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In the following article, Mathomathis would like to present the technical aspects of the Gotra system followed in the vedic tradition. In Vedanta dharma, the term gotra means clan. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. However, all families having same gotra need not be cousins. They can be descendants of sons or disciples or even adopted sons of the Rishi(Seer), who is the root and whose name is used as Gotra. For example if a person says that he belongs to the Kutsa Gotra then it means that he traces back his male ancestry to the ancient Rishi (Saint or Seer) Kutsa. Gotra means cowshed (Go=Cow, tra=shed) in Sanskrit. Paini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram (IV. 1. 162), which means the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son’s son. This system was started among Brahmins, with a purpose to classify and identify the families in the community. Vedic/vedanata Brahmins identify their male lineage by considering themselves to be the descendants of the 8 great Rishis i.e Saptarishis (The Seven Sacred Saints) + Bharadwaja Rishi. So the list of root Brahmin Gotras is as follows : Angirasa Atri Gautam Kashyapa Bhrigu Vasistha Kutsa Bharadwaja The offspring (apatya) of these eight are gotras and others than these are called as gotravayava. These eight sages are called gotrakarins from whom all the 49 gotras (especially of the Brahmins) have evolved. For instance, from Atri sprang the Atreya and Gavisthiras gotras.In almost all Hindu families, marriage within the same gotra is prohibited, since people with same gotra are considered to be siblings. But the hidden reason behind this practice is the ‘Y’ Chromosome which is expected to be common among all male in same gotra. So, the woman too carries similar ‘X’ Chromosome and if married, their offspring may be born with birth defects. Few families even maintain their Pravara which is a list of all seers through which their Gotra was derived. It connects to the root Seer. Gotra is always passed on from father to children among most Hindus, just like lastname(surname) is passed on worldwide. However, among Malayalis and Tulu’s its passed on from mother to children. Additional rule in the Gotra system is that, even if the Bride and Bridegroom belong to different Gotras, they still cannot get married even if just one of their Gotra Pravara matches. Now, why only male carries fixed lastname and gotra and why female can change her last name, gotra after marriage? Genes and Chromosomes Among Humans Humans have 23 pairs of Chromosomes and in each pair one Chromosome comes from the father and the other comes from the mother. So in all we have 46 Chromosomes in every cell, of which 23 come from the mother and 23 from the father. Of these 23 pairs, there is one pair called the Sex Chromosomes which decide the gender of the person. During conception, if the resultant cell has XX sex chromosomes then the child will be a girl and if it is XY then the child will be a boy. X chromosome decides the female attributes of a person and Y Chromosome decides the male attributes of a person. When the initial embryonic cell has XY chromosome, the female attributes get suppressed by the genes in the Y Chromosome and the embryo develops into a male child. Since only men have Y Chromosomes, son always gets his Y Chromosome from his father and the X Chromosome from his mother. On the other hand daughters always get their X Chromosomes, one each from both father and mother. So the Y Chromosome is always preserved throughout a male lineage (Father – Son – Grandson etc) because a Son always gets it from his father, while the X Chromosome is not preserved in the female lineage (Mother, Daughter, Grand Daughter etc) because it comes from both father and mother. A mother will pass either her mother’s X Chromosome to her Children or her father’s X Chromosome to her children or a combination of both because of both her X Chromosomes getting mixed (called as Crossover). On the other hand, a Son always gets his father’s Y Chromosome and that too almost intact without any changes because there is no corresponding another Y chromosome in his cells to do any mixing as his combination is XY, while that of females is XX which hence allows for mixing as both are X Chromosomes. Women never get this Y Chromosome in their body. And hence Y Chromosome plays a crucial role in modern genetics in identifying the Genealogy ie male ancestry of a person. And the Gotra system was designed to track down the root Y Chromosome of a person quite easily. If a person belongs to Angirasa Gotra then it means that his Y Chromosome came all the way down over thousands of years of timespan from the Rishi Angirasa. And if a person belongs to a Gotra (say Bharadwaja) with Pravaras (Angirasa, Bhaarhaspatya, Bharadwaja), then it means that the person’s Y Chromosome came all the way down from Angirasa to Bhaarhaspatya to Bharadwaja to the person. This also makes it clear why females are said to belong to the Gotra of their husbands after marriage. That is because women do not carry Y Chromosome, and their Sons will carry the Y Chromosome of the Father and hence the Gotra of a woman is said to be that of her husband after marriage. Y is the only Chromosome which does not have a similar pair in the human body. The pair of the Y Chromosome in humans is X Chromosome which is significantly different from Y Chromosome. Even the size of the Y Chromosome is just about one third the size of the X Chromosome. In other words throughout evolution the size of the Y Chromosome has been decreasing and it has lost most of its genes […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Ayurvedic References in Yajurveda by Sri K . Viswanatha Sharma , Lecturer, Sanskrit University , Kanchi. VEDAS are reposters of ultimate knowledge. These repositories of ultimate knowledge comprise innumerable branches. Knowledge of Medical cures is one of such innumerable branches. Curatory medical knowledge could be found sparsely spread over in Vedas too that in indurate and inboard your instances only Atharva Veda is exception and totally devoted medicine. Those intersperced indicative bits were subsequently elaborated by our great sages and developed as a specific branches of knowledge. This elaborated and with develobed branch of knowledge is “Ayurveda” as per the origin of Historians. Presently, we shall undertake to make an illustrative study of the curative methods, indicated in the Yajurveda. For the purpose of this study, the Samhita parts of Taittiriya Sakha parts of Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Ekagni Kanda from out of Yajurveda are taken into consideration. Authentive texts which are not related to Medical sciences are relied upon this study. The referral texts are listed herewith: Vidyaranya Veda Bhashya of Sayanacharya, Veda Bhashya of Bhatta Bhaskara, Amara Simha’s namalinganusasanam commentaries there on vyakhya sudha; amara kosa sodhanika; and Sabda kalpa Drumam; Taranadha bhattacharya’s Vachaspatyam, Vyakarana Sutra’s of Panini, Dhatu Patham of Panini, Dhatu Ratna Karam etc., All these texts are not related to Medical Sciences. If the creative methods embedded in the Vedas could be detected by relying upon the literature unrelated to medicine. It would be more possible to unearth many more issues embedded in Vedas by applying medical scientific principles as such. In order to prove this, the texts not related to medical sciences are referred to relayed upon in the course of this study. Firstly we shall examine meaning of the word Vaidya (Doctor) as desirable in Vedas. Bhishak is the other work used for Vaidya. This synonym is categorized in “Amkarakosa”, “Bishak Vaidye Chikitsake” (1) The definition of the word Bhishak is available in IVth Kanda of Krishna Yajurveda. yadosha dayah sangachchante – rajanassamita viva viprassa uchyate bhishak rakshoha miva chaatanah !! The substance of this mantra is: In the battle field, King seek the cooperation of the other kings to fight with the enemy. Such of Kings indulged in Warfare exhibit mutual friendship and brotherhood. Likewise the wise-man who commands the obedience of Medicines , just as a king commands collective obedience of his warrior in the battle field is called Bhishak. Rakshoha, Ameeva chaatanah drawing special attents to the four words used in the mantra viz., Vipra Bishak Rakshoha Ameeva chaatanah [1] Vibra – “vipati iti vipra” this explanation is found in the Ksheera Swameeyam and Vyakhya Sudha , and the commentarism on Amarakosa . By this explanation, the word attains the meaning “ruler”. But, in his Vidyaranya Bhashyam, Sayana has given another meaning for the word; “Vipraathi ithi Viprah” “ Praathi “ means to fill , to replenish . If anybody communicates somethings or anything inconclusively and incoherently, a wise man can understand and replenish the rest of the subject, in full form, by himself. Hence, the word Vipra is nearer to the meaning of the word wise-man Medhavi. Nearer to this sense, the usage of the word Vipra is found in some Chatu Slokas, to it. “Vidya yaa yaathi viprathvam” Here, “Vipra” is used in the sense learned man. Thus deducting the meaning of the word Vipra as wise – man, seems correct. [2] Bhishak – The meaning of this word is “Conqurer of diseases”, by the explanation “Bhikshapathi iti Bhishak” Bhishak vie chikitsa ke” is seen in vyakhya sudha”. As per Paninicharya Dhatupatham Bheshaja Ruk Jaye; The meaning of this root word is Bheshaji is conquering diseases. [3] Rakshohaa – By virtue of its interpretation Rakhsansi Ham thi iti Rakshoha”, of the word means, “the destroyer of Rakshasas”. Nit wjp are the Ralsjasas? To obtain answer to this question, the interpretation of the word Rakshah can be looked up. The interpretation of this word is available in Ksheera swameeyam and Vyakhya Sudha “ Rakshanthi asmat iti Rakshah”. Hence, the meaning
Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Vedic Glossary documented by Indic Cosmology, Kosla Vepa (INDIC STUDIES FOUNDATION), on the context of: THE STORY OF THE INDIC COSMOLOGY AND THE CELESTIAL TIME KEEPERS. The article would deal mainly with the Glossary A Abda – Year (as in Yugabda 5110 (2009) Abhijit Nakshatra: Abhijit Nakshatra is called the intercalary(IC) Nakshatra as it appear as a small (smaller duration as compared to normal duration of Nakshatra 13d 20m) Nakshatra between Uttarashadha and Sravana. The duration of Uttarashadha is divided into four parts and the first three paadas are assigned to Uttarashadha, which makes the duration of Uttarashadha to be 10deg with each paada to be 2d 30m. The remaining one paada of Uttarashadha is assigned to Abhijit, the intercalary Nakshatra. Similarly beginning 1/15th part of Sravana is given to Abhijit, making its total length to be 253.33 min, i.e., 4d 13m 20s. The remaining 14/15th part of Sravana is assigned to the four padas of Sravana, making the total duration of Sravana to be 12d 26m 40s Acharya, आचायर् – a spiritual guide or teacher. Adharma, अधमर् – absence of righteousness, disorder, evil, immorality Adhikamaasa or intercalary month – Leap month or intercalary month introduced to account for the lack of synchronization between a lunar period and a solar period, i.e., the solar period (or year) is not an exact multiple of a lunar month. Literally means additional month. An intercalation takes place when 2 lunar months begin in the same solar month, ,the former of the 2 is called the intercalary month or adhikamaasa Adi – first, primordial as in Adi Sankara Aditi – In Hinduism, Aditi (Sanskrit – limitless) is a goddess of the sky, consciousness, the past, the future and fertility. She is an ancient goddess, mother of Agni and the Adityas with Kashyapa. She is associated with cows, a very holy animal in Vedic beliefs. Aditi is the daughter of Daksha and Veerni. She gave birth to the Devas who were beautiful, intelligent and pious to the Almighty. Although the goddess Aditi is mentioned nearly eighty times in the rig – veda, it is difficult to get a clear picture of her nature. She is usually mentioned along with other gods and goddesses, there is no one hymn addressed exclusively to her, and unlike many other vedic deities, she is not obviously related to some natural phenomenon. compared to Usha and Prithvi, her character seems ill defined. Perhaps the most outstanding attribute of Aditi is her motherhood. She is preeminently the mother of the Adityas, a group of 7 or 8 gods which include Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Varuna, Daksha and Ansa. (2.27.1) Aditi is also said to be the mother of the great god Indra, the mother of kings (2.27), and the mother of gods (1.113.19). Unlike Prithvi, however, whose motherhood is also central to her nature, Aditi does not have a male consort in the Rig-veda. as a mothering presence, Aditi is often asked to guard the one who petitions her (1.106.7 ; 8.18.6) or to provide him or her with wealth, safety, and abundance (10.100; 1.94.15). Aditya – In Hinduism, the Adityas are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. In the Rigveda, they are seven deities of the heavens, chief of these being Varuna, followed by Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksha, and Ansa, the seventh Aditya was probably the Sun, Surya or Savitar. As a class of gods, the Rigvedic Adityas were distinct from the Visvedevas. In the Yajurveda (Taittiriya Samhita), their number is given as eight. In the Brahmanas, their number is expanded to twelve, corresponding to the twelve months:Ansa ,Aryaman, Bhaga ,Daksha ,Dhatri, Indra, Mitra, Ravi, Savitar, Surya , Varuna, Yama Aditya in the (Chāndogya-Upanishad) is also a name of Vishnu, in his Vamana (dwarf) Avatar. Adhyasa – Used to refer to the ‘mistake’ that we make when we ‘superimpose’ a false appearance upon the reality or mix up the real and the unreal. Adrishta – opposite of drishta or Unseen,a metaphor for the consequences of past actions,which may be unanticipated Advaita – Not two (dvaita) Ahimsa – Abstention from injury to all life forms AmAvasya, अमावस्य़ -new moon Analemma – At noon in a perfect world, the sun would always be positioned 93 million miles directly over the equator, and the Earth, an unblemished sphere, would rotate evenly on a precisely vertical axis. The seasons would never change. Every day would last as long as every other. And we’d never have the equinoxes and solstices that mark the four quarters of the year. As it happens, however, the Earth’s axis is tilted and, according to Ruth Freitag, a senior science specialist at the Library of Congress, the “slightly eccentric ellipse” of the Earth’s orbit around the sun led astronomers to come up with a consistent way to determine mean time, the time by which we all set our clocks. “The natural system is full of variables, and that’s without even considering the irregularities of the Earth’s rotation, which came to light in the late 19th century,” says Freitag. Thus we have the analemma, the somewhat mysterious looking figure-eight diagram on many globes and maps. The analemma charts where and when the sun will appear directly overhead in the “torrid zone,” between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The curves of the analemma also mark the solstices and equinoxes. The winter solstice, occurring when the sun is at its southernmost position in the torrid zone, is shown on the most extreme point of an analemma’s lower arc. In the days before the radio, the analemma was also useful for correcting clocks,” says author David Greenhood in his book “Mapping.” The days may be dark now but the horizon looks bright: Since the winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year, the days will begin to stretch out from now until the summer solstice. Come February and March, when cold temperatures have […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on Empowered Women – The Vedic Path by Nandita Das, Received : 20.08.17; Peer Reviewed : 14.09.17; Accepted : 26.09.17. The empowerment of women is a very relevant question of our time which has its own share of multiple ramifications and controversies. Though the term empowerment is a fairly modern term, it has a number of very strong precedents in oriental traditionalism. The term itself is a descendant of the word ‘Power’ which in the Indian context is synonymous with the word ‘Shakti’. In the philosophy of Hinduism, Shakti ( in Sanskrit the word shak denotes “to be able”), is also spelled as ‘Sakthi’, which means “power” or “empowerment” is also the primordial cosmic energy and it also represents the forces of dynamism that are thought to be moving through the entire universe and its parallel corollaries. Shakti is the conceptualisation and the personification of the divine creative power that resides in femininity, and is referred to as ‘The Great Divine Mother’ in Hindu scriptures. As the mother of the universe she is known as the “AdiParashakti” or “Adishakti”. Put on the earthly and everyday plane, the concept of Shakti most actively manifests through the female embodiment of ideas and in the creativity/fertility of the everyday woman, though it also manifests its presence in males in its potential form which is paradoxically “unmanifest”, as the ancient wisdom would have it. “YatraNariAstuPujyante, RamanteTatraDevataa” “The Gods reside in places where woman is worshiped” – Manu Smriti The ancient Indian society had always placed women in a very significant position. Ancient scriptures suggest the fact that they were superior to men in a number of aspects. There are numerous literary evidences that suggest that woman had obtained powers which could have destroyed great kingdoms and mighty rulers. The sagacious Veda Vyasa (An ancient vedic seer / rishi) in Mahabharata has written how the Kaurava kingdom fell because of their humiliation of Draupadi, the beloved wife of Pandavas. Ramyana-Valmiki depicts the dejected state of Ravana for abducting Sita with brute force. The worship of Goddesses in the ancient period was initiated to inspire the public and the populace to respect women unequivocally. In the Vedic society women were active participants in numerous religious ceremonies and assemblies. There is no evidence that suggest the isolation of women in Vedic period in domestic or social spheres , but their dependence on their male relations throughout their lives was steeped with affection and mutual respect. There were eminent women like Maitreyee, Gargi, Lopamudra, Ghosha, and Indrani who were learned and erudite souls and they have put forth their thoughts and learning in the Upanishads. Women in the Vedic era had the opportunity to choose their husband through a type of marriage called the Swayamvara. The laws of this type of marriage stated that the eligible grooms should assemble at the bride’s place and the bride will select her man through tests of merit. Many such examples abound in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This tradition continued even in the later period in a number of royal families. Swayamvara is the one of the most scientific rituals ever devised for a woman which could give her control over one of the major decisions of her life. The lower status of women in the Vedic Period is just one of the uneducated myths about ancient India. A number of statements given below show the proof of a totally different mindset and culture: “O bride! May the knowledge of the Vedas be in front of you and behind you, inS your center and in your ends. May you conduct your life after attaining the knowledge of the Vedas. May you be benevolent, the harbinger of good fortune and health and live in great dignity and indeed be illumined in your husband’s home.” – Atharva Veda 14-1-64. Women are worthy of worship. They are the fate of the household, the lamp of enlightenment for all in the household. They bring solace to the family and are an integral part of Dharmic life. Even heaven was under the control of women. The Gods reside in those households where women are worshipped and in households where women are slighted all efforts at improvement go in vain.” – Manusmriti 3-56 “The wife should do Agnihotra (yagna), Sandhyavandanam and all other daily religious rituals. If, for some reason, her husband is not present, the woman alone has full rights to do yagna.” – Rigveda Samhita, part 1, sukta 79, sloka 872. In ancient vedic times,women were classified as “Brahmavadini” and “Sadyovadhu”. Brahmavadini was a woman who studied the Vedas after the ritual of Yajnopavitamsanskara (sacred thread ceremony) and got married later or stayed a bachelor in further pursuit of the vedic knowledge. Sadyovadhu was a woman who got married immediately after her sacred thread ceremony. This has been clearly mentioned in the texts like Madhva Samhite on Parashara Smriti, and in the Harita Dharma Sutra, etc. There are some scholars who claim that Brahmavadini is just the term for the wife or a daughter of a male Rishi. But the texts define them as something totally different, and the very word Brahmavadini does not imply anything of that sort.The word actually implies a profound knowledge of the vedas and other sacred texts. Madhava Samhite on Parashara Smriti is of the opinion that : yopanayanamkrutwapashcadvivahamkarotisabrahmavadini| tathaivayaprathamataupanayanamkrutwasadyaevavivahamvidhayatatovedamadhitesasadyovadhuh… which translates into: “She who studies vedas after upanayana and then gets married is brahmavadini, she who gets married immediately after upanayana and then studies vedas is sadyovadhu”. The list given below is a numerical statement of the Female vedic scholars who empowered themselves in an erudite way: Author’s Conclusion: The empowerment of women in the vedic ages was definitely a matter of reality, not of myth. As a parallel conclusion we can certainly draw the inference that the empowering ways of these ancient Female Scholars are relevant even today.
A Quotes from Swami Sivananda – “Who is a saint? He who lives in God or the Eternal, who is free from egoism, likes and dislikes, selfishness, vanity, mine-ness, lust, greed and anger, who is endowed with equal vision, balanced mind, mercy, tolerance, righteousness and cosmic love, and who has divine knowledge is a saint. In the following article – Mathomathis would like discuss about one of the well-known sages of all time: “Maharishi – Veda Vyasa” Our mythology speaks of many Vyasa; and it is said that there had been twenty-eight Vyasa’s before the present Vyasa-Krishna Dvaipayana took his birth at the end of Dvapara Yuga. Krishna Dvaipayana was born of Parasara Rishi through the Matsyakanya, Satyavathi Devi – under some peculiar and wonderful circumstances. Parasara was a great jnani (all knowing, wise) and one of the supreme authorities on astrology and his book Parasara Hora is still a textbook on astrology. He has also written a Smriti known as Parasara Smriti which is held in such high esteem that it is quoted by our present-day writers on sociology and ethics. Parasara, through his meditation skills/powers came to know that a child, conceived at a particular Ghatika or moment of time, would be born as the greatest man of the age, nay as an Amsa (part of) of Lord Vishnu Himself. At a very tender age Vyasa gave out to his parents the secret of his life that he should go to the forest and do Akhanda Tapas. His mother at first did not agree, but later gave permission on one important condition that he should appear before her whenever she wished for his presence. This itself shows how far-sighted the parents and the son were. Puranas say that Vyasa took initiation at the hands of his twenty-first Guru, sage Vasudeva. He studied the Shastras under sages Sanaka and Sanandana and others. He arranged the Vedas for the good of mankind and wrote the Brahma Sutras for the quick and easy understanding of the Srutis; he also wrote “The Mahabharata” to enable humans who had a lesser intellect, to understand the highest knowledge in the easiest way. Vyasa wrote the eighteen Puranas and established the system of teaching them through Upakhyanas or discourses. In this way, he established the three paths, viz., Karma, Upasana and Jnana. To him is also attributed the fact that he continued the line of his mother and that Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were his progeny. Vyasa’s last work was the Bhagavata which he undertook at the instigation of Devarshi Narada who once came to him and advised him to write it as, without it, his goal in life would not be reached. Vyasa is considered by all Vedic followers as a Chiranjivi, one who is still living and roaming throughout the world for the well-being of his devotees. It is said that he appears to the true and the faithful and that Jagadguru Sankaracharya had his Darshan in the house of sage Mandana Misra and that he appeared to many others as well. As we know that, there are six important systems of thought developed by our ancients known as the Shad Darshanas or the six orthodox schools of philosophy, viz., Sankhya, Yoga Nyaya Vaiseshika Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta. Each system has a different shade of opinion. Later, these thoughts became unwieldy, and to regulate them, the Sutras came into existence, Treatises were written in short aphorisms, called “Sutras” in Sanskrit, meaning clues for memory or aids to long discussions on every topic. In the Padma Purana, the definition of a Sutra is given: – It says that a Sutra should be concise and unambiguous; but the brevity was carried to such an extent that the Sutra has become unintelligible and particularly so in the Brahma Sutras. Today we find the same Sutra being interpreted in a dozen ways. The Brahma Sutras written by Vyasa or Badarayana for that was the name which he possessed in addition are also known as Vedanta Sutras as they deal with Vedanta only. They are divided into four chapters, each chapter being subdivided again into four sections. It is interesting to note that they begin and end with Sutras which read together mean “the inquiry into the real nature of Brahman has no return”, meaning that “going by that way one reaches Immortality and no more returns to the world”. About the authorship of these Sutras, tradition attributes it to Vyasa. Adi Guru Sankaracharya, in his Bhashya, refers to Vyasa as the author of the Gita and the Mahabharata, and to Badarayana as the author of the Brahma Sutras. His followers-Vachaspathi, Anandagiri and others identify the two as one the same person, while Ramanuja and others attribute the authorship of all three to Vyasa himself. The oldest commentary on the Brahma Sutras is by Sankaracharya; he was later followed by Ramanuja, Vallabha, Nimbarka, Madhva and others who established their own schools of thought. All the five Acharyas mostly agree on two points, viz. That Brahman is the cause of this world and That knowledge of Brahman leads to final emancipation. But they differ among-st themselves on the nature of this Brahman, the relation between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, and the condition of the soul in the state of release. According to some, Bhakti and not Jnana, as interpreted by Sankara, is the chief means of attaining liberation.