having done but that which he was told.[6]

The letter in question was framed by me while on a journey and on horse-back. It was dictated mentally, in the direction of, and "precipitated" by, a young chela not yet expert at this branch of Psychic chemistry, and who had to transcribe it from the hardly visible imprint. Half of it, therefore, was omitted and the other half more or less distorted by the "artist." When asked by him at the time, whether I would look it over and correct I answered, imprudently, I confess — "anyhow will do, my boy — it is of no great importance if you skip a few words." I was physically very tired by a ride of 48 hours consecutively, and (physically again) — half asleep. Besides this I had very important business to attend to psychically and therefore little remained of me to devote to that letter. When I woke I found it had already been sent on, and, as I was not then anticipating its publication, I never gave it from that time a thought.[7]

I, in this instance, having at the moment more vividly in my mind the psychic diagnosis of current Spiritualistic thought, of which the Lake Pleasant speech was one marked symptom, unwittingly transferred that reminiscence more vividly than my own remarks upon it and deductions therefrom. So to say, (the "despoiled victim's" — Mr. Kiddle's — utterances) came out as a "high light" and were more sharply photographed (first in the chela's brain and thence on the paper before him, a double process and one far more difficult than "thought reading" simply) while the rest, — my remarks thereupon and arguments — as I now find, are hardly visible and quite blurred on the original scraps before me.[8]

In letter 117 the Master offers the text as originally intended ...

My good and faithful friend — the explanation herein contained would have never been made but that I have of late perceived how troubled you were during your conversations upon the subject of "plagiarism" with some friends — C.C.M. particularly. Now especially that I have received your last in which you mention so delicately "this wretched little Kiddle incident," to withhold truth from you — would be cruelty; nevertheless, to give it out to the world of prejudiced and malignantly disposed Spiritualists, would be sheer folly. Therefore, we must compromise: I must lay both yourself and Mr. Ward, who shares my confidence, under a pledge never to explain without special permission from me the facts hereinafter stated by me to anyone — not even to M. A. Oxon and C. C. Massey included for reasons I will mention presently and that you will readily understand. If pressed by any of them you may simply answer that the "psychological mystery" was cleared up to yourself and some others; and — IF satisfied — you may add, that "the parallel passages" cannot be called plagiarism or words to this effect. I give to you carte blanche to say anything you like — even the reason why I rather have the real facts withheld from the general public and most of the London Fellows — all except the details you alone with a few others will know. As you will perceive, I do not even bind you to defend my reputation — unless you feel yourself satisfied beyond any doubt, and have well understood the explanation yourself. And now I may tell you why I prefer being regarded by your friends an "ugly plagiarist."

Having been called repeatedly a "sophist," a "myth," a "Mrs. Harris" and a "lower intelligence" by the enemies, I rather not be regarded as a deliberate artificer and a liar by bogus friends — I mean those who would accept me reluctantly even were I to rise to their own ideal in their estimation instead of the reverse — as at present. Personally, I am indifferent, of course, to the issue. But for your sake and that of the Society I may make one more effort to clear the horizon of one of its "blackest" clouds. Let us then recapitulate the situation and see what your Western sages say of it. "K.H." — it is settled — is a plagiarist — if it be, after all a question of K.H. and not of the "two Occidental Humourists." In the former case, an alleged "adept" unable to evolve out of his "small oriental brain" any idea or words worthy of Plato turned to that deep tank of profound philosophy, the Banner of Light, and drew therefrom the sentences best fitted to express his rather entangled ideas, which had fallen from the inspired lips of Mr. Henry Kiddle! In the other alternative, the case becomes still more difficult to comprehend — save on the theory of the irresponsible mediumship of the pair of Western jokers. However startling and impracticable the theory, that two persons who have been clever enough to carry on undetected the fraud of personating for five years several adepts — not one of whom resembles the other; — two persons, of whom one, at any rate, is a fair master of English and can hardly be suspected of paucity of original ideas, should turn for a bit of plagiarism to a journal as the Banner, widely known and read by most English knowing Spiritualists; and above all, pilfer their borrowed sentences from the discourse of a conspicuous new convert, whose public utterances were at the very time being read and welcomed by every medium and Spiritualist; however improbable all this and much more, yet any alternative seems more welcome than simple truth. The decree is pronounced; "K.H.", whoever he is, has stolen passages from Mr. Kiddle. Not only this, but as shown by "a Perplexed Reader" — he has omitted inconvenient words and has so distorted the ideas he has borrowed as to divert them from their original intention to suit his own very different purpose."

Well, to this, if I had any desire to argue out the question I might answer that of what constitutes plagiarism, being a borrowing of ideas rather than of words and sentences, there was none in point of fact, and I stand acquitted by my own accusers. As Milton says — "such kind of borrowing as this, if it be not bettered by the borrower is accounted plagiary." Having distorted the ideas "appropriated", and, as now published — diverted them from their original intention to suit my own "very different purpose", on such grounds my literary larceny does not appear very formidable after all? And even, were there no other explanation offered, the most that could be said is, that owing to the poverty of words at the command of Mr. Sinnett's correspondent, and his ignorance of the art of English composition, he has adapted a few of innocent Mr. Kiddle's effusions, some of his excellently constructed sentences — to express his own contrary ideas. The above is the only line of argument I have given to, and permitted to be used in, an editorial by the "gifted editor" of the Theosophist, who has been off her head since the accusation. Verily woman — is a dreadful calamity in this fifth race! However, to you and some few, whom you have permission to select among your most trusted theosophists, taking first care to pledge them by word of honour to keep the little revelation to themselves, I will now explain the real facts of this "very puzzling" psychological mystery. The solution is so simple, and the circumstances so amusing, that I confess I laughed when my attention was drawn to it, some time since. Nay, it is calculated to make me smile even now, were it not the knowledge of the pain it gives to some true friends.

The letter in question was framed by me while on a journey and on horse-back. It was dictated mentally, in the direction of, and "precipitated" by, a young chela not yet expert at this branch of Psychic chemistry, and who had to transcribe it from the hardly visible imprint. Half of it, therefore, was omitted and the other half more or less distorted by the "artist." When asked by him at the time, whether I would look it over and correct I answered, imprudently, I confess — "anyhow will do, my boy — it is of no great importance if you skip a few words." I was physically very tired by a ride of 48 hours consecutively, and (physically again) — half asleep. Besides this I had very important business to attend to psychically and therefore little remained of me to devote to that letter. It was doomed, I suppose. When I woke I found it had already been sent on, and, as I was not then anticipating its publication, I never gave it from that time a thought. — Now, I had never evoked spiritual Mr. Kiddle's physiognomy, never had heard of his existence, was not aware of his name.

Having — owing to our correspondence and your Simla surroundings and friends — felt interested in the intellectual progress of the Phenomenalists which progress by the bye, I found rather moving backward in the case of American Spiritualists — I had directed my attention some two months previous to the great annual camping movement of the latter, in various directions, among others to Lake or Mount Pleasant. Some of the curious ideas and sentences representing the general hopes and aspirations of the American Spiritualists remained impressed on my memory, and I remembered only these ideas and detached sentences quite apart from the personalities of those who harboured or pronounced them. Hence, my entire ignorance of the lecturer whom I have innocently defrauded as it would appear, and who now raises the hue and cry. Yet, had I dictated my letter in the form it now appears in print, it would certainly look suspicious, and, however far from what is generally called plagiarism, yet in the absence of any inverted commas, it would lay a foundation for censure. But I did nothing of the kind, as the original impression now before me clearly shows. And before I proceed any further, I must give you some explanation of this mode of precipitation. The recent experiments of the Psychic Research Society will help you greatly to comprehend the rationale of this "mental telegraphy". You have observed in the Journal of that body how thought transference is cumulatively affected. The image of the geometrical or other figure which the active brain has had impressed upon it, is gradually imprinted upon the recipient brain of the passive subject — as the series of reproductions illustrated in the cuts show. Two factors are needed to produce a perfect and instantaneous mental telegraphy — close concentration in the operator, and complete receptive passivity in the "reader" — subject. Given a disturbance of either condition, and the result is proportionately imperfect. The "reader" does not see the image as in the "telegrapher's" brain, but as arising in his own. When the latter's thought wanders, the psychic current becomes broken, the communication disjointed and incoherent. In a case such as mine, the chela had, as it were, to pick up what he could from the current I was sending him and, as above remarked, patch the broken bits together as best he might. Do not you see the same thing in ordinary mesmerism — the maya impressed upon the subject's imagination by the operator becoming, now stronger, now feebler, as the latter keeps the intended illusive image more or less steadily before his own fancy? And how often the clairvoyants reproach the magnetiser for taking their thoughts off the subject under consideration? And the mesmeric healer will always bear you witness that if he permits himself to think of anything but the vital current he is pouring into his patient, he is at once compelled to either establish the current afresh or stop the treatment. So I, in this instance, having at the moment more vividly in my mind the psychic diagnosis of current Spiritualistic thought, of which the Lake Pleasant speech was one marked symptom, unwittingly transferred that reminiscence more vividly than my own remarks upon it and deductions therefrom. So to say, (the "despoiled victim's" — Mr. Kiddle's — utterances) came out as a "high light" and were more sharply photographed (first in the chela's brain and thence on the paper before him, a double process and one far more difficult than "thought reading" simply) while the rest, — my remarks thereupon and arguments — as I now find, are hardly visible and quite blurred on the original scraps before me. Put into a mesmeric subject's hand a sheet of blank paper, tell him it contains a certain chapter of some book that you have read, concentrate your thoughts upon the words, and see how — provided that he has himself not read the chapter, but only takes it from your memory — his reading will reflect your own more or less vivid successive recollections of your author's language. The same as to the precipitation by the chela of the transferred thought upon (or rather, into) paper: if the mental picture received be feeble his visible reproduction of it must correspond. And the more so in proportion to the closeness of attention he gives. He might — were he but merely a person of the true mediumistic temperament — be employed by his "Master" as a sort of psychic printing machine producing lithographed or psychographed impressions of what the operator had in mind; his nerve-system, the machine, his nerve-aura the printing fluid, the colours drawn from that exhaustless storehouse of pigments (as of everything else) the Akasa. But the medium and the chela are diametrically dissimilar and the latter acts consciously, except under exceptional circumstances during development not necessary to dwell upon here.

Well, as soon as I heard of the charge — the commotion among my defenders having reached me across the eternal snows — I ordered an investigation into the original scraps of the impression. At the first glance I saw that it was I, the only and most guilty party, — the poor little boy having done but that which he was told. Having now restored the characters and the lines — omitted and blurred beyond hope of recognition by anyone but their original evolver — to their primitive colour and places, I now find my letter reading quite differently as you will observe. Turning to the Occult World — the copy sent by you — to the page cited, (namely p. 149 in the first edition) I was struck, upon carefully reading it, by the great discrepancy between the sentences. A gap, so to say, of ideas between part 1 (from line 1 to line 25) and part 2 — the plagiarized portion so-called. There seems no connection at all between the two; for what has, indeed, the determination of our chiefs (to prove to a skeptical world that physical phenomena are as reducible to law as anything else) to do with Plato's ideas which "rule the world" or "practical Brotherhood of Humanity?" I fear that it is your personal friendship alone for the writer that has blinded you to the discrepancy and disconnection of ideas in this abortive "precipitation", even until now. Otherwise you could not have failed to perceive that something was wrong on that page; that there was a glaring defect in the connection. Moreover, I have to plead guilty to another sin: I have never so much as looked at my letters in print — until the day of the forced investigation. I had read only your own original matter, feeling it a loss of time to go over my hurried bits and scraps of thought. But now, I have to ask you to read the passages as they were originally dictated by me, and make the comparison with the Occult World before you.

I transcribe them with my own hand this once, whereas the letter in your possession was written by the chela. I ask you also to compare this hand-writing with that of some of the earlier letters you received from me. Bear in mind, also the "O.L.'s" emphatic denial at Simla that my first letter had ever been written by myself. I felt annoyed at her gossip and remarks then; it may serve a good purpose now. Alas! by no means are we all "gods"; especially when you remember that since the palmy days of the "impressions" and "precipitations" — "K.H." has been born into a new and higher light, and even that one, in no wise the most dazzling to be acquired on this earth. Verily the Light of Omniscience and infallible Prevision on this earth — that shines only for the highest CHOHAN alone is yet far away from me!

I enclose the copy verbatim from the restored fragments underlining in red the omitted sentences for easier comparison.

. . . Phenomenal elements previously unthought of, . . . will disclose at last the secrets of their mysterious workings. Plato was right to readmit every element of speculation which Socrates had discarded. The problems of universal being are not unattainable or worthless if attained. But the latter can be solved only by mastering those elements that are now looming on the horizons of the profane. Even the Spirit[ualis]ts. with their mistaken, grotesquely perverted views and notions are hazily realizing the new situation. They prophesy and their prophecies are not always without a point of truth in them, of intuitional pre-vision, so to say. Hear some of them reasserting the old, old axiom that "Ideas rule the world"; and as men's minds receive new ideas, laying aside the old and effete the world (will) advance; mighty revolutions (will) spring from them; institutions (aye, and even creeds and powers, they may add) — WILL crumble before their onward march crushed by their own inherent force not the irresistible force of the "new ideas" offered by the Spiritualists! Yes; they are both right and wrong. It will be just as impossible to resist their influence when the time comes as to stay the progress of the tide, — to be sure. But what the Spiritualists fail to perceive, I see, and their "Spirits" to explain (the latter knowing no more than what they can find in the brains of the former) is, that all this will come gradually on; and that before it comes they as well as ourselves, have all a duty to perform, a task set before us: that of sweeping away as much as possible the dross left to us by our pious forefathers. New ideas have to be planted on clean places, for these ideas touch upon the most momentous subjects. It is not physical phenomena or the agency called Spiritualism but these universal ideas that we have precisely to study: the noumenon not the phenomenon, for, to comprehend the LATTER we have first to understand the FORMER. They do touch man's true position in the Universe, to be sure, — but only in relation to his FUTURE not PREVIOUS births. It is not physical phenomena however wonderful that can ever explain to man his origin let alone his ultimate destiny, or as one of them expresses it — the relation of the mortal to the immortal, of the temporary to the eternal, of the finite to the Infinite, etc., etc. They talk very glibly of what they regard as new ideas "larger, more general, grander, more comprehensive, and at the same time, they recognise instead of the eternal reign of immutable law, the universal reign of law as the expression of a divine will (!). Forgetful of their earlier beliefs, and that "it repented the Lord that he had made Man" these would-be philosophers and reformers would impress upon their hearers that the expression of the said divine Will "is unchanging and unchangeable — in regard to which there is only an ETERNAL NOW, while to mortals (uninitiated?) time is past or future as related to their finite existence on this material plane" — of which they know as little as of their spiritual spheres — a speck of dirt they have made the latter like our own earth, a future life that the true philosopher would rather avoid than court. But I dream with my eyes open. . . . At all events this is not any privileged teachings of their own. Most of these ideas are taken piece-meal from Plato and the Alexandrian Philosophers. It is what we all study and what many have solved. . . . . etc., etc.

This is the true copy of the original document as now restored — the "Rosetta stone" of the Kiddle incident. And, now, if you have understood my explanations about the process, as given in a few words further back, — you need not ask me how it came to pass that though somewhat disconnected, the sentences transcribed by the chela are mostly those that are now considered as plagiarized while the "missing links" are precisely those phrases that would have shown the passages were simply reminiscences if not quotations — the key-note around which came grouping my own reflections on that morning. In those days you were yet hesitating to see in Occultism, or the "O.L.'s" phenomena anything beyond a variety of Spiritualism and mediumship. For the first time in my life I had paid a serious attention to the utterances of the poetical "media", of the so-called "inspirational" oratory of the English and American lecturers, its quality and limitations. I was struck with all this brilliant but empty verbiage, and recognised for the first time fully its pernicious intellectual tendency. M. knew all about them — but since I had never had anything to do with any of them they interested me very little. It was their gross and unsavoury materialism hiding clumsily under its shadowy spiritual veil that attracted my thoughts at the time. While dictating the sentences quoted — a small portion of the many I had been pondering over for some days — it was those ideas that were thrown out en relief the most, leaving out my own parenthetical remarks to disappear in the precipitation. Had I looked over the impressed negative (?) there would have been one more weapon broken in the enemy's hand. Having neglected this duty my Karma evolved, what the mediums of the future and the Banner may call the "Kiddle triumph." The coming ages will divide Society after the manner of your modern Baconians and Shakesperians into two quarrelling camps of partisans, called respectively the "Kiddlites" and the "Koot-humites" who will fight over the important literary problem — "which one of the two plagiarized from the other"? I may be told that meanwhile the American and English spiritualists are gloating over the "Sinnett — K.H." Sedan? May their great orator and champion and they enjoy their triumph in peace and happiness, for no "adept" will ever cast his Himalayan shadow to obscure their innocent felicity. To you and a few other true friends I feel it my duty to give an explanation. To all others I leave the right to regard Mr. Kiddle — whoever he may be — as the inspirer of your humble servant. I have done, and you may now, in your turn, do what you please with these facts, except the making use of them in print or even speaking of them to the opponents, save in general terms. You must understand my reasons for this. One does not cease entirely, my dear friend to be a man nor lose one's dignity for being an adept. In the latter capacity, one, no doubt, remains in every case quite indifferent to the opinion of the outside world. The former always draws the line between ignorant surmise and — deliberate, personal insult. I cannot really be expected to take advantage of the first to be ever hiding the problematic "adept" behind the skirts of the two supposed "humourists"; and as man, I had too much experience lately in such above said insults with Messrs. S. Moses and C. C. Massey to give them any more opportunities to doubt the word of "K.H.", or see in him a vulgar defendant, a kind of guilty, tricky Babu before a panel of stern European jurymen and Judge.

I have no time to answer fully now your last, long business letter, but will shortly. Nor do I answer Mr. Ward — since it is useless. I highly approve of his coming to India, but disapprove as highly his fancy of bringing Mr. C. C. Massey here. The result of the latter would be to injure the cause among Englishmen. Distrust and prejudice are contagious. His presence in Calcutta would be as disastrous as Mr. Ward's presence and services to the cause I live for would be beneficent and fruitful of good effects. But I would insist upon his passing some time at the Headquarters before his taking up his proposed labour of love among the officials.

It is certainly most flattering to hear from him that Mrs. K. "had essayed her best to meet me in one or more of her trances;" and most sad to learn that "thou' she had invoked you (me) with all her spiritual intensity — she could get no response." It is too bad, really, that this "ladie fair" should have been put to the trouble of a fruitless ramble thro' space to find insignificant me. Evidently we move in different astral "circles," and hers is not the first instance of persons becoming skeptical as to the existence of things outside their own milieu. There are, you know, "Alps upon Alps" and from no two peaks does one get the same view! Nevertheless, it is, as I say flattering to find her evoking me by name, while preparing for myself and colleagues a disastrous Waterloo. To tell the truth, I was not aware of the former, tho' painfully conscious of the latter. Yet, had not even the dismal plot ever entered her spiritual mind, to be honest, I do not think I could have ever responded to her call. As an American Spiritualist would put it — there seems to be very little affinity between our two natures. She is too haughty and imperious, too self-complacent for me; besides which she is too young and "fascinating" for a poor mortal like myself. To speak seriously, Mme. Gebhard is quite another sort of person. Her's is a genuine, sterling nature; she is a born Occultist in her intuitions and I have made a few experiments with her — though it is rather M.'s duty than my own, and that, as you would say, it was not "originally contemplated" that I should be made to visit all the sibyls and sirens of the Theosophical establishment. My own preferences make me keep to the safer side of the two sexes in my occult dealings with them, though for certain reasons, even such visits — in my own natural skin — have to be extremely restricted and limited. I enclose a telegram from Mr. Brown to the "O.L." This day week I will be at Madras en route to Singapore and Ceylon, and Burmah. I will answer you through one of the chelas at the Headquarters.

The poor "O.L." in disgrace? Oh dear, no! We have nothing against the old woman with the exception that she is one. To save us from being insulted as she calls it, she is ready to give our real addresses and thus lead to a catastrophe. The real reason is that the hapless creature was too much compromised, too bitterly insulted owing to our existence. It all falls upon her and, therefore, it is but right that she should be screened in some things.

Yes; I would see you, President, if possible. Unless permitted by the Chohan (who forwards you His Blessing) to act on other lines of business — i.e. psychologically I renounce to trust for the rebirth of Phoenix to the good-will of my countrymen. The feeling between the two races is now intensely bitter and anything undertaken by the natives now, is sure to be opposed to the bitter end by the Europeans in India. Let us drop it for a while. I'll answer your questions in my next. If you find time to write for the Theosophist and can induce someone else, as Mr. Myers, for instance — you will oblige me personally. You are wrong in distrusting Subba Row's writings. He does not write willingly, to be sure, but he will never make a false statement. See his last in the November number. His statement concerning the errors of General Cunningham ought to be regarded as a whole revelation leading to a revolution in Indian archaeology. Ten to one — it will never receive the attention it deserves. Why? Simply because his statements contain sober facts, and that what you Europeans prefer generally is fiction so long the latter dovetails with, and answers preconceived theories.

K. H.

The more I think of it, the more reasonable appears to me your plan of a Society within the London Society. Try, for something may come out of it.

-- Mahatma Letter No. 117, by Theosophy Wiki

for comparison with the final precipitation (letter 12).

No — you do not "write too much." I am only sorry to have so little time at my disposal; hence — to find myself unable to answer you as speedily as I otherwise would. Of course I have to read every word you write: otherwise I would make a fine mess of it. And whether it be through my physical or spiritual eyes the time required for it is practically the same. As much may be said of my replies. For, whether I "precipitate" or dictate them or write my answers myself, the difference in time saved is very minute. I have to think it over, to photograph every word and sentence carefully in my brain before it can be repeated by "precipitation." As the fixing on chemically prepared surfaces of the images formed by the camera requires a previous arrangement within the focus of the object to be represented, for otherwise — as often found in bad photographs — the legs of the sitter might appear out of all proportion with the head, and so on, so we have to first arrange our sentences and impress every letter to appear on paper in our minds before it becomes fit to be read. For the present, it is all I can tell you. When science will have learned more about the mystery of the lithophyl (or lithobiblion) and how the impress of leaves comes originally to take place on stones, then will I be able to make you better understand the process. But you must know and remember one thing: we but follow and servilely copy nature in her works.

No; we need argue no longer upon the unfortunate question of a "Day with Mad. B." It is the more useless, since you say, you have no right to crush and grind your uncivil and often blackguardly opponents in the "Pioneer" — even in your own defence — your proprietors objecting to the mention of occultism altogether. As they are Christians it is no matter of great wonder. Let us be charitable and hope they will get their own reward: die and become angels of light and Truth — winged paupers of the Christians heaven.

Unless you join several, and organize somehow or other, I am afraid I will prove but of little help for you practically. My dear friend, I have my "proprietors" also.

For reasons best known to themselves they have set their foot upon the idea of teaching isolated individuals. I will correspond with you and give you proofs from time to time of my existence and presence. To teach or instruct you — is altogether another question. Hence to sit with your lady is more than useless. Your magnetisms are too similar and — you will get nothing.

I will translate my Essay and send it to you as soon as I can. Your idea of corresponding with your friends and fellows is the next best thing to do. But do not fail to write to Lord Lindsay.

I am a little "too hard" upon Hume, you say. Am I? His is a highly intellectual and, I confess, a spiritual nature too. Yet, he is every bit of him "Sir Oracle." It may be that it is the very exuberance of that great intellect which seeks issue through every chink, and never loses an opportunity to relieve the fulness of the brain, which overflows with thought. Finding in his quiet daily life too meagre a field with but "Moggy" and Davison to sow upon — his intellect bursts the dam and pounces upon every imagined event, every possible though improbable fact his imagination can suggest, to interpret it in his own conjectural way. Nor do I wonder that such a skilled workman in intellectual mosaic as he, finding suddenly, the most fertile of quarries, the most precious of colour-stores in this idea of our Fraternity and the T.S. — should pick out ingredients from it to daub our faces with. Placing us before a mirror which reflects us as he finds us in his own fertile imagination he says: "Now, you mouldy relics of a mouldy Past, look at yourselves how you really are!" A very, very excellent man our friend Mr. Hume, but utterly unfit for moulding into an adept.

As little, and far less than yourself does he seem to realize our real object in the formation of an A.I. Branch. The truths and mysteries of occultism constitute, indeed, a body of the highest spiritual importance, at once profound and practical for the world at large. Yet, it is not as a mere addition to the tangled mass of theory or speculation in the world of science that they are being given to you, but for their practical bearing on the interests of mankind. The terms "unscientific," "impossible," "hallucination," "impostor," have hitherto been used in a very loose, careless way, as implying in the occult phenomena something either mysterious and abnormal, or a premeditated imposture. And this is why our chiefs have determined to shed upon a few recipient minds more light upon the subject, and to prove to them that such manifestations are as reducible to law as the simplest phenomena of the physical universe. The wiseacres say: "The age of miracles is past," but we answer, "it never existed!" While not unparalleled, or without their counterpart in universal history, these phenomena must and WILL come with an overpowering influence upon the world of sceptics and bigots. They have to prove both destructive and constructive — destructive in the pernicious errors of the past, in the old creeds and superstitions which suffocate in their poisonous embrace like the Mexican weed nigh all mankind; but constructive of new institutions of a genuine, practical Brotherhood of Humanity where all will become co-workers of nature, will work for the good of mankind with and through the higher planetary Spirits — the only "Spirits" we believe in. Phenomenal elements, previously unthought of — undreamt of — will soon begin manifesting themselves day by day with constantly augmented force, and disclose at last the secrets of their mysterious workings. Plato was right: ideas rule the world; and, as men's minds will receive new ideas, laying aside the old and effete, the world will advance: mighty revolutions will spring from them; creeds and even powers will crumble before their onward march crushed by the irresistible force. It will be just as impossible to resist their influx, when the time comes, as to stay the progress of the tide. But all this will come gradually on, and before it comes we have a duty set before us; that of sweeping away as much as possible the dross left to us by our pious forefathers. New ideas have to be planted on clean places, for these ideas touch upon the most momentous subjects. It is not physical phenomena but these universal ideas that we study, as to comprehend the former, we have to first understand the latter.

They touch man's true position in the universe, in relation to his previous and future births; his origin and ultimate destiny; the relation of the mortal to the immortal; of the temporary to the eternal; of the finite to the infinite; ideas larger, grander, more comprehensive, recognising the universal reign of Immutable Law, unchanging and unchangeable in regard to which there is only an ETERNAL Now, while to uninitiated mortals time is past or future as related to their finite existence on this material speck of dirt. This is what we study and what many have solved.

And now it is your province to decide which will you have: the highest philosophy or simple exhibitions of occult powers. Of course this is by far not the last word between us and — you will have time to think it over. The Chiefs want a "Brotherhood of Humanity," a real Universal Fraternity started; an institution which would make itself known throughout the world and arrest the attention of the highest minds. I will send you my Essay. Will you be my co-worker and patiently wait for minor phenomena? I think I foresee the answer. At all events the holy lamp of spiritual light burning in you (however dimly) there is hope for you, and — for me, also. Yes; put yourself in search after natives if there are no English people to be had. But think you, the spirit and power of persecution gone from this enlightened age? Time will prove. Meanwhile, being human I have to rest. I took no sleep for over 60 hours.

Ever yours truly,

KOOT' HOOMI.

-- Mahatma Letter No. 12, by Theosophy Wiki

Online resources

Articles

• Kiddle Incident at Theosopedia
• Have we to Lower the Flag of Truce? by H. P. Blavatsky
• "Himalayan and Other Mahatmas" by Rama Sourindro Gargya Deva
• Letter to the Editor: Esoteric Buddhism by Henry Kiddle
• Explanation of the "Kiddle Incident" in the Fourth Edition of The "Occult World" by C.C. Massey

Additional resources

• "The Kiddle Incident". Original articles and letters published by Blavatsky Study Center
Other resources
• Neff, Mary K. The "Brothers" of Madame Blavatsky. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1932. See Chapter X, pages 97-116.

Notes

1. Henry Kiddle at Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.
2. George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 236.
3. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 117 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 397.
4. The Theosophist, V:3(51), December, 1883, pp. 69-70.
5. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 117 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 398.
6. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 117 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 400.
7. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 117 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 398.
8. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 117 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 399.

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Yajna
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 9/7/20

-- Burnt, Man, by Charles Carreon
-- Baby Boom, Kaboom, by Charles Carreon

A yajna being performed.

Yajna or Yagya (Sanskrit: यज्ञ) (IAST: yajñá) literally means "sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering", and refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.[1] Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda.[2] The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of sacred fire (Agni).[1]

Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the Karma-kanda (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to Jnana-kanda (knowledge) portion contained in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy.[3] Yajna have continued to play a central role in a Hindu's rites of passage, such as weddings.[4] Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic initiations may also include Vedic Yajna rites, or alternatively be based on Agamic rituals.

Etymology

The word yajna (Sanskrit: यज्ञ; yajña) has its root in the Sanskrit yaj meaning "to worship, adore, honor, revere" and appears in the early Vedic literature, composed in 2nd millennium BCE.[5][6] In Rigveda, Yajurveda (itself a derivative of this root) and others, it means "worship, devotion to anything, prayer and praise, an act of worship or devotion, a form of offering or oblation, and sacrifice".[5] In post-Vedic literature, the term meant any form of rite, ceremony or devotion with an actual or symbolic offering or effort.[5]

A yajna included major ceremonial devotions, with or without a sacred fire, sometimes with feasts and community events. It has, states Nigal, a threefold meaning of worship of the deities (devapujana), unity (sangatikarana) and charity (dána).[7]

The Sanskrit word is related to the Avestan term yasna of Zoroastrianism. Unlike the Vedic yajna, however, the Yasna is the name of a specific religious service, not a class of rituals, and they have "to do with water rather than fire".[8][9] The Sanskrit word is further related to Ancient Greek ἅζομαι (házomai), "to revere", deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *Hyeh₂ǵ- ("to worship").

History

Yajna has been a part of an individual or social ritual since the Vedic times. When the ritual fire – the divine Agni, the god of fire and the messenger of gods – was deployed in a Yajna, mantras were chanted.[6] The hymns and songs sung and oblations offered into the fire were a form of hospitality towards the Vedic gods. The offerings were believed to be carried by Agni to the gods, the gods in return were expected to grant boons and benedictions, and thus the ritual served as a means of spiritual exchange between gods and human beings.[6][10] The Vedangas, or auxiliary sciences attached to the Vedic literature, define Yajna as follows,

Definition of a Vedic sacrifice

Yajña, sacrifice, is an act by which we surrender something for the sake of the gods. Such an act must rest on a sacred authority (āgama), and serve for man's salvation (śreyortha). The nature of the gift is of less importance. It may be cake (puroḍāśa), pulse (karu), mixed milk (sāṃnāyya), an animal (paśu), the juice of soma-plant (soma), etc; nay, the smallest offerings of butter, flour, and milk may serve for the purpose of a sacrifice.

— Apastamba Yajna Paribhasa-sutras 1.1, Translator: M Dhavamony[11][12]

In the Upanishadic times, or after 500 BCE, states Sikora, the meaning of the term Yajna evolved from "ritual sacrifice" performed around fires by priests, to any "personal attitude and action or knowledge" that required devotion and dedication.[6] The oldest Vedic Upanishads, such as the Chandogya Upanishad (~700 BCE) in Chapter 8, for example state,[13]

अथ यद्यज्ञ इत्याचक्षते ब्रह्मचर्यमेव
तद्ब्रह्मचर्येण ह्येव यो ज्ञाता तं
विन्दतेऽथ यदिष्टमित्याचक्षते ब्रह्मचर्यमेव
तद्ब्रह्मचर्येण ह्येवेष्ट्वात्मानमनुविन्दते ॥ १ ॥

What is commonly called Yajna is really the chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge,
for only through the chaste life of a student does he who is a knower find that,
What is commonly called Istam (sacrificial offering) is really the chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge,
for only having searched with chaste life of a student does one find Atman (Soul, Self) || 1 ||

— Chandogya Upanishad 8.5.1 [13][14]

The later Vedic Upanishads expand the idea further by suggesting that Yoga is a form of Yajna (devotion, sacrifice).[14] The Shvetashvatara Upanishad in verse 1.5.14, for example, uses the analogy of Yajna materials to explain the means to see one's soul and God, with inner rituals and without external rituals.[14][15] It states, "by making one's own body as the lower friction sticks, the syllable Om as the upper friction sticks, then practicing the friction of meditation, one may see the Deva who is hidden, as it were".[15]

Priests

Vedic (Shrauta) yajnas are typically performed by four priests of the Vedic priesthood: the hota, the adhvaryu, the udgata and the Brahma.[16] The functions associated with the priests were:[17]

• The Hota recites invocations and litanies drawn from the Rigveda. He use three Rig verses, the introductory verse, the accompanying verse and benediction as the third.[18]
• The Adhvaryu is the priest's assistant and is in charge of the physical details of the ritual like measuring the ground, building the altar explained in the Yajurveda. The adhvaryu offers oblations.[18]
• The Udgata is the chanter of hymns set to melodies and music (sāman) drawn from the Samaveda. The udgatar, like the hota, chants the introductory, accompanying and benediction hymns.[18]
• The Brahma is the superintendent of the entire performance, and is responsible for correcting mistakes by means of supplementary verses taken from the Atharva Veda

Offerings and style

There were usually one, or three, fires lit in the center of the offering ground. Oblations are offered into the fire. Among the ingredients offered as oblations in the yajna are ghee, milk, grains, cakes and soma.[19] The duration of a yajna depends on its type, some last only a few minutes whereas, others are performed over a period of hours, days or even months. Some yajnas were performed privately, while others were community events.[19][20] In other cases, yajnas were symbolic, such as in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad hymn 3.1.6, where "the mind is the Brahmin of sacrifice" and the goal of sacrifice was complete release and liberation (moksha).[18]

The benedictions proffered ranged from long life, gaining friends, health and heaven, more prosperity, to better crops.[21][22] For example,

May my rice plants and my barley, and my beans and my sesame,
and my kidney-beans and my vetches, and my pearl millet and my proso millet,
and my sorghum and my wild rice, and my wheat and my lentils,
prosper by sacrifice (Yajna).

— White Yajurveda 18.12, [23]

Yajnas, where milk products, fruits, flowers, cloth and money are offered, are called homa or havan.[24] A typical Hindu marriage involves a Yajna, where Agni is taken to be the witness of the marriage.[25]

Methods


A Yajna Vedi (square altar) with Samagri (offerings)


a Yajna in progress

The Vedic yajna ritual is performed in modern era in a square altar called Vedi (Bedi in Nepal), set in a mandapa or mandala or kundam, wherein wood is placed along with oily seeds and other combustion aids.[26] However, in ancient times, the square principle was incorporated into grids to build large complex shapes for community events.[27] Thus a rectangle, trapezia, rhomboids or "large falcon bird" altars would be built from joining squares.[27][28] The geometric ratios of these Vedi altar, with mathematical precision and geometric theorems, are described in Shulba Sutras, one of the precursors to the development of mathematics in ancient India.[27] The offerings are called Samagri (or Yajāka, Istam). The proper methods for the rites are part of Yajurveda, but also found in Riddle Hymns (hymns of questions, followed by answers) in various Brahmanas.[26] When multiple priests are involved, they take turns as in a dramatic play, where not only are praises to gods recited or sung, but the dialogues are part of a dramatic representation and discussion of spiritual themes.[26]

The Vedic sacrifice (yajna) is presented as a kind of drama, with its actors, its dialogues, its portion to be set to music, its interludes, and its climaxes.

— Louis Renou, Vedic India[26]

A miniature illustration of a falcon bird Athirathram yajna altar built using the square principle.

The Brahmodya Riddle hymns, for example, in Shatapatha Brahmana's chapter 13.2.6, is a yajna dialogue between a Hotri priest and a Brahmin priest, which would be played out during the yajna ritual before the attending audience.

Who is that is born again?
It is the moon that is born again.
And what is the great vessel?
The great vessel, doubtless, is this world.
Who was the smooth one?
The smooth one, doubtless, was the beauty (Sri, Lakshmi).
What is the remedy for cold?
The remedy for cold, doubtless, is fire.

— Shatapatha Brahmana, 13.2.6.10-18[29]
During weddings

A Vedic Yajna plays a central role in Hindu weddings.

Agni and yajna play a central role in Hindu weddings. Various mutual promises between the bride and groom are made in front of the fire, and the marriage is completed by actual or symbolic walk around the fire. The wedding ritual of Panigrahana, for example, is the 'holding the hand' ritual[30] as a symbol of their impending marital union, and the groom announcing his acceptance of responsibility to four deities: Bhaga signifying wealth, Aryama signifying heavens/milky way, Savita signifying radiance/new beginning, and Purandhi signifying wisdom. The groom faces west, while the bride sits in front of him with her face to the east, he holds her hand while the Rig vedic mantra is recited in the presence of fire.[4][31]

The Saptapadi (Sanskrit for seven steps/feet), is the most important ritual in Hindu weddings, and represents the legal part of Hindu marriage.[32] The couple getting married walk around the Holy Fire (Agni), and the yajna fire is considered a witness to the vows they make to each other.[33] In some regions, a piece of clothing or sashes worn by the bride and groom are tied together for this ceremony. Each circuit around the fire is led by either the bride or the groom, varying by community and region. Usually, the bride leads the groom in the first circuit. The first six circuits are led by the bride, and the final one by the groom.[34] With each circuit, the couple makes a specific vow to establish some aspect of a happy relationship and household for each other. The fire altar or the Yajna Kunda is square.

Types



Different types of yajna.

Kalpa Sutras lists the following yajna types:[35]

• The Pakayajnas — They are the aṣtaka, sthālipāka, parvana, srāvaṇi, āgrahayani, caitri and āsvīyuji. These yajnas involve consecrating cooked items.
• Soma Yajnas — Agnistoma, atyagnistoma, uktya, shodasi, vājapeya, atirātra and aptoryama are the Soma Yajnas.
• Havir Yajnas — They are the agniyādhāna, agni hotra, Darśa-Pūrṇamāsa, āgrayana, cāturmāsya, niruudha paśu bandha,[36] sautrāmaṇi. These involve offering havis or oblations.
• The five panca mahā Yajñās, which are mentioned below.
• Vedavratas, which are four in number, done during Vedic education.
• The remaining sixteen Yajnas, which are one-time samskāras or "rituals with mantras", are Sanskara (rite of passage): garbhādhānā, pumsavana, sīmanta, jātakarma, nāmakaraṇa, annaprāśana, chudākarma/caula, niskramana, karnavedha, vidyaarambha, upanayana, keshanta, snātaka and vivāha, nisheka, antyeshti. These are specified by the Gṛhya Sūtrās.

The changing nature of Vedic offerings


(clockwise from left top corner) Rishi, Pitri, Bhuta,[37] Manushya and (centre) Deva yajnas.

The nature of Vedic sacrifice and rituals evolved over time, with major changes during the 1st millennium BCE, changes that influenced concepts later adopted by other traditions such as Buddhism.[38] Early Vedic period sacrifices involved animal sacrifice, but the rituals were progressively reinterpreted over time, substituting the offerings and making it non-violent or symbolic, with the superiority of knowledge and celebration of sound of mantra replacing the physical offerings. Ultimately, the external rituals were reformulated and replaced with "internal oblations performed within the human body".[38] These ideas of substitution, evolution from external actions (karma-kanda) to internal knowledge (jñana-kanda), were highlighted in many rituals-related sutras, as well as specialized texts such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (~800 BCE), Chandogya Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad and Pranagnihotra Upanishad.[39][40]

The Vedic text Satapatha Brahmana defines a sacrifice as an act of abandonment of something one holds of value, such as oblations offered to god and dakshina (fees, gifts) offered during the yajna.[38] For gifts and fees, the text recommends giving cows, clothing, horses or gold.[38] The oblations recommended are cow milk, ghee (clarified butter), seeds, grains, flowers, water and food cakes (rice cake, for example). Similar recommendations are repeated in other texts, such as in the Taittiriya Shakha 2.10 of the Krishna Yajurveda).[37]

Tadeusz Skorupski states that these sacrifices were a part of ritual way of life, and considered to have inherent efficacy, where doing these sacrifices yielded repayment and results without the priests or gods getting involved.[38] These Vedic ideas, adds Skorupski, influenced "the formulation of Buddhist theory of generosity".[38] Buddhist ideas went further, criticizing "the Brahmins for their decadence and failure to live in conformity with the Brahmanic legacy of the ancient Brahmins", who claimed the Vedic ancients "lived in self restraint, were ascetics, had no cattle, no gold, and no wealth".[41] The Buddha sought return to more ancient values, states Tadeusz Skorupski, where the Vedic sages "had study as their grain and wealth, guarded the holy life as their treasure, praised morality, austerity and nonviolence; they performed sacrifices consisting of rice, barley and oil, but they did not kill the cows".[41]

The five great Vedic sacrifices (Mahasattra)

Name of sacrifice / What is sacrificed?[38] / To whom?[38] / Frequency

Bhuta-yajna / Food cakes / Sacrifice to living beings
(animals, birds, etc.) / Daily[38][42]
Manushya-yajna / Alms and water
(service, charity) / Sacrifice to fellow human beings / Daily[38][42]
Pitr-yajna / Libations and water / Sacrifice to fathers / Daily[38][42]
Deva-yajna / Firewood / Sacrifice to gods / Daily[38][42]
Brahma-yajna / Words, read the Vedas / Sacrifice to Brahman
(ultimate reality) / When possible[38][42]

See also

• Ashvamedha
• Historical Vedic religion
• Homa (ritual)
• Śrauta
• Yajurveda
• Vedi (altar)
• Yajamana

Notes

1. SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book, ISBN 978-8185119182, pages 80-81
2. Laurie Patton (2005), The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal, Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415772273, pages 38-39
3. Randall Collins (1998), The Sociology of Philosophies, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674001879, page 248
4. Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, Rajbali Pandey (1969), see Chapter VIII, ISBN 978-8120803961, pages 153-233
5. Monier Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-8120831056 (Reprinted in 2011), pages 839-840
6. Jack Sikora (2002), Religions of India, iUniverse, ISBN 978-0595247127, page 86
7. Nigal, p. 81.
8. Drower, 1944:78
9. Boyce, 1975:147-191
10. "Give and take spirit". The Hindu. 2019-05-31. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
11. M Dhavamony (1974). Hindu Worship: Sacrifices and Sacraments. Studia Missionalia. 23. Gregorian Press, Universita Gregoriana, Roma. pp. 107–108.
12. Jan Gonda (1980). Handbuch Der Orientalistik: Indien. Zweite Abteilung. BRILL Academic. pp. 345–346. ISBN 978-90-04-06210-8.
13. Robert Hume, Chandogya Upanishad 8.5.1, Oxford University Press, page 266
14. Jack Sikora (2002), Religions of India, iUniverse, ISBN 978-0595247127, page 87
15. Robert Hume, Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.5.14, Oxford University Press, page 396
16. Mahendra Kulasrestha (2007), The Golden Book of Upanishads, Lotus, ISBN 978-8183820127, page 21
17. Nigal, p. 79.
18. Robert Hume, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.1, Oxford University Press, pages 107- 109
19. Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, page i-xvi, 87-171, 205-234
20. Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, page 124
21. Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN 0-631215352, pages 76-77
22. Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pages 127-128
23. Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, page 163
24. "What is Havan? - Definition from Yogapedia". Yogapedia.com. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
25. Hazen, Walter. Inside Hinduism. Lorenz Educational Press. ISBN 9780787705862. P. 34.
26. ML Varadpande, History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, ISBN , pages 45-47
27. Kim Plofker (2009), Mathematics in India, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691120676, pages 16-27
28. Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 87-171
29. ML Varadpande, History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, ISBN , page 48
30. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, James G. Lochtefeld (2001), ISBN 978-0823931798, Page 427
31. P.H. Prabhu (2011), Hindu Social Organization, ISBN 978-8171542062, see pages 164-165
32. BBC News article on Hinduism & Weddings, Nawal Prinja (August 24, 2009)
33. Shivendra Kumar Sinha (2008), Basics of Hinduism, Unicorn Books, ISBN 978-81-7806-155-9, The two rake the holy vow in the presence of Agni ... In the first four rounds, the bride leads and the groom follows, and in the final three, the groom leads and the bride follows. While walking around the fire, the bride places her right palm on the groom's right palm and the bride's brother pours some unhusked rice or barley into their hands and they offer it to the fire ...
34. Office of the Registrar General, Government of India (1962), Census of India, 1961, v. 20, pt. 6, no. 2, Manager of Publications, Government of India, The bride leads in all the first six pheras but follows the bridegroom on the seventh
35. Prasoon, Ch.2, Vedang, Kalp.
36. "Is Sacrificial Killing Justified? from the Chapter "The Vedas", in Hindu Dharma". kamakoti.org. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
37. Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 79.
38. Tadeusz Skorupski (2015). Michael Witzel (ed.). Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change Across the Longue Durée. Oxford University Press. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-0-19-935158-9.
39. Deussen, Paul (1997). Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 645–651. ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7.
40. Tadeusz Skorupski (2015). Michael Witzel (ed.). Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change Across the Longue Durée. Oxford University Press. pp. 79–84. ISBN 978-0-19-935158-9.
41. Tadeusz Skorupski (2015). Michael Witzel (ed.). Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change Across the Longue Durée. Oxford University Press. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-19-935158-9.
42. Klaus K. Klostermaier (2007). A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition. State University of New York Press. pp. 125–127. ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4.

References

• Agrawala, Vasudeva Sharana. India as known to Pāṇini: a study of the cultural material in the Ashṭādhyāyī. Prithvi Prakashan, 1963.
• Dallapiccola Anna. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend.......ISBN 0-500-51088-1.
• Gyanshruti; Srividyananda. Yajna A Comprehensive Survey. Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India; 1st edition (December 1, 2006). ISBN 8186336478.
• Krishnananda (Swami). A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India. Divine Life Society, Rishikesh.
• Nigal, S.G. Axiological Approach to the Vedas. Northern Book Centre, 1986. ISBN 81-85119-18-X.
• Prasoon, (Prof.) Shrikant. Indian Scriptures. Pustak Mahal (August 11, 2010). ISBN 978-81-223-1007-8.
• Vedananda (Swami). Aum Hindutvam: (daily Religious Rites of the Hindus). Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. ISBN 81-20810-81-3.

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Indra
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 9/7/20

HYMN XXXIV

1 He who just born, chief God of lofty spirit, by power and might became the God's protector,
Before whose breath, through greatness of his valour, the two worlds trembled, He, O men, is Indra.
2 He who fixed fast and firm the earth that staggered, and set at rest the agitated mountains,
Who measured out air's wider middle region and gave theheaven support, He, O men, is Indra.
3 Who slew the Dragon, freed the Seven Rivers, and draye the kine forth from the cave of Vala,
Begat the fire between both stones, the spoiler in warrior's battle, He, O men, is Indra.
4 By whom this universe was made to tremble, who chased away the humbled brood of demon,
Who, like a gambler gathering his winnings, seized the foe's riches, He, O men, is Indra.
5 Of whom, the terrible, they ask, Where is He? or verily they say of him, He is not.
He wastes the foeman's wealth like stakes of gamblers. Have faith in him for He, O men, is Indra.
6 Stirrer to action of the poor and lowly, of priest, of suppliant who sings his praises
Who, fair-faced, favours him who presseth Soma with stones adjusted, He, O men, is Indra.
7 He under whose supreme control are horses, all chariots, and the hamlets, and the cattle:
He who begat the Sun, begat the Morning, leader of waters. He, O men, is Indra.
8 To whom both armies cry in close encounter, foe against foe, the stronger and the weaker;
Whom two invoke upon one chariot mounted, each for himself, He, O ye men, is Indra.
9 He, without whom men conquer not in battle, whom, warring, they invoke for help and succour;
He, all this universe's type and image, who shakes what never shook, He, men, is Indra.
10 He who hath smitten, ere they know their danger, with his hurled weapon many grievous sinners:
Who pardons not his boldness who provokes him, who slays the Dasyu, He, O men, is Indra.
11 He who discovered in the fortieth autumn Sambara dwelling in the midst of mountains:
Who slew the Dragon putting forth his vigour, the demon lying there, He, men, is Indra.
12 Who drank the juice poured at the seas of Order, subduing Sambara by superior prowess,
Who hoarded food within the mountain's hollow wherein he grew in strength, He, men, is Indra.
13 Who, with seven guiding reins, the Bull, the mighty, set the Seven Rivers free to flow at pleasure;
Who, thunder-armed, rent Rauhina in pieces when scaling heaven, He, O ye men, is Indra.
14 Heaven, even, and the earth bow down before him, before his very breath the mountains tremble.
Known as the Soma-drinker, armed with thunder, the wielder of the bolt, He, men, is Indra.
15 Who aids with favour him who pours the Soma, and him who brews it, sacrificer, singer;
Whose strength our prayer and offered Soma heighten, and this our gift, He, O ye men, is Indra.
16 Born, manifested in his Parents' bosom, He knoweth as a son the Highest Father.
He who with vigorous energy assisted the companies of Gods, He, men, is Indra
17 Lord of Bay steeds, who loves the flowing Soma, He before whom all living creatures tremble.
He who smote Sambara and slaughtered Sushna, He the Sole Hero, He, O men, is Indra.
18 Thou verily art true strong God who sendest wealth to the man who brews and pours libation.
So may we evermore, thy friends, O Indra, address the synod with brave sons about us.

-- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith

Indra, King of the Gods, God of Lightning, Thunder, Rains and River flows, Ruler of Heaven
Indra, Parjanya
Painting of Indra on his elephant mount, Airavata.
Devanagari इन्द्र or इंद्र
Sanskrit transliteration Īndra
Affiliation: Deva (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism)
Abode: Amarāvati, the capital of Indraloka (Indra's world) in Svarga,[1] Trāyastriṃśa (Heaven of the 33), Mount Meru
Weapon: Vajra (Thunderbolt), Astras, Vasavi Shakthi
Symbols: Vajra, Indra's net
Mount: Airavata (White elephant), Uchchaihshravas (White horse)
Texts: Vedas, Puranas, Jātakas, Epics
Personal information
Parents: Kashyapa and Aditi
Consort: Shachi
Children: Jayanta, Jayanti, Devasena, Vali and Arjuna
Equivalents
Greek equivalent: Zeus
Roman equivalent: Jupiter
Norse equivalent: Thor
Slavic equivalent: Perun

Indra (/ˈɪndrə/; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is an ancient Vedic deity in Hinduism,[2] a guardian deity (Indā[3] in Pali) in Buddhism,[4] and the king of the highest heaven called Saudharmakalpa in Jainism.[5] He is also an important deity worshipped in Kalasha religion, indicating his prominence in ancient Hinduism.[6][7][8][9][10] [11] [12] Indra's mythology and powers are similar to other Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perun, Perkūnas, Zalmoxis, Taranis, Zeus, and Thor, suggesting a common orgin in Proto-Indo-European mythology.[2][13][14]

In the Vedas, Indra is the king of Svarga (Heaven) along with his capital city Amaravati and the Devas. He is the deity of the heavens, lightning, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war.[15][16][17] Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda.[18] He is celebrated for his powers, and the one who kills the great symbolic evil (malevolent type of Asura) named Vritra who obstructs human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys Vritra and his "deceiving forces", and thereby brings rains and the sunshine as the friend of mankind.[2][19] His importance diminishes in the post-Vedic Indian literature where he is depicted as a powerful hero but one who constantly gets into trouble with his drunken, hedonistic and adulterous ways, and the god who disturbs Hindu monks as they meditate because he fears self-realized human beings may become more powerful than him.[2][20]

Indra rules over the much-sought Devas realm of rebirth within the Samsara doctrine of Buddhist traditions.[21] However, like the Hindu texts, Indra also is a subject of ridicule and reduced to a figurehead status in Buddhist texts,[22] shown as a god that suffers rebirth and redeath.[21] In the Jainism traditions, unlike Buddhism and Hinduism, Indra is not the king of Gods- the enlightened leaders (called Tirthankaras or Jinas), but King of superhumans residing in Swarga-Loka, and very much a part of Jain rebirth cosmology.[23] He is also the one who appears with his wife Indrani to celebrate the auspicious moments in the life of a Jain Tirthankara, an iconography that suggests the king and queen of superhumans residing in Swarga (heaven) reverentially marking the spiritual journey of a Jina.[24][25]

Indra's iconography shows him wielding a lightning thunderbolt weapon known as Vajra, riding on a white elephant known as Airavata.[20][26] In Buddhist iconography the elephant sometimes features three heads, while Jaina icons sometimes show the elephant with five heads. Sometimes a single elephant is shown with four symbolic tusks.[20] Indra's heavenly home is on or near Mount Meru (also called Sumeru).[21][27]

Etymology and nomenclature


Indra on his elephant, guarding the entrance of the 1st century BCE Buddhist Cave 19 at Bhaja Caves (Maharashtra).[28]


Buddhist relief from Loriyan Tangai, showing Indra paying homage to the Buddha at the Indrasala Cave, 2nd century CE, Gandhara

The etymological roots of Indra are unclear, and it has been a contested topic among scholars since the 19th-century, one with many proposals.[29][30] The significant proposals have been:

• root ind-u, or "rain drop", based on the Vedic mythology that he conquered rain and brought it down to earth.[20][29]
• root ind, or "equipped with great power". This was proposed by Vopadeva.[20]
• root idh or "kindle", and ina or "strong".[31][32]
• root indha, or "igniter", for his ability to bring light and power (indriya) that ignites the vital forces of life (prana). This is based on Shatapatha Brahmana.[33]
• root idam-dra, or "It seeing" which is a reference to the one who first perceived the self-sufficient metaphysical Brahman. This is based on Aitareya Upanishad.[20]
• roots in ancient Indo-European, Indo-Aryan deities.[34] For example, states John Colarusso, as a reflex of proto-Indo-European *h₂nḗr-, Greek anēr, Sabine nerō, Avestan nar-, Umbrian nerus, Old Irish nert, Ossetic nart, and others which all refer to "most manly" or "hero".[34]

Colonial era scholarship proposed that Indra shares etymological roots with Zend Andra, Old High German Antra, or Jedru of Old Slavonic, but Max Muller critiqued these proposals as untenable.[29][35] Later scholarship has linked Vedic Indra to Aynar (the Great One) of Circassian, Abaza and Ubykh mythology, and Innara of Hittite mythology.[34][36] Colarusso suggests a Pontic[note 1] origin and that both the phonology and the context of Indra in Indian religions is best explained from Indo-Aryan roots and a Circassian etymology (i.e. *inra).[34]

Other languages

For other languages, he is also known as

• Bengali: ইন্দ্র (Indro)
• Burmese: သိကြားမင်း (pronounced [ðadʑá mɪ́ɰ̃])
• Chinese: 帝释天 (Dìshìtiān)
• Indonesian/Malay: (Indera)
• Japanese: 帝釈天 (Taishakuten).[37]
• Javanese: ꦧꦛꦫꦲꦶꦤ꧀ꦢꦿ (Bathara Indra)
• Kannada: ಇಂದ್ರ (Indra)
• Khmer: ព្រះឥន្ទ្រ (ព្រះឥន្ទ) (pronounced [preah ʔən])
• Lao: ພະອິນ (Pha In) or ພະຍາອິນ (Pha Nya In)
• Malayalam: ഇന്ദ്രൻ (Indran)
• Mon: ဣန် (In)
• Odia:ଇନ୍ଦ୍ର(Indraw)
• Tai Lue: ᦀᦲᧃ (In) or ᦘᦍᦱᦀᦲᧃ (Pha Ya In)
• Tamil: இந்திரன் (Inthiran)
• Telugu: ఇంద్రుడు (Indrudu or Indra)
• Thai: พระอินทร์ (Phra In)

Indra has many epithets in the Indian religions, notably Śakra (शक्र, powerful one), Vṛṣan (वृषन्, mighty), Vṛtrahan (वृत्रहन्, slayer of Vṛtra), Meghavāhana (मेघवाहन, he whose vehicle is cloud), Devarāja (देवराज, king of deities), Devendra (देवेन्द्र, the lord of deities),[38] Surendra (सुरेन्द्र, chief of deities), Svargapati (स्वर्गपति, the lord of heaven), Vajrapāṇī (वज्रपाणि, he who has thunderbolt (Vajra) in his hand) and Vāsava (वासव, lord of Vasus).

Origins


Banteay Srei temple's pediment carvings depict Indra mounts on Airavata, Cambodia.

Indra is of ancient but unclear origin. Aspects of Indra as a deity are cognate to other Indo-European gods; they are thunder gods such as Thor, Perun, and Zeus who share parts of his heroic mythologies, act as king of gods, and all are linked to "rain and thunder".[39] The similarities between Indra of Vedic mythologies and of Thor of Nordic and Germanic mythologies are significant, states Max Muller. Both Indra and Thor are storm gods, with powers over lightning and thunder, both carry a hammer or an equivalent, for both the weapon returns to their hand after they hurl it, both are associated with bulls in the earliest layer of respective texts, both use thunder as a battle-cry, both are protectors of mankind, both are described with legends about "milking the cloud-cows", both are benevolent giants, gods of strength, of life, of marriage and the healing gods.[40]

Michael Janda suggests that Indra has origins in the Indo-European *trigw-welumos [or rather *trigw-t-welumos] "smasher of the enclosure" (of Vritra, Vala) and diye-snūtyos "impeller of streams" (the liberated rivers, corresponding to Vedic apam ajas "agitator of the waters").[41] Brave and heroic Innara or Inra, which sounds like Indra, is mentioned among the gods of the Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people of Hittite region.[42]

Indra as a deity had a presence in northeastern Asia minor, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the Boghaz-köi clay tablets dated to about 1400 BCE. This tablet mentions a treaty, but its significance is in four names it includes reverentially as Mi-it-ra, U-ru-w-na, In-da-ra and Na-sa-at-ti-ia. These are respectively, Mitra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya-Asvin of the Vedic pantheon as revered deities, and these are also found in Avestan pantheon but with Indra and Naonhaitya as demons. This at least suggests that Indra and his fellow deities were in vogue in South Asia and Asia minor by about mid 2nd-millennium BCE.[31][43]

Indra is praised as the highest god in 250 hymns of the Rigveda – a Hindu scripture dated to have been composed sometime between 1700 and 1100 BCE. He is co-praised as the supreme in another 50 hymns, thus making him one of the most celebrated Vedic deities.[31] He is also mentioned in ancient Indo-Iranian literature, but with a major inconsistency when contrasted with the Vedas. In the Vedic literature, Indra is a heroic god. In the Avestan (ancient, pre-Islamic Iranian) texts such as Vd. 10.9, Dk. 9.3 and Gbd 27.6-34.27, Indra – or accurately Andra[44] – is a gigantic demon who opposes truth.[34][note 2] In the Vedic texts, Indra kills the archenemy and demon Vritra who threatens mankind. In the Avestan texts, Vritra is not found.[44]

Indra is called vr̥tragʰná- (literally, "slayer of obstacles") in the Vedas, which corresponds to Verethragna of the Zoroastrian noun verethragna-. According to David Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran.[45] It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",[45] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"[46] from the Bactria–Margiana Culture.[46] At least 383 non-Indo-European words were found in this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma.[47] According to Anthony,

Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.[48]

Hinduism


Indra is typically featured as a guardian deity on the east side of a Hindu temple.

Indra was a prominent deity in the Vedic era of Hinduism.[31]

Vedic texts

Over a quarter of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda mention Indra, making him the most referred to deity than any other.[31][49] These hymns present a complex picture of Indra, but some aspects of Indra are oft repeated. Of these, the most common theme is where he as the god with thunderbolt kills the evil serpent Vritra that held back rains, and thus released rains and land nourishing rivers.[29] For example, the Rigvedic hymn 1.32 dedicated to Indra reads:

इन्द्रस्य नु वीर्याणि प्र वोचं यानि चकार प्रथमानि वज्री ।
अहन्नहिमन्वपस्ततर्द प्र वक्षणा अभिनत्पर्वतानाम् ॥१।।
अहन्नहिं पर्वते शिश्रियाणं त्वष्टास्मै वज्रं स्वर्यं ततक्ष ।
वाश्रा इव धेनवः स्यन्दमाना अञ्जः समुद्रमव जग्मुरापः ॥२।।

1. Now I shall proclaim the heroic deeds of Indra, those foremost deeds that the mace-wielder performed:
He smashed the serpent. He bored out the waters. He split the bellies of the mountains.
2. He smashed the serpent resting on the mountain—for him Tvaṣṭar had fashioned the resounding [sunlike] mace.
Like bellowing milk-cows, streaming out, the waters went straight down to the sea. [50]

—Rigveda, 1.32.1–2[51]

The hymns of Rigveda declare him to be the "king that moves and moves not", the friend of mankind who holds the different tribes on earth together.[52] In one interpretation by Oldenberg, the hymns are referring to the snaking thunderstorm clouds that gather with bellowing winds (Vritra), Indra is then seen as the storm god who intervenes in these clouds with his thunderbolts, which then release the rains nourishing the parched land, crops and thus humanity.[53] In another interpretation by Hillebrandt, Indra is a symbolic sun god (Surya) and Vritra is a symbolic winter-giant (historic mini cycles of ice age, cold) in the earliest, not the later, hymns of Rigveda. The Vritra is an ice-demon of colder central Asia and northern latitudes, who holds back the water. Indra is the one who releases the water from the winter demon, an idea that later metamorphosed into his role as storm god.[53] According to Griswold, this is not a completely convincing interpretation, because Indra is simultaneously a lightning god, a rain god and a river-helping god in the Vedas. Further, the Vritra demon that Indra slew is best understood as any obstruction, whether it be clouds that refuse to release rain or mountains or snow that hold back the water.[53]

Even though Indra is declared as the king of gods in some verses, there is no consistent subordination of other gods to Indra. In Vedic thought, all gods and goddesses are equivalent and aspects of the same eternal abstract Brahman, none consistently superior, none consistently inferior. All gods obey Indra, but all gods also obey Varuna, Vishnu, Rudra and others when the situation arises. Further, Indra also accepts and follows the instructions of Savitr (solar deity).[54] Indra, like all Vedic deities, is a part of henotheistic theology of ancient India.[55]

Indra is not a visible object of nature in the Vedic texts, nor is he a personification of any object, but that agent which causes the lightning, the rains and the rivers to flow.[56] His myths and adventures in the Vedic literature are numerous, ranging from harnessing the rains, cutting through mountains to help rivers flow, helping land becoming fertile, unleashing sun by defeating the clouds, warming the land by overcoming the winter forces, winning the light and dawn for mankind, putting milk in the cows, rejuvenating the immobile into something mobile and prosperous, and in general, he is depicted as removing any and all sorts of obstacles to human progress.[57] The Vedic prayers to Indra, states Jan Gonda, generally ask "produce success of this rite, throw down those who hate the materialized Brahman".[58]

Indra is often presented as the twin brother of Agni (fire) – another major Vedic deity.[59] Yet, he is also presented to be the same, states Max Muller, as in Rigvedic hymn 2.1.3, which states, "Thou Agni, art Indra, a bull among all beings; thou art the wide-ruling Vishnu, worthy of adoration. Thou art the Brahman, (...)."[60] He is also part of one of many Vedic trinities as "Agni, Indra and Surya", representing the "creator-maintainer-destroyer" aspects of existence in Hindu thought.[49][note 3]

Rigveda 2.1.3 Jamison 2014 [64]

You, Agni, as bull of beings, are Indra; you, wide-going, worthy of homage, are Viṣṇu. You, o lord of the sacred formulation, finder of wealth, are the Brahman [Formulator]; you, o Apportioner, are accompanied by Plenitude.

Upanishads

The ancient Aitareya Upanishad equates Indra, along with other deities, with Atman (soul, self) in the Vedanta's spirit of internalization of rituals and gods. It begins with its cosmological theory in verse 1.1.1 by stating that, "in the beginning, Atman, verily one only, was here - no other blinking thing whatever; he bethought himself: let me now create worlds".[65][66] This soul, which the text refers to as Brahman as well, then proceeds to create the worlds and beings in those worlds wherein all Vedic gods and goddesses such as sun-god, moon-god, Agni and other divinities become active cooperative organs of the body.[66][67][68] The Atman thereafter creates food, and thus emerges a sustainable non-sentient universe, according to the Upanishad. The eternal Atman then enters each living being making the universe full of sentient beings, but these living beings fail to perceive their Atman. The first one to see the Atman as Brahman, asserts the Upanishad, said, "idam adarsha or "I have seen It".[66] Others then called this first seer as Idam-dra or "It-seeing", which over time came to be cryptically known as "Indra", because, claims Aitareya Upanishad, everyone including the gods like short nicknames.[69] The passing mention of Indra in this Upanishad, states Alain Daniélou, is a symbolic folk etymology.[20]

The section 3.9 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad connects Indra to thunder, thunderbolt and release of waters.[70] In section 5.1 of the Avyakta Upanishad, Indra is praised as he who embodies the qualities of all gods.[49]

Post-Vedic texts


Krishna holding Govardhan hill from Smithsonian Institution’s collections

In post-Vedic texts, Indra is depicted as an intoxicated hedonistic god, his importance declines, and he evolves into a minor deity in comparison to others in the Hindu pantheon, such as Shiva, Vishnu, or Devi. In Hindu texts, Indra is some times known as an aspect (avatar) of Shiva.[49]

He is depicted as the father of Vali in the Ramayana and Arjuna in the Mahabharata.[22]Since he is known for mastering over all weapons in warfare, his spiritual sons Vali and Arjuna are also very good in warfare. He becomes a source of nuisance rains in the Puranas, out of anger and with an intent to hurt mankind. But, Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu, comes to the rescue by lifting Mount Govardhana on his fingertip, and letting mankind shelter under the mountain till Indra exhausts his anger and relents.[22] Also, according to Mahabharata Indra, disguised himself as a Brahmin approached Karna and asked for his kavach (body armor) and kundal (earrings) as charity. Although being aware of his true identity, Karna peeled off his kavach and kundal and fulfilled the wish of Indra. Pleased by this act Indra, gifted Karna a dart called Vasavi Shakthi.

Sangam literature (300 BCE–300 AD)

Sangam literature of the Tamil language contains more stories about Indra by various authors. In Silapathikaram Indra is described as Maalai venkudai mannavan (மாலைவெண் குடை மன்னவன்), literally meaning Indra with the pearl-garland and white umbrella.[71]

The Sangam literature also describes Indhira Vizha (festival for Indra), the festival for want of rain, celebrated for one full month starting from the full moon in Ootrai (later name – Cittirai) and completed on the full moon in Puyaazhi (Vaikaasi) (which coincides with Buddhapurnima). It is described in the epic Cilapatikaram in detail.[72]

Relations with other gods

In the Hindu religion, he is married to Shachi, also known as Indrani or Pulomaja.[73]

Indra and Shachi have two sons: Chitragupta and Jayanta; and two daughters: Jayanti and Devasena. Goddess Jayanti is the spouse of Shukra, while Goddess Devasena marries the war-god Kartikeya.[74]

Mythology

In the Brahmavaivarta Purana,[75] Indra defeats Vritra and releases the waters. Indra asks Vishvakarma to build him a palace, but ultimately decides to leave his life of luxury to become a hermit and seek wisdom. Horrified, Indra's wife Shachi asks the priest Brihaspati to change her husband's mind. He teaches Indra to see the virtues of both the spiritual life and the worldly life. Thus, at the end of the story, Indra learns how to pursue wisdom while still fulfilling his kingly duties.[citation needed]

Iconography



Indra's iconography shows him holding a thunderbolt or Vajra and a sword. In addition he is shown on top of his elephant Airavata, which reinforces his characteristic of King of the Gods.

In Rigveda, Indra is described as strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt, riding a chariot:

5. Let bullish heaven strengthen you, the bull; as bull you travel with your two bullish fallow bays. As bull with a bullish chariot, well-lipped one, as bull with bullish will, you of the mace, set us up in loot.

— Rigveda, Book 5, Hymn 37: Jamison[76]

Indra's weapon, which he used to kill evil Vritra, is the Vajra or thunderbolt. Other alternate iconographic symbolism for him includes a bow (sometimes as a colorful rainbow), a sword, a net, a noose, a hook, or a conch.[77] The thunderbolt of Indra is called Bhaudhara.[78]

In the post-Vedic period, he rides a large, four-tusked white elephant called Airavata.[20] In sculpture and relief artworks in temples, he typically sits on an elephant or is near one. When he is shown to have two, he holds the Vajra and a bow.[79]

In the Shatapatha Brahmana and in Shaktism traditions, Indra is stated to be same as goddess Shodashi (Tripura Sundari), and her iconography is described similar to those of Indra.[80]

The rainbow is called Indra's Bow (Sanskrit: indradhanus इन्द्रधनुस्).[77]

Buddhism

The Buddhist cosmology places Indra above Mount Sumeru, in Trayastrimsha heaven.[4] He resides and rules over one of the six realms of rebirth, the Devas realm of Saṃsāra, that is widely sought in the Buddhist tradition.[81][note 4] Rebirth in the realm of Indra is a consequence of very good Karma (Pali: kamma) and accumulated merit during a human life.[84]

In Buddhism, Indra is commonly called by his other name, Śakra or Sakka, ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven.[85] Śakra is sometimes referred to as Devānām Indra or "Lord of the Devas". Buddhist texts also refer to Indra by numerous names and epithets, as is the case with Hindu and Jain texts. For example, Asvaghosha's Buddhacarita in different sections refers to Indra with terms such as "the thousand eyed",[86] Puramdara,[87] Lekharshabha,[88] Mahendra, Marutvat, Valabhid and Maghavat.[89] Elsewhere, he is known as Devarajan (literally, "the king of gods"). These names reflect a large overlap between Hinduism and Buddhism, and the adoption of many Vedic terminology and concepts into Buddhist thought.[90] Even the term Śakra, which means "mighty", appears in the Vedic texts such as in hymn 5.34 of the Rigveda.[20][91]

In Theravada Buddhism Indra is referred to as Indā in Evening Chanting such as the Udissanādiṭṭhānagāthā (Iminā).[92]


The Buddha (middle) is flanked by Brahma (left) and Indra, possibly the oldest surviving Buddhist artwork.[93]

The Bimaran Casket made of gold inset with garnet, dated to be around 60 CE, but some proposals dating it to the 1st century BCE, is among the earliest archaeological evidences available that establish the importance of Indra in Buddhist mythology. The artwork shows the Buddha flanked by gods Brahma and Indra.[93][94]

In China, Korea, and Japan, he is known by the characters 帝釋天 (Chinese: 釋提桓因, pinyin: shì dī huán yīn, Korean: "Je-seok-cheon" or 桓因 Hwan-in, Japanese: "Tai-shaku-ten", kanji: 帝釈天). In Japan, Indra always appears opposite Brahma (梵天, Japanese: "Bonten") in Buddhist art. Brahma and Indra are revered together as protectors of the historical Buddha (Chinese: 釋迦, kanji: 釈迦, also known as Shakyamuni), and are frequently shown giving the infant Buddha his first bath. Although Indra is often depicted like a bodhisattva in the Far East, typically in Tang dynasty costume, his iconography also includes a martial aspect, wielding a thunderbolt from atop his elephant mount.[citation needed]


Many official seals in southeast Asia feature Indra.[95] Above: seal of Bangkok, Thailand.

In some schools of Buddhism and in Hinduism, the image of Indra's net is a metaphor for the emptiness of all things, and at the same time a metaphor for the understanding of the universe as a web of connections and interdependences[96][circular reference].

In Japan, Indra is one of the twelve Devas, as guardian deities, who are found in or around Buddhist temples (Jūni-ten, 十二天).[97] In Japan, Indra has been called "Taishaku-ten".[98] He joins these other eleven Devas of Buddhism, found in Japan and other parts of southeast Asia: Agni (Ka-ten), Yama (Enma-ten), Nirrti (Rasetsu-ten), Vayu (Fu-ten), Ishana (Ishana-ten), Kubera (Tamon-ten), Varuna (Sui-ten), Brahma (Bon-ten), Prithvi (Chi-ten), Surya (Nit-ten), and Chandra (Gat-ten).[98][99][100]

The ceremonial name of Bangkok claims that the city was "given by Indra and built by Vishvakarman."[101]

Jainism


Indra as a guardian deity sitting on elephant in Jain cave temple at Ellora


Indra, Indrani with elephant at the 9th-century Mirpur Jain Temple in Rajasthan (rebuilt 15th-century).

Indra in Jain mythology always serves the Tirthankara teachers. Indra most commonly appears in stories related to Tirthankaras, in which Indra himself manages and celebrates the five auspicious events in that Tirthankara's life, such as Chavan kalyanak, Janma kalyanak, Diksha kalyanak, Kevala Jnana kalyanak, and moksha kalyanak.[102]

There are sixty-four Indras in Jaina literature, each ruling over different heavenly realms where heavenly souls who have not yet gained Kaivalya (moksha) are reborn according to Jainism.[24][103] Among these many Indras, the ruler of the first Kalpa heaven is the Indra who is known as Saudharma in Digambara, and Sakra in Śvētāmbara tradition. He is most preferred, discussed and often depicted in Jaina caves and marble temples, often with his wife Indrani.[103][104] They greet the devotee as he or she walks in, flank the entrance to an idol of Jina (conqueror), and lead the gods as they are shown celebrating the five auspicious moments in a Jina's life, including his birth.[24] These Indra-related stories are enacted by laypeople in Jainism tradition during special Puja (worship) or festive remembrances.[24][105]

In south Indian Digambara Jaina community, Indra is also the title of hereditary priests who preside over Jain temple functions.[24]

See also

• Rigvedic deities
• Indreshwar
• Deva
• Nahusha
• Aditya
• Lokapala
• Dikpala
• Indraloka
• Astra
• Astra of Indrajit
• Indra Dhwaja
• Indrajāla
• Vajra, also Bhaudhara
• Vijaya Dhanush
• Trāyastriṃśa
• Nat
• Ten-bu
• Dharmapala
• Sakra or Sakka
• Indranama
• Saman
• Taishakuten
• Thagyamin
• Vajrapani
• Yuanshi Tianzun
• Jade Emperor
• Hwanin
• Tengri

Notes

1. near Black Sea.
2. In deities that are similar to Indra in the Hittite and European mythologies, he is also heroic.[34]
3. The Trimurti idea of Hinduism, states Jan Gonda, "seems to have developed from ancient cosmological and ritualistic speculations about the triple character of an individual god, in the first place of Agni, whose births are three or threefold, and who is threefold light, has three bodies and three stations".[61] Other trinities, beyond the more common "Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva", mentioned in ancient and medieval Hindu texts include: "Indra, Vishnu, Brahmanaspati", "Agni, Indra, Surya", "Agni, Vayu, Aditya", "Mahalakshmi, Mahasarasvati, and Mahakali", and others.[62][63]
4. Scholars[82][83] note that better rebirth, not nirvana, has been the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists. This is sought in the Buddhist traditions through merit accumulation and good kamma.

References

1. Dalal, Roshen. Hinduism: an Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books, 2014, books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT561&lpg=PT561&dq=indraloka+hinduism&source=bl&ots=n_TDE8_SQn&sig=b4a5vg6wUlkqPxwC5mfJkeHKP5A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOvPTWl7zbAhWKr1kKHXUzAUoQ6AEwEnoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=indraloka%20hinduism&f=false.
2. Thomas Berry (1996). Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism. Columbia University Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-231-10781-5.
3. "Dictionary | Buddhistdoor". http://www.buddhistdoor.net. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
4. Helen Josephine Baroni (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8239-2240-6.
5. Lisa Owen (2012). Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora. BRILL Academic. p. 25. ISBN 90-04-20629-9.
6. Bezhan, Frud (19 April 2017). "Pakistan's Forgotten Pagans Get Their Due". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 11 July 2017. About half of the Kalash practice a form of ancient Hinduism infused with old pagan and animist beliefs.
7. Barrington, Nicholas; Kendrick, Joseph T.; Schlagintweit, Reinhard (18 April 2006). A Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the Mysterious Afghan Hinterland. I.B. Tauris. p. 111. ISBN 9781845111755. Prominent sites include Hadda, near Jalalabad, but Buddhism never seems to have penetrated the remote valleys of Nuristan, where the people continued to practise an early form of polytheistic Hinduism.
8. Weiss, Mitch; Maurer, Kevin (31 December 2012). No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan. Berkley Caliber. p. 299. ISBN 9780425253403. Up until the late nineteenth century, many Nuristanis practised a primitive form of Hinduism. It was the last area in Afghanistan to convert to Islam—and the conversion was accomplished by the sword.
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11. name="Jamil2019">Jamil, Kashif (19 August 2019). "Uchal — a festival of shepherds and farmers of the Kalash tribe". Daily Times. p. English. Retrieved 23 January 2020. Some of their deities who are worshiped in Kalash tribe are similar to the Hindu god and goddess like Mahadev in Hinduism is called Mahandeo in Kalash tribe. ... All the tribal also visit the Mahandeo for worship and pray. After that they reach to the gree (dancing place).
12. West, Barbara A. (19 May 2010). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 9781438119137. The Kalasha are a unique people living in just three valleys near Chitral, Pakistan, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. Unlike their neighbors in the Hindu Kush Mountains on both the Afghani and Pakistani sides of the border the Kalasha have not converted to Islam. During the mid-20th century a few Kalasha villages in Pakistan were forcibly converted to this dominant religion, but the people fought the conversion and once official pressure was removed the vast majority continued to practice their own religion. Their religion is a form of Hinduism that recognizes many gods and spirits and has been related to the religion of the ancient Greeks... given their Indo-Aryan language, ... the religion of the Kalasha is much more closely aligned to the Hinduism of their Indian neighbors that to the religion of Alexander the Great and his armies.
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26. T. A. Gopinatha Rao (1993). Elements of Hindu iconography. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 111. ISBN 978-81-208-0878-2.
27. Wilkings 1882, p. 52.
28. Sita Pieris; Ellen Raven (2010). ABIA: South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index: Volume Three – South Asia. BRILL Academic. p. 232. ISBN 90-04-19148-8.
29. Friedrich Max Müller (1903). Anthropological Religion: The Gifford Lectures Delivered Before the University of Glasgow in 1891. Longmans Green. pp. 395–398.
30. Chakravarty, Uma. "ON THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD 'ÍNDRA'." Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 76, no. 1/4 (1995): 27-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41694367.
31. Hervey De Witt Griswold (1971). The Religion of the Ṛigveda. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 177–178 with footnote 1. ISBN 978-81-208-0745-7.
32. Edward Delavan Perry (1885). "Indra in the Rig-Veda". 11. Journal of the American Oriental Society: 121. JSTOR 592191.
33. Annette Wilke; Oliver Moebus (2011). Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 418 with footnote 148. ISBN 978-3-11-024003-0.
34. John Colarusso (2014). Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs. Princeton University Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-1-4008-6528-4.
35. Shan M. M. Winn (1995). Heaven, Heroes, and Happiness: The Indo-European Roots of Western Ideology. University Press of America. pp. 371 note 1. ISBN 978-0-8191-9860-0.
36. Uma Chakraborty (1997). Indra and Other Vedic Deities: A Euhemeristic Study. DK Printworld. pp. 91, 220. ISBN 978-81-246-0080-1.
37. Presidential Address W. H. D. Rouse Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1907), pp. 12-23: "King of the Gods is Sakka, or Indra"
38. Wilkings 1882, p. 53.
39. Alexander Stuart Murray (1891). Manual of Mythology: Greek and Roman, Norse, and Old German, Hindoo and Egyptian Mythology, 2nd Edition. C. Scribner's sons. pp. 329–331.
40. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. pp. 744–749.
41. Michael Janda (2000). Eleusis: Das Indogermanische Erbe Der Mysterien. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck. pp. 261–262. ISBN 978-3-85124-675-9.
42. Eva Von Dassow (2008). State and Society in the Late Bronze Age. University Press of Maryland. pp. 77, 85–86. ISBN 978-1-934309-14-8.
43. Edward James Rapson (1955). The Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 320–321. GGKEY:FP2CEFT2WJH.
44. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. pp. 756–759.
45. Anthony 2007, p. 462.
46. Beckwith 2009, p. 32.
47. Anthony 2007, p. 454-455.
48. Anthony 2007, p. 454.
49. Alain Daniélou (1991). The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series. Inner Traditions. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-89281-354-4.
50. Stephanie Jamison (2015). The Rigveda –– Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 0190633395.
51. ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १.३२, Wikisource Rigveda Sanskrit text
52. Hervey De Witt Griswold (1971). The Religion of the Ṛigveda. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 180, verse 1.32.15. ISBN 978-81-208-0745-7.
53. Hervey De Witt Griswold (1971). The Religion of the Ṛigveda. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 180–183 with footnotes. ISBN 978-81-208-0745-7.
54. Arthur Berriedale Keith (1925). The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-81-208-0645-0.
55. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. p. 758.
56. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. p. 757.
57. Jan Gonda (1989). The Indra Hymns of the Ṛgveda. Brill Archive. pp. 4–5. ISBN 90-04-09139-4.
58. Jan Gonda (1989). The Indra Hymns of the Ṛgveda. Brill Archive. p. 12. ISBN 90-04-09139-4.
59. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. p. 827.
60. Friedrich Max Müller (1897). Contributions to the Science of Mythology. Longmans Green. p. 828.
61. Jan Gonda (1969), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pages 218-219
62. Jan Gonda (1969), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pages 212-226
63. David White (2006), Kiss of the Yogini, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226894843, pages 4, 29
64. Jamison, Stephanie (2014). The Rigveda–– the earliest religious poetry of India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0190633395.
65. Robert Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, page 294 with verses 1.1.1 and footnotes
66. Paul Deussen (1997). A Sixty Upanishads Of The Veda, Volume 1. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 15–18. ISBN 978-81-208-0430-2.
67. Robert Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 295-297 with footnotes
68. Johannes Bronkhorst (2007). Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India. BRILL. p. 128. ISBN 90-04-15719-0.
69. Robert Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 297-298 with verses 1.3.13-14 and footnotes
70. Patrick Olivelle (1998). The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text and Translation. Oxford University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-19-535242-9.
71. S Krishnamoorthy (2011). Silappadikaram. Bharathi Puthakalayam.
72. S Krishnamoorthy (2011). Silappadikaram. Bharathi Puthakalayam. pp. 31–36.
73. Wilkings 1882.
74. Roshen Dalal (2010). The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths. Penguin Books India. pp. 190, 251. ISBN 978-0-14-341517-6.
75. Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, ed. Joseph Campbell (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1962), p. 3-11
76. [1]
77. Alain Daniélou (1991). The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series. Inner Traditions. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-0-89281-354-4.
78. Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 75.
79. (Masson-Oursel and Morin, 326).
80. Alain Daniélou (1991). The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series. Inner Traditions. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-89281-354-4.
81. Trainor 2004, p. 62.
82. Merv Fowler (1999). Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-898723-66-0., Quote: "For a vast majority of Buddhists in Theravadin countries, however, the order of monks is seen by lay Buddhists as a means of gaining the most merit in the hope of accumulating good karma for a better rebirth."
83. Christopher Gowans (2004). Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-134-46973-4.
84. Robert E. Buswell Jr.; Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. pp. 230–231. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.
85. John Clifford Holt; Jacob N. Kinnard; Jonathan S. Walters (2012). Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia. State University of New York Press. pp. 45–46, 57–64, 108. ISBN 978-0-7914-8705-1.
86. E. B. Cowell & Francis A. Davis 1969, pp. 5, 21.
87. E. B. Cowell & Francis A. Davis 1969, p. 44.
88. E. B. Cowell & Francis A. Davis 1969, p. 71 footnote 1.
89. E. B. Cowell & Francis A. Davis 1969, p. 205.
90. Robert E. Buswell Jr.; Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.
91. Sanskrit: Rigveda 5.34, Wikisource;
English Translation: HH Wilson (1857). Rig-veda Sanhita: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns. Trübner & Company. pp. 288–291, 58–61.
92. "Part 2 - Evening Chanting". http://www.Watpasantidhamma.org. Retrieved 18 January2019.
93. Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha. University of Chicago Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-226-49321-3.
94. K. Walton Dobbins (1968), Two Gandhāran Reliquaries, East and West, Volume 18, Number 1/2 (March–June 1968), pages 151-162
95. Waraporn Poopongpan (2007), "Thai Kingship during the Ayutthaya Period: A Note on Its Divine Aspects Concerning Indra." Silpakorn University International Journal, Volume 7, pages 143-171
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97. Twelve Heavenly Deities (Devas) Nara National Museum, Japan
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102. Goswamy 2014, p. 245.
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Bibliography

• Goswamy, B.N. (2014), The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 100 Great Works 1100-1900, Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-670-08657-3
• Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World, Princeton University Press
• Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009), Empires of the Silk Road, Princeton University Press
• E. B. Cowell; Francis A. Davis (1969). Buddhist Mahayana Texts. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-25552-1.
• Wilkings, W.J. (1882), Hindu mythology, Vedic & Puranic, Elibron Classics (2001 reprint of 1882 edition by Thaker, Spink & Co., Calcutta), archived from the original on 9 October 2014
• Masson-Oursel, P.; Morin, Louise (1976). "Indian Mythology." In New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, pp. 325–359. New York: The Hamlyn Publishing Group.
• Janda, M., Eleusis, das indogermanische Erbe der Mysterien (1998).
• Trainor, Kevin (2004), Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-517398-7
• Chakravarty, Uma. "On the etymology of the word 'ÍNDRA'." Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 76, no. 1/4 (1995): 27-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41694367.

External links

• Indra and Skanda deities in Korean Buddhism, Phil Lee, Chicago Divinity School
• Indra, Lord of Storms and King of the Gods' Realm, Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Indra wood idol – 13th century, Kamakura period, Japan

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Part 1 of 2

Agni
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 9/7/20


Agni, God of Fire, Member of the Pancha Bhoota [5 great elements]
Agni with an aura of flames, seated on ram
Affiliation: Deva, Aditya
Abode: Agniloka
Weapon: Staff
Mount: Ram[1]
Personal information
Parents: Kashyapa and Aditi
Siblings: Indra, Brihaspati, Varuna, Vayu, Dyaus, Samudra
Consort: Svaha
Children: Agneya

Agni (English: /ˈæɡni/ AG-nee,[4] Sanskrit: अग्नि, Agní) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire god of Hinduism.[5][6][7] He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples.[8] In the classical cosmology of the Indian religions, Agni as fire is one of the five inert impermanent elements (pañcabhūtá) along with space (ākāśa), water (ap), air (vāyu) and earth (pṛthvī), the five combining to form the empirically perceived material existence (Prakriti).[6][9][10]

In Vedic literature, Agni is a major and oft-invoked god along with Indra and Soma.[6][11] Agni is considered the mouth of the gods and goddesses and the medium that conveys offerings to them in a homa (votive ritual).[5][12][13] He is conceptualized in ancient Hindu texts to exist at three levels, on earth as fire, in the atmosphere as lightning, and in the sky as the sun. This triple presence connects him as the messenger between gods and human beings in the Vedic thought.[6] The relative importance of Agni declined in the post-Vedic era,[14] as he was internalized[15] and his identity evolved to metaphorically represent all transformative energy and knowledge in the Upanishads and later Hindu literature.[16][17][18] Agni remains an integral part of Hindu traditions, such as being the central witness of the rite-of-passage ritual in traditional Hindu weddings called Saptapadi or Agnipradakshinam (seven steps and mutual vows) as well being part of Diya (lamp) in festivals such as Divali and Aarti in Puja.[6]

Agni (Pali: Aggi) is a term that appears extensively in Buddhist texts[19] and in the literature related to the Senika heresy debate within the Buddhist traditions.[20][21] In the ancient Jainism thought, Agni (fire) contains soul and fire-bodied beings,[22] additionally appears as Agni-kumara or "fire princes" in its theory of rebirth and a class of reincarnated beings[23] and is discussed in its texts with the equivalent term Tejas.[24]

Mundaka Upanishad (2.4) mentioned the seven tongues of Agni as 'kālī, karālī, manojavā, sulohita, sudhāmravarṇā, sphuliṅginī and visvarucī.[25]

Etymology and meaning

Sanskrit Agni continues one of two core terms for fire reconstructed to Proto-Indo-European, *h₁n̥gʷnís, other reflexes of which include Latin ignis (the root of English ignite), Sclavonian ogni;[26] Russian огонь (ogon), Polish "ogień", Slovenian "ogenj", Serbian oganj, and Lithuanian ugnis, all meaning "fire".;[27] synchronically, the ancient Indian grammarians variously derived it:

• from root aj, which in Sanskrit means "to drive" and mirrors in Indo-European languages (Latin ago, Greek ἄγω) in the sense of "nimble, agile".[28][29]
• from agri, the root of which means "first", referring to "that first in the universe to arise" or "fire" according to Shatapatha Brahmana section 6.1.1; the Brahmana claims this is cryptically called as Agni because everyone including the gods are known to love short nicknames.[30]
• according to the 5th-century BCE Sanskrit text Nirukta-Nighantu in section 7.14, sage Śakapūṇi states the word Agni is derived from three verbs – from 'going', from 'shining or burning', and from 'leading'; the letter "a" (अ) is from root "i" which he claims implies 'to go', the letter "g" (ग्) is from the root "añj" meaning 'to shine' or "dah" meaning 'to burn', and the last letter is by itself the root "nī" (नी) which means 'to lead'.[31]

In the early Vedic literature, Agni primarily connotes the fire as a god, one reflecting the primordial powers to consume, transform and convey.[32][33] Yet the term is also used with the meaning of a Mahabhuta (constitutive substance), one of five that the earliest Vedic thinkers believed to constitute material existence, and that later Vedic thinkers such as Kanada and Kapila expanded widely, namely Akasha (ether, space), Vayu (air), Ap (water), Prithvi (earth) and Agni (fire).[34][35]

The word Agni is used in many contexts, ranging from fire in the stomach, the cooking fire in a home, the sacrificial fire in an altar, the fire of cremation, the fire of rebirth, the fire in the energetic saps concealed within plants, the atmospheric fire in lightning and the celestial fire in the sun.[7][32][36] In the Brahmanas layer of the Vedas, such as in section 5.2.3 of Shatapatha Brahmana, Agni represents all the gods, all concepts of spiritual energy that permeates everything in the universe.[16][37] In the Upanishads and post-Vedic literature, Agni additionally became a metaphor for immortal principle in man, and any energy or knowledge that consumes and dispels a state of darkness, transforms and procreates an enlightened state of existence.[17][18][34]

Origins


"Agnipani" ("Fire-holder"), 100 BCE. Behind its turban, the statue has a flame-shaped aureole incised with flame tongues. Mathura Museum, GMM 87.146

There are many theories about the origins of the god Agni, some tracing it to Indo-European mythologies, others tracing to mythologies within the Indian tradition.[38][39]

The origin myth found in many Indo-European cultures is one of a bird, or bird like being, that carries or brings fire from the gods to mankind. Alternatively, this messenger brings an elixir of immortality from heaven to earth. In either case, the bird returns everyday with sacrificial offerings for the gods, but sometimes the bird hides or disappears without trace. Agni is molded in similar mythical themes, in some hymns with the phrase the "heavenly bird that flies".[39][40]

The earliest layers of the Vedic texts of Hinduism, such as section 6.1 of Kathaka Samhita and section 1.8.1 of Maitrayani Samhita state that the universe began with nothing, neither night nor day existed, what existed was just Prajapati (also referred to as Brahman).[38] Agni originated from the forehead of Prajapati, assert these texts. With the creation of Agni came light, and with that were created day and night. Agni, state these Samhitas, is the same as the Brahman, the truth, the eye of the manifested universe.[38] These mythologies develop into more complex stories about Agni's origins in the later layers of Vedic texts, such as in section 2.1.2 of the Taittiriya Brahmana and sections 2.2.3–4 of Shatapatha Brahmana.[38]

Agni is originally conceptualized as the ultimate source of the "creator-maintainer-destroyer" triad, then one of the trinities, as the one who ruled the earth. His twin brother Indra ruled the atmosphere as the god of storm, rain and war, while Surya ruled the sky and heavens.[14][a] His position and importance evolves over time, in the "creator-maintainer-destroyer" aspects of existence in Hindu thought.[42][ b]

The Shatapatha Brahmana mentions there have been three previous Agnis and current one is the fourth in the series.[45]

Fourfold, namely, was Agni (fire) at first. Now that Agni whom they at first chose for the office of Hotri priest passed away. He also whom they chose the second time passed away. He also whom they chose the third time passed away. Thereupon the one who still constitutes the fire in our own time, concealed himself from fear. He entered into the waters. Him the gods discovered and brought forcibly away from the waters. – 1:2:3:1

Texts


Agni seated on a ram, 14th–15th century Indonesia.

Vedas

In the Vedic pantheon, Agni occupies, after Indra, the most important position.[7] Agni is prominent in the hymns of the Vedas and particularly the Brahmanas. In the Rig Veda there are over 200 hymns that praise Agni. His name or synonyms appear in nearly a third of 1,028 hymns in the Rigveda.[46] The Rigveda opens with a hymn inviting Agni, who is then addressed later in the hymn as the guardian of Ṛta (Dharma).[47][48][c]

The Vedas describe the parents of Agni as two kindling fire sticks, whose loving action creates him. Just born, he is poetically presented as a tender baby, who needs loving attention lest he vanishes. With care, he sparks and smokes, then flames and grows stronger than his parents, finally so strong that he devours what created him.[50]

The hymns in these ancient texts refer to Agni with numerous epithets and synonyms, such as Jaatavedas (one with knowledge of all births and successions), Vaishvaanara (one who treats all equally), Tanunapat (son of himself, self-made), Narasansa (praised by all men), Tripatsya (with three dwellings), and many others.[50][51] In Vedic mythologies, Agni is also presented as one who is mysterious with a tendency to play hide and seek, not just with humans but with the gods. He hides in strange places such as waters where in one myth he imbues life force into living beings that dwell therein, and in another where the fishes report his presence to the gods.[52]

Agni is in hymn 10.124 of the Rigveda, a Rishi (sage-poet-composer) and along with Indra and Surya makes up the Vedic triad of deities.[53]

Agni is considered equivalent to and henotheistically identified with all the gods in the Vedic thought, which formed the foundation for the various non-dualistic and monistic theologies of Hinduism.[46] These theme of equivalence is repeatedly presented in the Vedas, such as with the following words in the Mandala 1 of the Rigveda:

They call it Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni,
and he is heavenly-winged Garutman.
To what is One, sages give many a title,
they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.

— Rigveda 1.164.46, Translator: Klaus Klostermaier[54][55][56]

Upanishads


Agni with an aura of flames, seated on ram.

Agni features prominently in the major and minor Upanishads of Hinduism. Among the earliest mention is the legend of a boy named Satyakama, of uncertain parentage from an unwed mother, in chapter 4 of the Chandogya Upanishad (~700 BCE). He honestly admits his poverty and that his mother does not know who his father was, an honesty that earns him a spot in a Vedic school (gurukul).[57][58] During his studies, the boy meets Agni, who then becomes the metaphor for him as a cardinal direction, world body, eye and knowledge, and the abstract principle of Brahman which the Upanishad states is in everything and is everywhere.[57][59][60] Agni appears in section 1.13 of Chandogya Upanishad as well.[61]

In verse 18 of the Isha Upanishad, Agni is invoked with, "O Agni, you know all the paths, lead me on to success by the good path, keep me away from the wrong path of sin".[62][63][d] In sections 4.5–6 of the Maitri Upanishad, students ask their Vedic Guru (teacher) about which god is best among gods they name, a list that includes Agni.[65][66] The Guru replies that they are all supreme, all merely forms of the Brahman, the whole world is Brahman. So pick anyone, suggests the Upanishad, meditate and adore that one, then meditate over them all, then deny and discard the individuality of every one of these gods including of Agni, thus journey unto the universal, for a communion with the Purusha, the Atman.[67][68]

Sections 3 and 4 of Kena Upanishad, another major ancient Upanishad, present an allegorical story which includes gods Agni, Vayu, Indra and goddess Uma.[69] After a battle between good gods and evil demons, where Brahman helps the good gain victory, the gods wonder, "what is this Brahman, a wonderful being?" Agni goes first to find out, but fails. Vayu too fails.[69] Then Indra tries, but meets the goddess who already understands Brahman, explains what Brahman is and how the good reached victory through the nature of Brahman.[70][71] Indra shares this knowledge with Agni and Vayu. The Kena Upanishad closes these sections by stating that "Agni, Vayu and Indra" are revered first because they were the first among gods to realize Brahman.[69][70] The allegorical legend, states Paul Deussen, aims to teach that all the Vedic gods and natural phenomenon have their basis in the timeless, universal monistic principle called Brahman.[69]

Another ancient major Hindu scripture named Prashna Upanishad mentions Agni in its second Prashna (question section).[72] The section states that Agni and other deities manifest as five gross constituents that combine to make the entire universe, and that all the deities are internalized in the temple of a living body with Agni as the eyes.[73][74]

Agni is mentioned in many minor Upanishads, such as the Pranagnihotra Upanishad, the Yogatattva Upanishad, the Yogashikha Upanishad, the Trishikhibrahmana Upanishad and others.[75] The syncretic and monistic Shaivism text, namely Rudrahridaya Upanishad states that Rudra is same as Agni, and Uma is same as Svaha.[76][77]

Significance

Vedic rituals involve Agni. He is a part of many Hindu rites-of-passage ceremonies such as celebrating a birth (lighting a lamp), prayers (aarti lamp), at weddings (the yajna where the bride and groom circle the fire seven times) and at death (cremation). According to Atharvaveda, it is Agni that conveys the soul of the dead from the pyre to be reborn in the next world or life.[14] However, this role was in post-Vedic texts subsumed in the role of god Yama.[14] Agni has been important in temple architecture, is typically present in the southeast corner of a Hindu temple.

Rites of passage: Hindu wedding

Main article: Hindu wedding

The most important ritual of Hindu weddings is performed around Agni. It is called the Saptapadi (Sanskrit for "seven steps/feet") or Sat Phere, and it represents the legal part of Hindu marriage.[78][79] The ritual involves a couple completing seven actual or symbolic circuits around the Agni, which is considered a witness to the vows they make to each other.[e] Each circuit of the consecrated fire is led by either the bride or the groom, varying by community and region. With each circuit, the couple makes a specific vow to establish some aspect of a happy relationship and household for each other, with Agni as the divine witness to those mutual vows.[81] In Central India and Suriname, the bride leads the first three or four circuits.[80]

Rituals: Agnihotra

Main articles: Agnihotra, Yajna, and Śrauta

The Agnihotra involves fire, and the term refers to the ritual of keeping fire at home, and in some cases making "sacrificial offerings" such as milk and seeds to this fire.[82] The Srauta texts state that it is the duty of man to perform Agnihotra. A wide range of Agnihotra procedures are found in the Brahmana layer of the Vedas, ranging from the most common simple keeping of sacred fire and its symbolism, to more complicated procedures for the expiation of guilt, to rituals claimed to grant immortality to the performer.[83] According to the Jaiminiya Brahmana, for example, an Agnihotra sacrifice frees the performer from evil and death.[84] In contrast, states the Shatapatha Brahmana, Agnihotra is a symbolic reminder and equivalent to the Sun, where the fire keeper is reminded of the heat that creates life, the fire in beings, the heat in the womb behind the cycle of life.[85]

Festivals: Holi and Diwali

Main articles: Holi and Diwali


Agni is a part of the ritual grammar in many Hindu festivals. Above Holika for Holi, includes Agni.[86]

Two major festivals in Hinduism, namely Holi (festival of colors) and Diwali (festival of lights) incorporate Agni in their ritual grammar, as a symbol of divine energy.[87][88] During the autumn celebrations of Diwali, traditional small fire lamps called Diya are included to mark the festivities. For Holi, Hindus burn bonfires as Holika, on the night before the spring festival. The bonfire marks god Agni, and in rural India mothers carry their babies around the fire clockwise on Holika in Agni's remembrance.[86]

Forms

Agni has two forms: Jataveda and Kravyada:

• Jātaveda is the fire that carries the quid-pro-quo offerings to the gods, in which case Agni is light identified with knowledge and with Brahman. In the Jātaveda form, "He who knows all creatures", Agni acts as the divine model for the priest. He is the messenger who carries the oblation from humans to the gods, bringing the Gods to sacrifice, and intercedes between gods and humans (Rig Veda I.26.3). Together with Indra, Soma, Agni is invoked in the Rig Veda more than any other gods.[89]
• Kravyād (क्रव्याद) is the form of Agni which cremates corpses, the fire of the funeral pyre that triggers the recycling of matter and spirit.[90] In this way, states Shatapatha Brahmana in verse 2.2.4.8, after one's death and at the time of cremation, Agni heats up and burns only the body, yet by its heat, one is reborn.[91]

Symbolism

One of Agni's epithets is Abhimāni (from Sanskrit: abhi (towards) + man (the verbal root man 'to think', 'reflect upon') meaning dignified, proud; longing for, thinking. Agni is a symbol of piety and purity. As expression of two kinds of energy i.e. light and heat, he is the symbol of life and activity.[citation needed]

Agni is symbolism for psychological and physiological aspects of life, states Maha Purana section LXVII.202–203. There are three kinds of Agni inside every human being, states this text, the krodha-agni or "fire of anger", the kama-agni or "fire of passion and desire", and the udara-agni or "fire of digestion". These respectively need introspective and voluntary offerings of forgiveness, detachment and fasting, if one desires spiritual freedom and liberation.[41]

Agni variously denotes the natural element fire, the supernatural deity symbolized by fire and the inner natural will aspiring for the highest knowledge.[92][93][94]

Heat, combustion and energy is the realm of Agni which symbolizes the transformation of the gross to the subtle; Agni is the life-giving energy.[95] Agnibija is the consciousness of tapas (proto-cosmic energy); agni (the energizing principle); the sun, representing the Reality (Brahman) and the Truth (Satya), is Rta, the order, the organizing principle of everything that is.[96]

Agni, who is addressed as Atithi ('guest'), is also called Jatavedasam (जातवेदसम्), meaning "the one who knows all things that are born, created or produced."[97] He symbolizes will-power united with wisdom.[98]

Agni is the essence of the knowledge of Existence. Agni destroys ignorance and all delusions, removes nrescience. The Kanvasatpathabrahmanam (SB.IV.i.iv.11) calls Agni "wisdom" (मेधायैमनसेऽग्नये स्वाहेति).[99] Agni is symbolism for "the mind swiftest among (all) those that fly."[100] It also symbolises the soul; it is the power of change that cannot be limited or overcome. Light, heat, colour and energy are merely its outer attributes; inwardly, agni impels consciousness, perception and discernment.[101]

Iconography


The icons for Agni show wide regional variations. Agni on ram


Agni with goddess Svaha

The iconography of Agni varies by region.[102] The design guidelines and specifications of his iconography are described in the Hindu Agama texts. He is shown with one to three heads, two to four armed, is typically red-complexioned or smoky-grey complexioned standing next to or riding a ram, with a characteristic dramatic halo of flames leaping upwards from his crown.[103][104] He is shown as a strong looking man, sometimes bearded, with a large belly because he eats everything offered into his flames, with golden brown hair, eyes and mustache to match the color of fire.[105]

Agni holds a rosary in one hand to symbolize his prayer-related role, and a sphere in another hand in eastern states of India. In other regions, his four arms hold an ax, torch, spoon (or fan) and a flaming spear (or rosary).[105]

Seven rays of light or flames emit from his body. One of his names is Saptajihva, "the one having seven tongues", to symbolize how rapidly he consumes sacrificial butter.[106] Occasionally, Agni iconography is shown in Rohitasva form, which has no ram as his vahana, but where he is pulled in a chariot with seven red horses, and the symbolic wind that makes fire move as the wheels of the chariot.[105] In Khmer art, Agni has been depicted with a rhinoceros as his vahana.[107][108] The number seven symbolizes his reach in all seven mythical continents in ancient Hindu cosmology or colors of a rainbow in his form as the sun.[109]

Agni has three forms, namely fire, lightning, and the Sun, forms sometimes symbolized by giving his icon three heads or three legs. He sometimes is shown wearing a garland of fruits or flowers, symbolic of the offerings made into the fire.[109]

History


Agni god in southeast corner of the 11th-century Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneshwar Odisha. The ram is carved below him.

The earliest surviving artwork of Agni have been found at archaeological sites near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), and these date from 1st-century BCE.[110](pp215, 366–367, xix, with caption for Figure 86) In the collection at Bharat Kalā Bhavan, there is a red sandstone sculpture from around the start of the common era but no later than 1st-century CE, identifiable as Agni shown in the garb of a Brahmin, very much like sage Kashyapa. In the Panchala coins of Agnimitra, a deity is always present with a halo of flames. In Gupta sculptures, Agni is found with a halo of flames round the body, the sacred thread across his chest, a beard, pot-bellied and holding in his right hand a amrtaghata (nectar-pot).[110](pp215–216) Many of these early carvings and early statues show just one head, but elaborate details such as ear-rings made of three fruits, a detailed necklace, a slightly smiling face wearing a crown, and flames engraved into the hairs at the back of Agni's statue.[110](pp215)

The iconographic statues and reliefs of god Agni are typically present in the southeast corners of a Hindu temple. However, in rare temples where Agni is envisioned as a presiding astrological divinity, according to texts such as the Samarangana Sutradhara, he is assigned the northeast corner.[111]

Agni is historically considered to be present in every grihastha (home), and therein presented in one of three forms – gārhapatya (for general domestic usage), āhavaniya (for inviting and welcoming a personage or deity) and dakshinagni (for fighting against all evil).[112] Yāska states that his predecessor Sākapuṇi regarded the threefold existence of Agni as being in earth, air and heaven as stated by the Rig Veda, but a Brāhmana considered the third manifestation to be the Sun.

Relationships


Agni (right) with his son Skanda (Karttikeya), about 1st-century CE.

Wife and children

Goddess Svaha is Agni's wife. Her name is pronounced with offerings such as butter and seeds poured into the fire during ceremonies. However, like many names in Hindu traditions, the name Svaha embeds symbolic meanings, through its relationship with the Vedic word Svadha found in the hymns of the Rigveda. Thomas Coburn states that the term Svadha refers to "one's own particular nature or inclination", and the secondary sense of "a customary pleasure or enjoyment, a refreshment that nourishes".[113] Svaha is also found in the hymns of the Vedic literature, in the sense of "welcome, praise to you". This salutation is a remembrance of Agni, as an aspect of that which is "the source of all beings".[113] As a goddess and wife of Agni, Svaha represents this Shakti.[114]

In the text Devi Mahatmya of the goddess tradition of Hinduism (Shaktism), and in the Hindu mythologies, Svaha is the daughter of goddess Daksha, Svaha has a crush for Agni. She seduces him by successively impersonating six of seven women at a gurukul (school) that Agni desired for, and thus with him has a baby who grows to become god Skanda – the god of war.[114]

Other gods

Agni is identified with same characteristics, equivalent personality or stated to be identical as many major and minor gods in different layers of the Vedic literature, including Vayu, Soma, Rudra (Shiva), Varuna and Mitra.[115][116] In hymn 2.1 of the Rigveda, in successive verses, Agni is identified to be the same as twelve gods and five goddesses.[116]

Some of the gods that Agni is identified with:

• Prajapati: The vedic text Shatapatha Brahmana, in section 6.1.2 describes how and why Prajapati is the father of Agni, and also the son of Agni, because they both are the image of the one Atman (Soul, Self) that was, is and will be the true, eternal identity of the universe.[117] The Prajapati, cosmic Purusha and Agni are stated to be the same in sections 6.1.1 and 6.2.1 of Shatapatha Brahmana.[118]
• Varuna and Mitra: when Agni is born, he is Varuna; when he is kindled, he is Mitra.[116] He is also stated to become Varuna in the evening, and he is Mitra when he rises in the morning.[116]
• Indra: Agni is generally presented as Indra's twin, they both go and appear together.[119] In chapter 13.3 of the Atharvaveda, Agni is said to become Indra when he illumines the sky.[116] Agni is also called Vishva-Vedāh,[f] "dawn," which refers both to Indra, the Protector, and to the all-knowing Agni.[120]
• Rudra: in the Rig Veda Agni is addressed as having the same fierce nature as Rudra.[121][g] The Shiva-linga represents that pillar of fire which is Agni,[122][123] a Skambha symbolism borrowed in some Buddhist artworks.[124] The verses 8 through 18 in section 6.1.3 of the Shatapatha Brahmana state Rudra is same as Agni, who is known by many other names.[125] Later, in section 9.1.1, the Shatapatha Brahmana states, "this entire Agni (fire altar) has now been completed, he is now this god Rudra".[125]
• Savitr (Sun): Agni is same as Savitr during the day, as he traverses the space delivering light and energy to all living beings.[116]
• Vayu and Soma: in the Vedas, Agni or 'fire' (light and heat), Vayu or 'air' (energy and action), and Soma or 'water', are major deities who cooperate to empower all life. In some passages, they are stated to be aspects of the same energy and principle that transforms.[115][126]
• Gayatri: is identified with Agni in Aitareya Brahmana section 1.1, Jaiminiya Brahmana section 3.184 and Taittiriya Brahmana section 7.8, and the most revered Gayatri meter in the Sanskrit prosody and Hindu traditions is associated with Agni.[118]
• Vāc (goddess of speech) and Prana (life force): are identified with Agni in Jaiminiya Brahmana sections 1.1 and 2.54, Shatapatha Brahmana sections 2.2.2 and 3.2.2.[118]
• Sarama: in a hymn in praise of Agni,[h] Rishi Parāśara Śāktya speaks of Saramā, the goddess of Intuition, the forerunner of the dawn of Truth in the Human mind, who finds the Truth which is lost. It is Saramā who is a power of the Truth, whose cows are the rays of the dawn of illumination and who awakens man who finds Agni standing in the supreme seat and goal.[127]

Mythologies


[i]A pre-3rd century CE, Kushan Empire era red colored Agni statue.

A sage of the Rig Veda (Sukta IV.iii.11) states that the Sun became visible when Agni was born.[128]

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Part 2 of 2

Epics

Offended by Agni, Bhrigu had cursed Agni to become the devourer of all things on this earth, but Brahma modified that curse and made Agni the purifier of all things he touched.[129]

In the "Khandava-daha Parva" (Mahabharata CCXXV), Agni in disguise approaches Krishna and Arjuna seeking sufficient food for gratification of his hunger; and on being asked about the kind of food which would gratify, Agni expressed the desire to consume the forest of Khandava protected by Indra for the sake of Takshaka, the chief of the Nagas. Aided by Krishna and Arjuna, Agni consumes the Khandava Forest, which burnt for fifteen days, sparing only Aswasena, Maya, and the four birds called sarangakas; later, as a boon Arjuna got all his weapons from Indra and also the bow, Gandiva, from Varuna.[130]

There is the story about King Shibi who was tested by Agni assuming the form of a pigeon and by Indra assuming the form of a hawk; Shibi offered his own flesh to the hawk in exchange of pigeon's life. The pigeon which had sought Shibi's shelter was thus saved by the king's sacrifice.[131]

Agniparikshā or 'the Fire test' has Agni as the witness. In the Ramayana, Sita voluntarily goes through this ordeal to prove her virtue.

Puranas

Agni is the eldest son of Brahma. In the Visnu Purana, Agni, called Abhimāni is said to have sprung from the mouth of the Virat purusha, the Cosmic Man. In another version, Agni emerged from the ritual fire produced by the wife of Dharma (eternal law) named Vasubhāryā (literally, "daughter of Light").[132]

According to the Puranic mythology, Agni married Svāhā (invocation offering) and fathered three sons – Pāvaka (purifier), Pāvamāna (purifying) and Śuchi (purity). From these sons, he has forty-five grandchildren which are symbolic names of different aspects of a fire.[132][133] In some texts, Medhā (intelligence) is Agni's sister.[132]

Buddhism


Agni sitting on a red goat, as medicine Buddha in 15th-century Tibetan Buddhist art


Four-armed Katen in 17th-century Japan

Agni (Sanskrit; Pali; Aggi) appears in many Buddhist canonical texts, as both a god as well as a metaphor for the element of heart or fire. In Pali literature, he is also called Aggi-Bhagavā, Jātaveda, and Vessānara.[134]

The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta, presents a philosophical exchange between Buddha and a wandering ascetic named Śreṇika Vatsagotra (Sanskrit; Pali: Senika Vacchagotta).[20][135] The conversation between Buddha and Śreṇika have remained a part of a debate that continues in modern Buddhism.[20][136] It is called the Śreṇika heresy (Japanese: Sennigedō 先尼外道).[20][137]

Śreṇika suggested that there is an eternal Self (Atman) that lives in a temporary physical body and is involved in rebirth. In the Buddhist traditions, the Buddha taught there is rebirth and Anātman, or that there is no eternal Self. The Pali texts state that Śreṇika disagreed and asked the Buddha many questions, which the Buddha refused to answer, calling his questions as indeterminate. The Buddha clarified that were he to answer Śreṇika's questions, it would "entangle" him.[20] The Buddha explains the Dharma with Agni as a metaphor, stating that just like fire is extinguished and no longer exists after it is extinguished, in the same way all skandha that constitute a human being are extinguished after death. Different versions of this debate appear throughout scripture across traditions, such as the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, and the Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa. In some versions, Śreṇika offers his own simile of Agni to further his views.[20] Scholars such as Nagarjuna have extensively commented on the Śreṇika heresy.[135]

In a manner similar to the Hindu texts, the Buddhist texts also treat Agni (referred to as the fire element Tejas) as a fundamental material and building block of nature. For example, in section 11.31 of the Visuddhimagga as well as the Rūpakaṇḍa section of the Dhammasangani, Agni and Tejas are credited as that which warms, ages, burns and digests food and life processes.[41]

Art

Agni is featured prominently in the art of the Mahayana tradition.

In Tibet, he is one of the fifty-one Buddhist deities found in the mandala of medicine Buddha.[138][139] He appears in Tibetan Manjushri's mandalas as well, where he is depicted with Brahma and Indra.[140] The Tibetan iconography for Agni strongly resembles that found in the Hindu tradition, with elements such as red colored skin, a goat vehicle, conical hair and crown, a beard, and wielding a pot of water or fire in one hand, and rosary beads in the other. Such art will often include Buddhist themes such as the dharma wheel, white conch, golden fish, elephant, the endless knot.[138]

In Theravada traditions, such as that found in Thailand, Agni is a minor deity. Agni is called Phra Phloeng (also spelled Phra Plerng, literally, "holy flames").[141][142] He is commonly depicted with two faces, eight arms, red in color, wearing a headdress in the shape of a gourd, and emitting flames. Medieval era Thai literature describes him as a deity with seven tongues, a purple crown of smoke, and fiery complexion. He rides a horse chariot, a rhinoceros or a ram.[141] Phra Phloeng's wife in these texts is stated to be Subanee, Garudee, or Swaha.[141] Some Thai texts state Nilanon to be their son.[143]

In East Asian Buddhism, Agni is a dharmapāla and often classed as one of a group of twelve deities (Japanese: Jūniten, 十二天) grouped together as directional guardians.[144]

In Japan, he is called "Katen". He is included with the other eleven devas, which include Taishakuten (Śakra/Indra), Fūten(Vāyu), Emmaten (Yama), Rasetsuten (Nirṛti/Rākṣasa), Ishanaten (Īśāna), Bishamonten (Vaiśravaṇa/Kubera), Suiten (Varuṇa) Bonten (Brahmā), Jiten (Pṛthivī), Nitten (Sūrya/Āditya), and Gatten (Candra).[145] While iconography varies, he is often depicted as an elderly mountain ascetic with two or three legs, and two or four arms.

Jainism

The word Agni in Jainism refers to fire, but not in the sense of Vedic ideas. Agni appears in Jain thought, as a guardian deity and in its cosmology. He is one of the eight dikpalas, or directional guardian deities in Jain temples, along with these seven: Indra, Yama, Nirrti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera and Isana. They are typically standing, with their iconography is similar to those found in Hindu and Buddhist temple pantheon.[146][147][148]

In ancient Jain thought, living beings have souls and exist in myriad of realms, and within the earth realm shared by human beings, there are two kinds of beings: mobile and immobile.[149][150] The mobile beings – which includes tiny insects, birds, aquatic life, animals and human beings – have two or more senses, while the immobile beings have only a single sense (ekenderiya).[41][151] Among the single sense beings are plant beings, air beings (whirlwind[j]), earth beings (clay), water beings (dew drop) and fire beings (burning coal, meteor, lightning). The last class of beings are Agni-bodies, and these are believed to contain soul and fire-bodied beings.[22][149] Ahimsa, or non-violence, is the highest precept in Jainism. In their spiritual pursuits, Jain monks go to great lengths to practice Ahimsa; they neither start Agni nor extinguish Agni because doing so is considered violent to "fire beings" and an act that creates harmful Karma.[41][153]

Agni-kumara or "fire princes" are a part of Jain theory of rebirth and a class of reincarnated beings.[23] Agni or Tejas are terms used to describe substances and concepts that create beings, and in which transmigrating soul gets bound according to Jainism theology.[154]

Ancient medicine and food

Agni, as constitutive principle of fire or heat, was incorporated in Hindu texts of ancient medicine such as the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita. It is, along with Soma, the two classification premises in the pre-4th century CE medical texts found in Hinduism and Buddhism. Agni-related category, states Dominik Wujastyk, included that of "hot, fiery, dry or parched" types, while Soma-related category included "moist, nourishing, soothing and cooling" types. This classification system was a basis of grouping medicinal herbs, seasons of the year, tastes and foods, empirical diagnosis of human illnesses, veterinary medicine, and many other aspects of health and lifestyle.[155][156][157]

Agni was viewed as the life force in a healthy body, the power to digest foods, and innate in food.[158][159] In Ayurveda, states Fleischman, "the amount of Agni determines the state of health".[160]

Agni is an important entity in Ayurveda. Agni is the fiery metabolic energy of digestion, allows assimilation of food while ridding the body of waste and toxins, and transforms dense physical matter into subtle forms of energy the body needs. Jathar-agni determines the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, Bhuta-agni determines the production of bile in the liver, Kloma-agni determines the production of sugar-digesting pancreatic enzymes and so forth. The nature and quality of these agnis depend on one's dosha which can be – vata, pitta or kapha.[161]

Agni is also known as Vaisvanara. Just as the illuminating power in the fire is a part of Agni's own effulgence, even so the heating power in the foods digestive and appetizing power is also a part of Agni's energy or potency.[162]

See also

• Agneya, Agni's daughter
• Atar, Zoroastrian yazata of fire
• Eternal flame
• Hestia, Greek goddess of the hearth
• Kamui Fuchi, Ainu fire goddess
• Mātariśvan
• Vahagn, Armenian god of fire and war
• Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth

Notes

1. The Vedic idea that the sun, lightning, and fire were different manifestation of the same element and principle is summarized in many Hindu texts, such as the ancient Bṛhaddevatā.[41]
2. The Trimurti idea of Hinduism, states Jan Gonda, "seems to have developed from ancient cosmological and ritualistic speculations about the triple character of an individual god, in the first place of Agni, whose births are three or threefold, and who is threefold light, has three bodies and three stations".[43](pp218–219) Other trinities, beyond the more common "Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva", mentioned in ancient and medieval Hindu texts include: "Indra, Vishnu, Brahmanaspati"; "Agni, Indra, Surya"; "Agni, Vayu, Aditya"; "Mahalakshmi, Mahasarasvati, and Mahakali"; and others.[43](pp212–226)[44]
3. Other hymns of the Rigveda link Ṛta (cosmic harmony) to other Vedic deities, such as verse 10.133.6 calls on Indra for guidance on Ṛta.[49]
4. This prayer to Agni appears in Rigveda verse 1.89.1, composed before 1200 BCE.[64]
5. The two rake the holy vow in the presence of Agni ... In the first four rounds, the bride leads and the groom follows, and in the final three, the groom leads and the bride follows. While walking around the fire, the bride places her right palm on the groom's right palm and the bride's brother pours some unhusked rice or barley into their hands and they offer it to the fire ...[80]
6. विश्ववेदा, appearing in the Taittiriya Samhita (IV.iii.2.10) – अभून्मम सुमतौ विश्ववेदा आष्ट प्रतिष्ठामविदद्धि गाधम्, and in the Rig Veda:
* ये पायवो मामतेयं ते अग्ने पश्यन्तो अन्धं दुरितादरक्षन्
7. In a prayer (R.V.I.27.10) addressed to Agni, the sage prays ": जराबोध तद्विविड्ढि विशेविशे यज्ञियाय
8. स्वाध्यो दिव आ सप्त यह्वी रायो (Rig Veda I.72.8)
9. He says – विदद् गव्यं सरमा दृहमूर्वमं येना नु कं मानुषी भोजते विट् – "Saramā discovered the strong and wide places of the hidden knowledge; this discovery brings happiness to all human beings".
10. For other examples from Uttaradhyayana Sutra text of Jainism, see Chapple.[152]
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156. Chopra, Arvind; Doiphode, Vijay V. (2002). "Ayurvedic medicine: core concept, therapeutic principles, and current relevance". Medical Clinics of North America. 86(1): 75–89. doi:10.1016/s0025-7125(03)00073-7. PMID 11795092.
157. Loukas, Marios; Lanteri, Alexis; Ferrauiola, Julie; et al. (2010). "Anatomy in ancient India: a focus on the Susruta Samhita". Journal of Anatomy. 217 (6): 646–650. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2010.01294.x. PMC 3039177. PMID 20887391.
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External links

• "Agni: Indian god". Encyclopædia Britannica.
• "Agni Suktam" (PDF). Rigveda, Rāmakṛṣṇa Janasvāmi. University of Massachusetts.
• "Agni, the fire altar". The Pluralism Project. Harvard University.
• Tull, Herman. "Vedic Agni". Oxford Bibliographies.
• "Agni". athirathram.org.
• "Apāṁ Napāt, Dīrghatamas and Construction of the Brick Altar. Analysis of RV 1.143". academia.edu. 4277610.

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Chandra [Chandran] [Soma]
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 9/7/20

-- Amrita [Soma], by Wikipedia

-- Soma, food of the immortals according to the Bower Manuscript (Kashmir, 6th century A.D.), by Marco Leonti and Laura Casu, 2014

Chandra, God of the Moon, Lord of Night, Plants and Vegetation
Member of Navagraha
Chandra
Other names: Soma, Chandran, திங்கள் (Thinghal - Tamil)
Devanagari: चंद्र
Affiliation: Deva, graha, Navagraha
Abode: Chandraloka
Planet: Moon
Mantra: Om Chandramasē Namaha
Weapon: Rope
Day: Monday,
Hindi: Somvaar
Sanskrit: Induvaasaram
Tamil: "Thinghatkizhamai"
Color: Pale white[1]
Number: 2
Mount: Chariot pulled by an antelope
Gender: Male
Personal information
Parents: Atri (father); Anusuya (mother)
Siblings: Durvasa and Dattatreya
Consort: Rohini, Revathi and other 25 daughters of Daksha; Tara (illegitimate)
Children: Varchas with Rohini, Budha with Tara (illegitimate)
Greek equivalent: Selene, Phoebe
Roman equivalent: Luna
Norse equivalent: Máni

Chandra (Sanskrit: चन्द्र, IAST: Candra, lit. "shining" or "moon")[2] is a lunar deity and is also one of the nine planets (Navagraha) in Hinduism. His chief consort is Rohini. Chandra is synonymous to Soma. Other names include Indu ("bright drop"), Atrisuta ("son of Atri"), Sachihna ("marked by hare"), Tārādhipa ("lord of stars") and Nishakara ("the night maker").[3]

Chandra is described as a young and beautiful man, two-armed and carrying a club and a lotus.[4] In Hindu mythology, he is the father of Budha (planet Mercury).

Chandra, who is also known as Soma and Indu, is the basis of Somvaar, which is Hindi, and Induvaasaram, which is Sanskrit, for Monday in the Hindu calendar.

Legends


Chandra, British Museum - 13th century, Konark

In Hindu mythology, there are multiple legends surrounding Chandra.

In one, Chandra met Tara, the wife of Brihaspati (planet Jupiter) and was captivated by her beauty. Tara was also attracted to him. One day Chandra abducted her and made her his queen. From their union, Tara became pregnant, giving birth to Budha (planet Mercury). Brihaspati, being upset, declared a war but the Devas intervened and Tara was returned to Brihaspati. Budha's son was Pururavas who established the Chandravanshi Dynasty.[5]

After Tara returned to her husband Brihaspati, Chandra had an emotional breakdown because he couldn't satisfy his feelings by having infinite children with Tara and so He (Mind) was overcome with lust (emotions). He married Daksha's 27 daughters to sate his ever-growing desires for sexual union. Among all of his 27 wives, Rohini is the most favoured. The 26 other wives became upset (after knowing that Chandra spent more time with Rohini alone) and complained to Daksha who placed a curse on Chandra. The curse was overcome only after Chandra devoted himself to Shiva, who partially released him from the curse.[5]

According to another legend, Ganesha was returning home on his mount Krauncha (a shrew) late on a full moon night after a mighty feast given by Kubera. On the journey back, a snake crossed their path and frightened by it, his mount ran away dislodging Ganesha in the process. An overstuffed Ganesha fell to the ground on his stomach, vomiting out all the Modaks he had eaten. On observing this, Chandra laughed at Ganesha. Ganesha lost his temper and broke off one of his tusks and flung it straight at the Moon, hurting him, and cursed him so that he would never be whole again. Therefore, It is forbidden to behold Chandra on Ganesh Chaturthi. This legend accounts for the Moon's waxing and waning including a big crater on the Moon, a dark spot, visible even from Earth.[6]

Other aspects

Chandra literally means the "Moon" in Sanskrit, Hindi and other Indian languages. The word "Chandra" is also a common Indian name and surname. Both male and female name variations exists in many South East Asian languages that originate from Sanskrit.

Indu, one of the other names for Chandra, is also the name of the first chakra of Melakarta ragas in Carnatic music. The names of chakras are based on the numbers associated with each name. In this case, there is one, the Moon and hence the first chakra is Indu.[7][8]

Soma


Soma, Moon, God of Plants and Vegetables[9][10]
Soma, the moon deity
Devanagari: सोम
Affiliation: Graha
Abode: Moon
Day: Somvara (Monday)[11]
Mount: Three-wheeled chariot pulled by white horses

Soma (Sanskrit: सोम) connotes the Moon as well as a medicinal deity in post-Vedic Hindu mythology.[12][13][14] In Puranic mythology, Soma is a moon deity, but the name is sometimes also used to refer to Vishnu, Shiva (as Somanatha), Yama and Kubera.[15] In some Indian texts, Soma is the name of an Apsara; alternatively it is the name of any medicinal concoction, or rice-water gruel, or heaven and sky, as well as the name of certain places of pilgrimage.[15]

The Soma Mandala in the Rigveda mentions Soma as a ritual drink as being of importance among the early Indo-Iranians.

Soma is synonymous with Chandra, Indu (bright drop), Atrisuta (son of Atri), Shashin (marked by hare), Taradhipa (lord of stars) and Nishakara (the night maker).[3]

In Buddhist sources, Soma and Chandra (Pali: Candimā) appear to be separate entities.[16][17]

In Sambhava Parva section of Mahabharata's Adi Parva, Soma is identified as the father-deity of Abhimanyu.

History

The earliest use of Soma to refer to the Moon is a subject of scholarly debate, with some scholars suggesting that the reference to Moon as Soma is to be found in the Vedas, while other scholars suggest that such usage emerged only in the post-Vedic literature.[12] The Hindu texts state that the Moon is lit and nourished by the Sun, and that it is Moon where the divine nectar of immortality resides.[3]

Iconography

Soma's iconography varies in Hindu texts. The most common is one where he is a white colored deity, holding a mace in his hand, riding a chariot with three wheels and three or more white horses (up to ten).[18]

Soma as the Moon-deity is also found in Buddhism,[19] and Jainism.[20]

Zodiac and calendar

Soma is the root of the word Somavara or Monday in the Hindu calendar.[11] The word "Monday" in the Greco-Roman and other Indo-European calendars is also dedicated to the Moon.[21] Soma is part of the Navagraha in Hindu zodiac system. The role and importance of the Navagraha developed over time with various influences. Deifying the moon and its astrological significance occurred as early as the Vedic period and was recorded in the Vedas. The earliest work of astrology recorded in India is the Vedanga Jyotisha which began to be compiled in the 14th century BCE. It was possibly based on works from the Indus Valley Civilization as well as various foreign influences. Babylonian astrology which was the first to develop astrology and the calendar, and was adopted by multiple civilizations including India. The moon and various classical planets were referenced in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BCE.

The Navagraha was furthered by additional contributions from Western Asia, including Zoroastrian and Hellenistic influences. The Yavanajataka, or 'Science of the Yavanas', was written by the Indo-Greek named "Yavanesvara" ("Lord of the Greeks") under the rule of the Western Kshatrapa king Rudrakarman I. The Yavanajataka written in 120 CE is often attributed to standardizing Indian astrology. The Navagraha would further develop and culminate in the Shaka era with the Saka, or Scythian, people. Additionally the contributions by the Saka people would be the basis of the Indian national calendar, which is also called the Saka calendar.

The Hindu calendar is a Lunisolar calendar which records both lunar and solar cycles. Like the Navagraha, it was developed with the successive contributions of various works.

Astronomy

Soma was presumed to be a planet in Hindu astronomical texts.[22] It is often discussed in various Sanskrit astronomical texts, such as the 5th century Aryabhatiya by Aryabhatta, the 6th century Romaka by Latadeva and Panca Siddhantika by Varahamihira, the 7th century Khandakhadyaka by Brahmagupta and the 8th century Sisyadhivrddida by Lalla.[23] Other texts such as Surya Siddhanta dated to have been complete sometime between the 5th century and 10th century present their chapters on various planets with deity mythologies.[23] However, they show that the Hindu scholars were aware of elliptical orbits, and the texts include sophisticated formulae to calculate its past and future positions:[24]

The longitude of Moon = {\displaystyle \left(m-{\frac {P*Rsin(m-a)}{360}}\right)}{\displaystyle \left(m-{\frac {P*Rsin(m-a)}{360}}\right)}
– Surya Siddhanta II.39.43[24]
where m is the Moon's mean longitude, a is the longitude at apogee, P is epicycle of apsis, R=3438'.

In popular culture

Chandra plays an important role in one of the first novel-length mystery stories in English, The Moonstone (1868). The Sanskrit word Chandrayāna (Sanskrit: चन्द्रयान, Moon Vehicle) is used to refer to India's lunar orbiters.

Chandra is the first name of a popular character, Chandra Nalaar, in the collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering.[25]

Raj Singh played chandradev in Serial Karmaphal Daata Shani on colors'tv.

See also

• Ardha chandrasana, half-moon pose in yoga
• Navagraha
• Soma
• List of lunar deities

References

1. http://www.astrosagar.com/article.asp?id=71
2. Graha Sutras by Ernst Wilhelm, published by Kala Occult Publishers ISBN 0-9709636-4-5 p. 51
3. Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
4. Mythology of the Hindus by Charles Coleman p. 131
5. Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. pp. 393–394. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
6. Usha, K R. "Why Ganesha has a Broken Tusk or Why the Moon has a Crater". The University of Iowa. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
7. South Indian Music Book III, by Prof. P Sambamoorthy, Published 1973, The Indian Music Publishing House
8. Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications
9. Vinod ChandraaSrivastava (2008). History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D. Concept Publishing. p. 557. ISBN 978-81-8069-521-6.
10. Edward Washburn Hopkins (1968). Epic Mythology. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8196-0228-2.
11. Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
12. Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. p. 393. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
13. Nirukta, Chapter 11, Part 3. The oldest available book for Vedic Etymology
14. RgVeda 9.1.1, Samaveda 1
15. Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press (Reprint: 2001). p. 1137.
16. "Jayadissa Jātaka (No. 513)". Internet Sacred Text Archive.
17. "Bhūridatta Jātaka (No. 543)". Sacred Text Internet Archive.
18. Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. pp. 393–394. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
19. John C. Huntington; Dina Bangdel (2003). The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art. Serindia. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-932476-01-9.
20. R. T. Vyas; Umakant Premanand Shah (1995). Studies in Jaina Art and Iconography. Abhinav Publications. p. 23. ISBN 978-81-7017-316-8.
21. Lionel D. Barnett (1994). Antiquities of India: An Account of the History and Culture of Ancient Hindustan. Asian Educational Services. pp. 188–192 with footnotes. ISBN 978-81-206-0530-5.
22. Aryabhatta; H. Kern (Editor, Commentary) (1973). The Aryabhatiya (in Sanskrit and English). Brill Archive. p. xx.
23. Ebenezer Burgess (1989). P Ganguly, P Sengupta (ed.). Sûrya-Siddhânta: A Text-book of Hindu Astronomy. Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint), Original: Yale University Press, American Oriental Society. pp. vii–xi. ISBN 978-81-208-0612-2.
24. Ebenezer Burgess (1989). P Ganguly, P Sengupta (ed.). Sûrya-Siddhânta: A Text-book of Hindu Astronomy. Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint), Original: Yale University Press, American Oriental Society. pp. xx. ISBN 978-81-208-0612-2.
25. "CHANDRA NALAAR". MAGIC: THE GATHERING. Retrieved 15 October 2018.

External links

• Media related to Chandra at Wikimedia Commons