Treasures of the Past

Welcome to the 16^th issue of Treasures of the Past.

In Treasures of the Past issues we have been deliberating the ancient wisdom possessed by our forefathers we also saw that they were better endowed in terms of their faculties, than the present day human race!

From this issue we shall add one more feature that gives us some information on how great men and women around the globe felt about our culture. Did they feel the same way as we feel? Do they acknowledge the facts that we deliberate? To get to know these, we shall see the views of some of the renowned intellectuals of the Western origin as well as other parts of the globe in the coming issues.

We shall take up the on going Vedic literature (except Sama Veda and Rig Veda) and the Aithareya Upanishad in this issue too. The two Vedas omitted will be taken up in our next issue.

Yajur Veda Samhita

Kanda 1 Anuvaka 8.

Viniyogas 1 to 17.

Sam vapami |

Hey! Flour, I take thee!

Earlier, we saw that this flour was prepared carefully. First the grains were collected, the husk was removed using a pestle and then a winnow, and then it was ground well into a homogenous manner, then beaten to make it pliable adding water, and made into dough. These were performed reciting mantras that we had seen earlier. Esoterically these mean the deeds or works will have to be sifted, cleansed of all that are un divine using our intellectual capacity, and gathered together into a harmonious pliable substance that will easily assimilate higher knowledge.

Samaapo adbhiragmata smoshadhayorasena sa revateerjagateebhirdhumatee madhumateebhi: srjyadhdhvam

Earlier water has been collected in a vessel made of wood. Hey! Apah(water) mix with water that is hot, hey flour representing the flora, mix with water that represents aspiration and desire for the divine, that which yields delight!

Adhya: pariprajaataa: stha samadhbhi: prchyadhvam |

Hey Flour! (Pishtaa) you have emerged out of water, so mix well with water and get soaked. (Here in this verse the physical consciousness is referred to and it is urged to merge well with divine knowledge and get soaked.)

Janayatai tvaa samyowmi |

Hey flour! I mix thee for the sake of divine birth in me! (This statement is more explicit.)

Makhsyasiroasi |

Hey Flour! Thou art the head of this sacrifice! Having been made into a ball of flour. (This statement refers to a homogeneous state of consciousness wherein the divine consciousness has been mixed with the physical consciousness)

Agnaye tvaa agnishomabhyaam |

Hey flour! I divide or separate thee into two parts one for Agni and another for Agni soman. (Aspiration and resultant delight of perception)

Dharmo asi visvaayu:

Hey Purodasa! The offerings, the deeds devoid of ego, mixed homogeneously with the knowledge of the divine because of being kept on a hot vessel, grant us long life upon the seeker.

Uru prathasvorute yagyapati:

Hey offerings! May you expand or spread in consciousness and let your seeker prosper.

Tva cham grhnishva |

Hey offerings! May you be endowed with this physical consciousness. Here it means an effort to dedicate every deed of the physical consciousness, as it emerges out of the gross physical.

Antaritamraksho antaritaa araataya:

The Asuras are vanquished! Enemies are destroyed.

Devastvaa savitaa srpayatu varshiste adhinake |

Hey offerings! May the Brahman represented by Surya purify thee through Naka fire. (Uttering these, offerings are heated in the fire. Naka means the fire within that dwells at the seat of intellect.)

Agniste tanuvam maa adtidhak |

Let this aspiration not burn the gross physical! Let this aspiration not permanently damage the gross physical consciousness! ( This is a very beautiful prayer. Though the entire exercise is to realize the ultimate truth care is taken to retain the gross physical till complete realization is attained. You may refer to the Isavasya Upanishad wherein the sadak finally ordains the physical body to burn into ashes as he concludes that it has outlived its utility)

Agne havyam rakshasva |

Hey Agni ! Protect these offerings.

Sam Brhmanaa prchyasva |

Hey offerings! May you be mixed with ashes, become one with them. (Get fully assimilated)

Ekataaya svahaa | Dvitaaya svahaa | tritaaya svahaa |

Hey divine knowledge! These offerings are offered unto three stages of consciousness. The three vyahrtis or the three worlds upward!

This last prayer is also meant to be atonement for any mistake while surrendering! 

Lalitha Sahasranama

A detailed notes with meanings continued…

Kadambamanjariklpta karna poora manohara.

One who wears the Kadamba flowers in her ears!

Taadangayuglibuta tapanodupa mandala |

Tapana means Surya and Dupa means moon and Sri Lalitha wears these as her earrings!

Abhirami bhattar sang the famous Abhirami Andhati describing the earrings as moon.

Padmaraga siladharsa paribhavikapolabhu |

Her cheeks are much more reflective than the mirror made of precious stone called Padmaraga.

Navavidrumabimba sri nayatkaridasanachadaa |

Her lips are reddish than the corals or the kovai fruits.

Sudhdha vidyaagkura kara dvija pangti dvyojjwala |

Her teeth resemble the ensemble of Brahmacharis learning Veda called Sudhdha vidya. Moreover Anushtub meter represents 32 vidyas. Also recall the Mantra raja pada or Nrusimha moola mantra is in this meter. Entire creation is within these vidyas.

Karpoora vitikamodha smaakarshidikantara |

Tamboola called karpoora vitika pulls the four directions towards her. ( Pachai karpooram, Alem or cardamom,  krambu or clove, kasturi, kungumapoo or saffron, Jadikai, pakku or betel nut, vaal milagu or a kind of pepper, sukku or dry ginger, sunnambu or calcium, and kadadakambu are all folded neatly into betel leaves. Refer to Taitriya Upanishad that says “Vangme manasi stita”.

Nijasallapa maadhuryavinirbhartsita kaschapi |

By her sweet voice she surpassed the notes of Veena called Kaschapi! Of Sarasvati. It is spashta or clear but the notes of Veena are not so.

Mandhasmitaprabhapoora majjatkaamesa manasa |

By her smile she won over Kamesa or Lord Siva’s mind.

Anaakalitasaadrsya chibuka sri virajita |

She shines with the beauty of the chin that cannot be described by words.

Kaamesa batha mangalya sutra sobhita kandhara |

She shines with the Magala sutra or thread tied by kamesa.

Aithareya Upanishad

1.3.1

sa iksateme nu lokasca lokapalasca,
annamebhyah srija iti

The senses and their deities have come into being. Let me create food for them. So thought the Lord.!

1.3.2

 so 'po 'bhyatapat tabhyoabhitaptabhyo
murtirajayata ya vai sa
murtirajayatannam vai tad

He meditated upon water and then emerged various forms of chetana and achetana the sentient and non sentient beings. Here we can note one peculiar aspect of creation. Each being evolved into its own higher form or multiplied its race! This vertical expansion took place. Horizontal expansion took place from the Supreme thought force or knowledge! We come to know from various Puranas like Agni Purana, that different species emerged from Seers who were pure knowledge embodiments.

1.3.3

 tadenad sristam parag-tyajighamsat
tadvaca ajighriksat
tan-nasaknodvaca grihitum sa
yad-hainad-vacagrihai-shyad-abhivyahritya
haivannamatrapsyat

Forms that came into existence turned back and attempted to go beyond the scope of the human form that has become the abode of deities, senses, and desires. The human form tried to grasp them through his speech (an organ of perception) but could not succeed. Had he succeeded, he would have become contended just by speaking about it!

 1.3.4

 tadprabebajighriksat
tannasaknot pranena grihitum sa yadhainat
pranenagrahaisyadabhipranya haivannam trapsyat

The human form tried to grasp the food through smell, but could not succeed, had he succeeded he would have been contended merely smelling the food.

1.3.5

 tac caksusta ajighriksat tan nasaknoccaksusa grihitum
sa yad hainaccaksisagrahaisyad dristva
haivannamatra psipat

The human form tried to grasp food by eyes, could not succeed, had he succeeded, he would have been contended by just looking at the food!

1.3.6

 tad-shortrenagighriksat tannasaknoc-cotreba grihitum sa
yad-hainah-srotrenagrahaisyaca-srutva haivannamatrapsyat

He tried grasping through ears, could not succeed, had he succeeded, he would have been contended by just hearing about food!

1.3.7

 tatvaca-ajighriksat tannasaknot tvaca grihitum sa yad-hainat

 tvaca grahaisyatspristva haivann-amatrapsyat

He tried grasping food through his sense of touch, could not succeeded, had he succeeded, he would have become contended by just touching food!

1.3.8

 tanmnasa-ajighriksat tannasaknot-manasa grihitum sa

 yad-hainanmanasagrahaisyat

He tried grasping food through his mind, could not succeed, had he succeeded, he would have become contended by just thinking about it.

1.3.9

tannasanotsisnena grihitum sa yad-hainat-sisnenagrahaisyad
visrijya haivannamatrapsyat

He tried grasping food through procreative organ, could not succeed, had he succeeded, he would have become contended by merely ejecting food.

1.3.10

 tadapanenajighrisat tadavayat
saiso 'nnasya graho yadvayuannayurva
esa yadvayuh

He finally tried grasping food through the Apana one of the vital airs that digests food! He succeeded. This vital energy is depended upon the food for its very sustenance. So he understood.

Brief Life sketch of Madam Blavatsky a great Russian philosopher.

Period 1800 – 1891. She was born in a noble family in Russia and even in her child hood she saw the master in her dreams and later met him in real life at Hyde Park in London when she was 20 years old. From 1868 to 1870 she was trained in Tibet! From 1875 to 1891 she spread the message spirituality.

According to her, compassion is the law of laws. She explained that brotherhood is not a mere ideal - it is a fact in nature on the spiritual plane. Her master- work is the Secret Doctrine, written in 1888 called ”Isis Unveiled”, shook the rafters of science and religion, and the world hasn't been the same since. She also has an introductory book, Key to Theosophy, and an inspiration book, Voice of the Silence, for those few who are ready to tread in the footsteps of advanced disciples - or at least for those who want their soul to hear the same call. She wrote that ”The harmony and mathematical equiformity of the double evolution -- spiritual and physical -- are elucidated only in the universal numerals of Pythagoras, who built his system entirely upon the so-called "metrical speech" of the Hindu Vedas. It is but lately that one of the most zealous Sanskrit scholars, Martin Haug, undertook the translation of the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig-Veda.”
“ It had been till that time entirely unknown; these explanations indicate beyond dispute the identity of the Pythagorean and Brahmanical systems. In both, the esoteric significance is derived from the number: in the former, from the mystic relation of every number to everything intelligible to the human mind; in the latter, from the number of syllables of which each verse in the Mantras consists. Plato, the ardent disciple of Pythagoras, realized it so fully as to maintain that the Dodecahedron was the geometrical figure employed by the Demiurgus in constructing the universe. Some of these figures had a peculiarly solemn significance.
For instance, four of which the Dodecahedron, is the trine, was held sacred by the Pythagoreans. It is the perfect square, and neither of the bounding lines exceeds the other in length, by a single point. Pythagoras and Plato knew well this astronomical truth; for Pythagoras obtained his knowledge in India, or from men who had been there, and Plato faithfully echoed his teachings. We will quote two passages from the Aitareya Brahmana:
In the "Serpent-Mantra,"* the Brahmana declares as follows: that this Mantra is that one which was seen by the Queen of the Serpents, Sarpa-rajni; because the earth (iyam) is the Queen of the Serpents, as she is the mother and queen of all that moves (sarpat). In the beginning she (the earth) was but one head (round), without hair (bald), i.e., without vegetation. She then perceived this Mantra, which confers upon him who knows it, the power of assuming any form, which he might desire. She "pronounced the Mantra," i.e., sacrificed to the gods; and, in consequence, immediately obtained a motley appearance; she became variegated, and able to produce any form she might like, changing one form into another. This Mantra begins with the words: "Ayam gauh pris'nir akramit" (x., 189). The description of the earth in the shape of a round and bald head, which was soft at first, and became hard only from being breathed upon by the god Vayu, the lord of the air, forcibly suggests the idea that the authors of the sacred Vedic books knew the earth to be round or spherical; moreover, that it had been a gelatinous mass at first, which gradually cooled off under the influence of the air and time. So much for their knowledge about our globe's sphericity; and now we will present the testimony upon which we base our assertion, that the Hindus were perfectly acquainted with the Heliocentric system, at least 2000 years B.C.”

She also pointed out the fact, that our scriptures declare that Sun rising and setting are to be understood as a phenomenon that arises due to the rotating earth!

Life Sketch of Sir Oliver Lodge (1851-1940)

He was a great physicist and writer and a great spiritualist. He made immense contribution to the scientific fraternity through his inventions. From 1881 to 1890 he was a Professor of Physics at University College in Liverpool. 

He was knighted and made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1902. His work in physics includes investigations of lightning, the voltaic cell and electrolysis, and electromagnetic waves. He also studied the nature of the ether, a medium permeating all space, and of the ether drift, the supposed relative motion between the ether and any body within it. 

In wireless telegraphy Lodge perfected and named the "coherer" (1894), a radio-wave detector invented by the French physicist Edouard Branly. It was one of the most important types of detector developed before electronic tubes. During his last years Lodge was a firm believer in psychic phenomena.
His writings include The Ether of Space (1909), Raymond (1916), Making of Man (1924), and My Philosophy (1933).Lodge was certainly ahead of the better-known Marconi.
He brought a successful lawsuit against the Italian for making use of his patents. As a result of the case, he was appointed scientific adviser to Marconi's company.
Lodge's German friend, Heinrich Hertz, was well known as the discoverer of electro-magnetic waves. But Lodge was the first man actually to transmit a message by a wireless signal, performing this feat at a meeting of the British Association at Oxford in 1894.
His major contribution to motoring is his invention of electric spark ignition for the internal combustion engine. Later, two of his sons developed his ideas and founded the Lodge Plug Company. For many years he had been investigating the psychic phenomenon with his friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he wrote at the time: "I am as convinced of continued existence on the other side of death as I am of existence here."

"The universe seems to me to be a great reservoir of life and mind. The unseen universe is a great reality. This is the region to which we really belong and to which we shall one day return."
With this I shall conclude this issue and shall meet you in my next issue.