Download or read book Vedic Culture and Its Continuity written by Sītārāma Dube and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout The World The Vedic Culture, Its Origin, Nature, Developmental Processes And Continuity Have Drawn The Attention Of Oriental And Oxidental Scholars. From The Very Beginning Of Its Inception The Vedic Culture Has Been Represently India`S Religious And Spiritual Ethos Sacraments, Cultural Identity And Other Uniqueness Of Its Other Social Institutions Which Cannot Be Separated From Each Other Because Of Its Deep Attachment With Purusarthacatustaya And Varnasrama Dharma.
Download or read book The Roots of Hinduism written by Asko Parpola and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-07-15 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hinduism has two major roots. The more familiar is the religion brought to South Asia in the second millennium BCE by speakers of Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Another, more enigmatic, root is the Indus civilization of the third millennium BCE, which left behind exquisitely carved seals and thousands of short inscriptions in a long-forgotten pictographic script. Discovered in the valley of the Indus River in the early 1920s, the Indus civilization had a population estimated at one million people, in more than 1000 settlements, several of which were cities of some 50,000 inhabitants. With an area of nearly a million square kilometers, the Indus civilization was more extensive than the contemporaneous urban cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Yet, after almost a century of excavation and research the Indus civilization remains little understood. How might we decipher the Indus inscriptions? What language did the Indus people speak? What deities did they worship? Asko Parpola has spent fifty years researching the roots of Hinduism to answer these fundamental questions, which have been debated with increasing animosity since the rise of Hindu nationalist politics in the 1980s. In this pioneering book, he traces the archaeological route of the Indo-Iranian languages from the Aryan homeland north of the Black Sea to Central, West, and South Asia. His new ideas on the formation of the Vedic literature and rites and the great Hindu epics hinge on the profound impact that the invention of the horse-drawn chariot had on Indo-Aryan religion. Parpola's comprehensive assessment of the Indus language and religion is based on all available textual, linguistic and archaeological evidence, including West Asian sources and the Indus script. The results affirm cultural and religious continuity to the present day and, among many other things, shed new light on the prehistory of the key Hindu goddess Durga and her Tantric cult.
Download or read book The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture written by Edwin Bryant and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001-09-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western scholars have argued that Indian civilization was the joint product of an invading Indo-European people--the "Indo-Aryans"--and indigenous non-Indo European peoples. Although Indian scholars reject this European reconstruction of their country's history, Western scholarship gives little heed to their argument. In this book, Edwin Bryant explores the nature and origins of this fascinating debate.
Download or read book Homa Variations written by Richard K. Payne and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout human history, and across many religious cultures, offerings are made into fire. The essays collected in Homa Variations provide detailed studies of this practice, known in the tantric world as the "homa," from its inception up to the present.
Download or read book Foundations of Indian Culture written by G. C. Pande and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. This book was released on 1995 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two volumes together may be described as search for the original ideational foundations of Indian Culture. In one way this work recalls the tradition of Coomaraswamy but seeks to join it to the mainstream of critical history. It argues that the living continuity of Indian Culture is rooted in a unique spiritual vision and social experience. Indian Culture is neither the result of merely accidental happenings through the centuries, nor a mere palimpsest of migrations and invasions. It is, in its essence, a development of foundational ideas constituting a creative matrix. Behind its changing historical forms lies a deep and persistent source of creativity which is spiritual in character. The Present volume I deals with the spiritual vision and symbolic forms. Here is has been upheld that the spiritual vision of India had two original aspects, the integral or synoptic vision of the Vedas, and the Sramanic vision of Transcendence. Purnata and Sunyata constituted the two poles round which Indian spirituality revolved. The author not only elucidates this bipolar matrix of Indian spirituality revolved. The author not only elucidates this bipolar matrix of Indian spiritual praxis or sadhana, but also traces its intricate ancient history. He goes on to trace the great symbolic forms-language, myth, science, literature and art-in which this basic vision expressed itself. In all these areas he brings out the basic general principles expressive of inner consciousness rather than present a mere selection of well-known details.
Download or read book Ithihaasa written by Bhaktivejanyana Swami and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2013 with total page 749 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Singh: '[Science] says that the different species were not created simultaneously, but evolved gradually. ...I came across a statement in the Bhagavad-Gita to the effect that all 8,400,000 species of living entities are created simultaneously. Is that correct?' Srila Prabhupada: 'Yes. Living beings move from one bodily form to another. The forms already exist. The living entity simply transfers himself just as a man transfers himself from one apartment to another. One apartment is first-class, another is second class, and another is third-class. Suppose a person comes from a lower class apartment to a first-class apartment, the person is the same, but now, according to his capacity for payment, or karma, he is able to occupy a higher-class apartment. Real evolution does not mean physical development, but the development of Consciousness. Do you follow? ...The apartment already exists, however it is not the lower-class apartment that becomes the higher class apartment. That is Darwin's nonsensical theory. He would say that the apartment has become high-class. Modern scientists think that life has come from matter. They say that millions and millions of years ago there was simply matter, but no life. We do not accept that. Of the two energies - life and matter - life, or spirit is the original superior energy and matter is the resultant inferior energy. Spirit is independent and matter is dependent...'. Dr. Singh: 'All that you have been saying completely contradicts Darwin's theory of evolution'. Srila Prabhupada: 'Darwin and his followers are rascals. If, originally, there were no higher species, why do they exist now? Also, why do the lower species still exist? For example, at the present moment, we see both the intellectual person and the foolish ass. Why do both these entities exist simultaneously? Why hasn't the ass form evolved upwards and disappeared? Why do we never see a monkey giving birth to a human? In Bhagavad-Gita ... the word yantra, or 'machine', means that in any species of life, we are traveling in bodies that are like machines provided by material nature'.
Download or read book Vedic Philosophy of Values written by Sahebrao Genu Nigal and published by Northern Book Centre. This book was released on 2009 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Vedic Core of Human History written by M. K. Agarwal and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origin of world civilization can be traced to the Indus Valley cradle, where brilliant and original thinkers made groundbreaking discoveries. The history of these discoveries is recorded in the vast Sanskrit literature. In this study, author M. K. Agarwal explores the cultural and historical significance of the region. He explores Indus Valley culture, which encouraged creative thought as opposed to the Abrahamic faiths, which herded followers into dogmatic thinking. He holds that these religions prospered because of their unfettered hatred of the Vedic-Hindu-Buddhist peoples, who were demonized as pagans to be murdered, tortured, raped, enslaved, and robbed. He also considers the achievements of that culture, such as the creation of the most affluent, most scientifically advanced, and most spiritual of all societies, with archeological moorings that can be traced back to 8000 BC. No other region can even come close to transforming people and culture like the Indus Valley, but the world's Vedic roots have been ignored, shunned, and covered up. Uncover the history that has been lost and develop a deeper appreciation for the true cradle of human civilization with The Vedic Core of Human History.
Download or read book Shri Satya Sai the Fount of Vedic Culture written by Shripad Dattatraya Kulkarni and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the philosophy and teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, b. 1926, Hindu mystic.
Download or read book The Rig Vedic and Post Rig Vedic Polity 1500 BCE 500 BCE written by R.U.S. Prasad and published by Vernon Press. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book critically examines and assesses the literary evidence available through Vedic and allied literature portraying the nature of Vedic polity, the functionalities of its various institutions, and the various social and religious practices. The book is not a narrative but critically examines the nature of changes in a host of these areas that occurred at each stage of Vedic polity from early Vedic period to post Ṛig-Vedic period. It outlines in historical perspective the various stages involved in the development of Vedic polity and Vedic canon and how the two processes have gone along together. It contains extensive discussions on political system and institutions, religious and social practices as they obtained during the Rig-Vedic and post Rig-Vedic periods. It provides a fresh approach to the cult of sacrifice and fire rituals practiced by Vedic Aryans along with an in-depth analysis of the Vedic view of Nationalism, Sovereignty and State as discernible from Vedic texts .The book also features an extensive discussion on the institution of kingship, administrative machinery, role of various entities in the polity including the Purohita, the Sabha and the Samiti, position of women, Varna system and features of tribal kingdoms, such as the Kuru-Panchalas and Kosala-Videhas. Isolating political and social aspects from the essentially religious character of Vedic literature, an attempt has been made to show with due corroboration that the tribal polity was not deficient in political content contrary to the stance of some scholars to depict Vedic Aryans as apolitical and inward looking. The present book partakes both the current and previous scholarship on the subject but breaks a new path with its exclusive focus on the Rig-Vedic and Post Rig-Vedic polity, together with a balanced and objective assessment of their features. It brings all the relevant and connected issues on to one platform, and deals with them in a holistic manner. Its unique features include: • The “Vedic Grid”: a graphical representation and tabulations of the characteristics of each of the about 50 Vedic tribes, including information on the location of their habitat, their time line, the names of their chieftains and their linkage with priestly clans. • A special focus on the Second Urbanization taking place in the Gangetic valley between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. It explains how towards the end of the later Vedic period, the polity underwent a change in political, social and economic spheres which blossomed later during the period of Mauryas. • Two appendices dealing with the theories of Aryan migration and the relationship of the Vedic Aryans with the Harappa culture and what can be ascertained by Vedic literature.
Download or read book A History of India written by Burton Stein and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-02-04 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition of Burton Stein's classic A History ofIndia builds on the success of the original to provide anupdated narrative of the development of Indian society, culture,and politics from 7000 BC to the present. New edition of Burton Stein’s classic text provides anarrative from 7000 BC up to the twenty-first century Includes updated and extended coverage of the modern period,with a new chapter covering the death of Nehru in 1964 to thepresent Expands coverage of India's internal political and economicdevelopment, and its wider diplomatic role in the region Features a new introduction, updated glossary and furtherreading sections, and numerous figures, photographs and fullyrevised maps
Download or read book Gods Sages and Kings written by David Frawley and published by Lotus Press. This book was released on 2000-11 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Gods, Sages and Kings presents a remarkable accumulation of evidence pointing to the existence of a common spiritual culture in the ancient world from which present civilization may be more of a decline than an advance. The book is based upon new interpretation of the ancient Vedic teachings of India, and brings out many new insights from this unique source often neglected and misinterpreted in the West. In addition, it dicussses recent archaeological discoveries in India whose implications are now only beginning to emerge."--Publisher.
Download or read book The Indus Aryans and Vedic Culture written by Madhusudan Mishra and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ;The Saint Kabir Had Once Bluntly Said: You Say What You Have Read In Books; I Say What I Have Seen With My Eyes.;;I Have Also Seen A Human Speech Evolving Before My Mind'S Eye.;;The Indus Language, Originating On The Banks Of The River Sar
Download or read book Reflections on Resemblance Ritual and Religion written by Brian K. Smith and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. This book was released on 1998 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classical Vedic texts that deal with large-scale sacrificial ritual and those writings that deal with domestic ritual have traditionally been treated as unrelated. The former are devoted to the explication of rituals that are dominated by wealthy male elites; the latter concern humble private ceremonies more open to famale participation. Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual and Religion argues that there is in fact, a fundamental connection between these two large and important bodies of Indic religious literature.
Download or read book Vedic Cosmology and Ethics written by Henk W. Bodewitz and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-05-20 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did ‘Vedic man’ think about the destiny of man after death and related ethical issues? That heaven was the abode of the gods was undisputed, but was it also accessible to man in his pursuit of immortality? Was there a realm of the deceased or a hell? What terms were used to indicate these ‘yonder worlds’? What is their location in the cosmos and which cosmographic classifications are at the root of these concepts? The articles by Henk Bodewitz collected in this volume, published over a period of 45 years, between 1969 and 2013, deal with these issues on the basis of a systematic philological study of early Vedic texts, from the Ṛgveda to various Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇykas and Upaniṣads.
Download or read book Axiological Approach to the Vedas written by Sahebrao Genu Nigal and published by Northern Book Centre. This book was released on 1986 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A creative and systematic Axiology of Vedic ideas and ideals. It is an independent Axiological study which gives an integral system of values in the Vedas. The attempt made by the Author is novel and adventurous and its findings are profound. The author has made use of the well-known concept of four Purusarthas: Dharma; Artha; Kama and Moksa. This method has enabled the author to grasp the value-core of the Vedas with freshness of vision and he has brought out the main value-affirmations in the Vedas. The present volume is a study of the most ancient book of mankind, but in advanced form. It is an exploration that leads to the development of the Vedic Axiology. Reviews ....invaluable for students of Vedas, and to Indologists. The thought-provoking comments on the topics are presented in rather unusual manner. Dr. Varadachari, Review Projector (India), Vol. 7, Nos. 7–9. ``Nonetheless, this book will be of an immense help both to the student and the researcher, and is, therefore, a must for libraries.'' Dr. S.R. Sehgal, Organiser, January 1, 1989.
Download or read book The Vedic Origins of Karma written by Herman W. Tull and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1989-08-15 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the author seeks access to Karma's origins by following several clues suggested by the doctrine's earliest formulation in the Upanistexts (circa 600-500 B.C.) These clues lead back to the mythical and ritual structures firmly established in the Brahmana texts, texts concerned with the rituals that chronologically and conceptually precede the UpanisThe rise of the karma doctrine is tied to the increasing dominance in late Vedic thought of the cosmic man (Purusa/Prajapati) mythology and its ritual analogue the "building of the fire altar" (agnicayana).
