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Mathomathis would like to present an article on: MULTI-FACETED VEDIC HINDUISM by Dr. M.G. Prasad Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030. The complete article is available in the website of Salagram In a triadic approach based on the Vedas, existence of life can be described through God (Ishwara), Universe (Jagat) and an individual soul (Jeeva). Any individual could see the universe as an entity that consists of all beings including other individuals and nature. The GOD as Supreme Being and One Source (Bramhan) is seen as a free and independent entity responsible for Generation, Operation and Dissolution of everything in the universe and all beings. The multi-faceted knowledge emanating from this One Source is referred as Vedas also called Shruti, that are mantras “heard” by rishis in their deepest meditative states and then orally transmitted as mantras to their disciples. The Vedas originating from Supreme Being is infinite and eternal. Vedas deal with topics such as God, soul, life, nature and cosmos etc. Vedas are compared to Breath of the Supreme Being. The infinitely large Vedic literature that includes scriptures (shastras) such as smritis, itihasas, puranas, upavedas, vedangas and upaangas etc. is a collection of compositions by large number of rishis who were seers of Vedic truths. This infinitely large body of knowledge is represented as an inverted tree. However, there are different ways of classification including several additional scriptures referred as vidyas, kavyas etc. Thus as in a tree, the multi-faceted manifestations of knowledge in Vedic Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma is emanating from One Source or Supreme Being. Also, in Vishnusahasranama, we have the verse: Yogo jnanam tatha sankhyam vidya shilpadi karma cha Vedaa shastraani vijnanam etatt sarvam janardanat Which means that yoga, all types of knowledge, art, sculptures, rituals, Vedas, Vedic scriptures and science have emanated from Janardana (denoting One Source). The primary aim of this infinitely large multi-faceted Vedic Hinduism is to provide the vision and guidance to all human beings through four-fold objectives (Purursharthas) for life. The fulfillment of these objectives namely Dharma (knowledge and application of life-principles), Artha (money and means), Kama (rightful desires) and Moksha (spiritual bliss and freedom from all desires) gives the meaning and purpose of life. The authority and authenticity of multi-faceted Vedic-Hinduism is due to innumerable rishis (seers) who have showed the paths of reaching that One Source of Light and Bliss. In the words of a seer-yogi Sriranga Sadguru, “It is view of the rishis of Bharata that spiritual enlightenment is the ultimate goal of life. That is attainment of ultimate joy (Ananda). That is liberation (Mukti). Spiritual knowledge (Jnana) is that by which one merges into the light of Atman as river merges into the ocean. The rishis or jnanis having attained this ultimate goal have brought forth the knowledge in science and arts (Vijnana) keeping in line with their roots in spiritual knowledge (Jnana) because vijnana is the manifestation of Jnana. It is for this reason an in-depth sincere study of knowledge in science and arts at any stage of manifestation will lead to attainment of the ultimate goal of spiritual knowledge (Jnana) Author in the article which he has published makes an attempt to show in brief this all-encompassing nature of Vedic Hinduism. The various topics such as deities, rituals and temples indicate that these are important means to internalize the deeper concepts and principles of yoga and spirituality. An understanding of deities such as Goddess Saraswati and Lord Nataraja helps the seeker to focus and internalize through rituals and worship. The various deities in Vedic Hinduism are yogic visions. A vigraha or a picture becomes a connecting medium between a devotee and God. A temple is a representation of a human body and the God consecrated in the temple as vigraha represents the Indweller in human beings and all other beings and universe. The Vedic seers have shown that one can advance spiritually and achieve bliss through dance and music and also provide joy to the mind and senses. The yoga through body and mind connects dance and music to the spiritual experiences. Vedic seers have recognized the relationship of spiritual and scientific principles. Examples such as Conch shells, musical instruments, bells, natural elements, etc are used as mediums to connect the seeker to the spiritual goals. Then there are scriptures that deal with the philosophical systems that help seekers through advanced intellectual means of reasoning and analysis. Synthesis of knowledge, devotion and actions is emphasized in spiritual practices. Vedic seers emphasized that ultimately it is the inner experience and realization that brings the spiritual bliss and peace to the individual. This process of inner realization in multi-faceted Vedic Hinduism can be expressed through the concurrence of the experiences of the triad of Sadguru, Shastras and Sadhaka. Multi-faceted Vedic Hinduism and Inverted Tree:- The Vedas and Vedic literature deal with all aspects of knowledge on Supreme Being, various Gods, life, arts, nature, society and Cosmos etc through principles and applications. Maharishi VedaVyasa classified the:- Vedas or Shruti emanating from Supreme Being into the main four Vedas namely Rigveda (metrical mantras on various Gods), YajurVeda (prose-type mantras for rituals and yajnas), Samaveda (musical and metrical chants) and AtharvaVeda (mantras on society and welfare) through rishis Paila, Vaishampayana, Jaimini and Sumantu respectively. The Smritis include compositions of the codes and guidelines recommended by rishis such as Parashara, Yajnavalkya, Goutama, Manu etc. for the success and spiritual development in life. The Itithasas are the historical literature that includes Ramayana of Valmiki and Mahabharata of Vyasa. The Ramayana and Mahabharata are referred as fifth Vedas as they explain the Vedic principles that are difficult to understand directly in simple and illustrative ways. Especially, Ramayana is ideally suited as a reference guide for human beings. The Puranas is literature of instructive and imaginative stories based on the historical literature to explain the Vedic principles. The UpaVedas consist of Ayurveda for heath and medicine, Dhanurveda for the science of archery and military GandharvaVeda for the […]
Mathomathis would like to present the article on the Vaimanika Shastras – Vimana Shastras by Maharshi Bharadwaaja Propounded by Venerable SUBBARAYA SHASTRY Translated into English and Edited, Printed and Published by G.R. JOSYER SCHOLAR, HISTORIAN, ESSAYIST, SANSKRITIST Printed at CORONATION PRESS, MYSORE-4, INDIA. Readers are advised to complete the previous article Vaimanika Shastras – Vimana Shastras | Soundaala | 103 before proceeding further. Shaktyadhikaranam: The Power. Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 1:- “Shaktayassapta” | “The power sources are seven.” Bodhaananda Vritti: In the functioning of the vimaana, there are 7 distinct operating forces. They are named udgamaa, panjaraa, sooryashaktyapa-karshinee or that which extracts solar power, parashaktyaakarshinee or that which extracts opposite forces, a set of 12 shaktis or forces, kuntinee, and moolashakti or primary force. At set spots in the vimaana, the motors which produce these 7 powers should be installed, duly wired and equipped with springs and wheels, as prescribed. It is said in “Yantra-sarvasva: “The seven kinds of powers which are required for the Vimaana are produced by 7 motors which are named tundila, panjara, amshupa, apakarshaka, saandhaanika, daarpanika, and shaktiprasavaka. Each of these produces its specific power. Thus tundilaa produces udgamaa shakti, panjaraa produces the panjaraa shakti, shaktipaa produces the power which sucks solar power, apakarshaka produces the power which plucks the power of alien planes, sandhaana yantra produces the group of 12 forces, daarpanikaa produces kuntinee shakti, and shakti-prasava yantra produces the main motive power. Saunaka Sutra also says: “There are seven sources of power of the vimaana: fire, earth, air, sun, moon, water and sky. The seven kinds of powers are named udgamaa, panjaraa, solar heat absorber, alien force absorber, solar electric dozen, kuntinee, and primary force.” “Soudaaminee-kalaa” says: Ma, la, ya, ra, sa, va, na constitute the seven vimanic forces. Ma is udgamaa, la is panjaraa, ya is solar heat absorber, ra is the solar dozen, sa is alien force absorber, va is kuntinee, and na is primary force. Their actions are thus defined in “Kriyaa-saara”: “The ascent of the vimana is by udgamaa shakti. Its descent is by panjaraa-shakti. Solar heat absorbing is by shaktyapakarshinee. Alien force restraining is by parashakty snatcher. Spectacular motion of the vimaana is by the vidyud-dwaadashaka-shakti. All these various activities are by the prime force of the vimana.” Vidyuddwaadashaka is thus explained in “Soudaaminee-kalaa”: “The spectacular motions of the vimana are of 12 kinds. Their motive forces are also 12. The motions and the forces are, proceeding, shuddering, mounting, descending, circling, speeding, circumambulating, side-wise motion, receding, anti-clockwise motion, remaining motionless, and performing miscellaneous motions.” Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 2:- “Shaktayah-pancha -iti-Narayanaha.| “Narayana holds that the forces are five only, and not twelve.” Bodhaananda Vritti: Five forces are generated by the yantra or dynamo called Sadyojaata, and they produce all the spectacular motions of the vimana. Says “Shakti sarvasva”: “The motions of a vimaana are five, Chaalana, Gaalana, Panjaraprerana, Vakraapasarpana, and Spectacular manoeuvring.” Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 3:- “Chitrinyeveti sphotaayanah.” | Sphotaayana holds that chitrinee is the sole shakti. Bodhaananda Vritti: Sphotaayana declares that the force called chitrinee shakti is the one which enables the vimana to perform spectacular manoeuvres. “Shakti-sarvasva” says that both from experience and scientific knowledge Sphotaayana propounds the view that 32 various kinds of motions of the vimaana are solely by the power of Chitrinee-shakti. “Kriyaa-saara ” also states that Chitrinee force of the 17th quality is solely responsible for the 32 types of aeronautical motions. Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 4:- “Tadantarbhaaavaat Saptaiveti” | “The shaktis are 7 only, and include all others” Bodhaananda Vritti: Out of the five forces produced by the sadyojaata mechanism, panjaraa shakti is the most important. The other shaktis are incidental to it, just as sparks are incidental to fire. Chaalana and other motions may therefore be said to result from panjaraa shakti. Says “Shaktibeeja”: “It is by the panjaraa shakti generated by sadyojaata yantra that the chalana and other shaktis branch out.” “Shakti kousthubha” also says, “From the panjaraa shakti produced by sadyojaata, emanate the chaalama and other 4 shaktis.” Thus since the other shaktis branch out from panjaraa shakti, they may be said to be in essence identical with it. That panjaraa and chitrinee are included in the seven shaktis which have been enumerated by Maharshi Bharadwaaja. Hence there cannot be said to be any conflict of opinions. Some even hold the view that each one of the seven shaktis is capable of producing all the 32 motions of the vimaana. But since each of the several motions of the plane is definitely ascribed to a particular kind of force, it would be incorrect to hold that one force could be responsible for the whole gamut of motions. Any attempt to give practical effect to such a theory would prove disastrous. Therefore the right conclusion is that the seven forces are the true cause of the 32 kinds of aerial activities of the vimaana. Yantraadhikaranam: Yantras: Machinery Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 1:- “Athha Upayantraani.” | “The Mechanical Contrivances.” Bodhaananda Vritti: Having described the forces or energies required for the various functions of the vimaana, now the mechanisms necessary for these activities are described. “Kriyaa-saara” says: “As stated by the eminent Bharadwaaja in “Yantrasarvasva”, the mechanical equipments necessary for the vimaana are 32. They are vishwakriyaadarsa or universal reflecting mirror, shaktyaakarshana yantra or force absorbing machine, pariveshakriyaayantra or halo-producing machine, angopasamhara yantra or machine for folding up or contracting its parts, vistrutakriyaa yantra, or expanding yantra, vyroopyadarpana or fantastic mirror, padmachakra-mukha, kuntinee shakti yantra and pushpinee shakti yantra, pinjula mirror, naalapanchaka and guhaa-garbhabhidha yantras, tamo-yantra or darkness spreading machine, pancha vaataskandhanaala, roudree mirror, vaataskandha naalakcelaka, vidyudyantra or electric generator, and shabdakendra mukha, vidyuddwaadashaka, praanakundalinee, shaktyudgama, vakraprasaarana, and shaktipanjara keelaka, shirah-keelaka and shabdaakarshana, pataprasaaranayantra, dishaampati yantra, pattikaabhraka yantra, suryashaktyapakarshana yantra or collector of solar energy, apasmaaradhooma prasaarana or ejector of poisonous fumes, stambhana yantra, and vyshwaanara naalayantra.” They are thus described in “yantrasarvasva,” chapter 7, by the illustrious Maharshi Bharadwaaja. Maharshi Bharadwaaja Sutra 1:- Athopayantraani.” | “Subsidiary Yantras.” Bodhaananda Vritti: Prepare a square or circular base […]
Year 1985 – The AI Magazine Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence by Rick Brigs | RIACS, NASA Ames Research Centeu, Moffet Field, California 94305. In the past twenty years, much time, effort, and money has been expended on designing an unambiguous representation of natural languages to make them accessible to computer processing These efforts have centered around creating schemata designed to parallel logical relations with relations expressed by the syntax and semantics of natural languages, which are clearly cumbersome and ambiguous in their function as vehicles for the transmission of logical data. Understandably, there is a widespread belief that natural languages arc unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas that artificial languages can render with great precision and mathematical rigor. But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise underlying much work in the areas of linguistics and artificial intelligence, is a false one There is at least one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration of almost more than 5000+ years was a living spoken language with a considerable literature of its own Besides works of literary value, there was a long philosophical and grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with undiminished vigor until the present century. Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence This article demonstrates that a natural language can serve as an artificial language also, and that much work in AI has been reinventing a wheel millenia old First, a typical Knowledge Representation Scheme (using Semantic Nets) will be laid out, followed by an outline of the method used by the ancient Indian Grammarians to analyze sentences unambiguously. Finally, the clear parallelism between the two will be demonstrated, and the theoretical implications of this equivalence will be given. For the sake of comparison, a brief overview of semantic nets will be given, and examples will be included that will be compared to the Indian approach. After early attempts at machine translation (which were based to a large extent on simple dictionary look-up) failed in their effort to teach a computer to understand natural language, work in AI turned to Knowledge Representation. Since translation is not simply a map from lexical item to lexical item, and since ambiguity is inherent in a large number of utterances, some means is required to encode what the actual meaning of a sentence is. Clearly, there must be a representation of meaning independent of words used. Another problem is the interference of syntax. In some sentences (for example active/passive) syntax is, for all intents and purposes, independent of meaning. Here one would like to eliminate considerations of syntax. In other sentences the syntax contributes to the meaning and here one wishes to extract it. Author considers a “prototypical” semantic net system similar to that of Lindsay, Norman, and Rumelhart in the hopes that it is fairly representative of basic semantic net theory. Taking a simple example first, one would represent “John gave the ball to Mary” as in Figure 1. Here five nodes connected by four labeled arcs capture the entire meaning of the sentence. This information can be stored as a series of “triples”: give, agent, John give, object, ball give, recipient, Mary give, time, past. Note that grammatical information has been transformed into an arc and a node (past tense). A more complicated example will illustrate embedded sentences and changes of state: “John told Mary that the train moved out of the station at 3 o’clock.” As shown in Figure 2, there was a change in state in which the train moved to some unspecified location from the station. It went to the former at 3:00 and from the latter at 3:O0. Now one can routinely convert the net to triples as before. The verb is given central significance in this scheme and is considered the focus and distinguishing aspect of the sentence. However, there are other sentence types which differ fundamentally from the above examples. Figure 3 illustrates a sentence that is one of “state” rather than of “event .” Other nets could represent statements of time, location or more complicated structures. A verb, say, “give,” has been taken as primitive, but what is the meaning of “give” itself? Is it only definable in terms of the structure it generates? Clearly two verbs can generate the same structure. One can take a set-theoretic approach and a particular give as an element of “giving events” itself a subset of ALL-EVENTS. An example of this approach is given in Figure 4 (“John, a programmer living at Maple St., gives a book to Mary, who is a lawyer”). If one were to “read” this semantic net, one would have a very long text of awkward English: “There is a John” who is an element of the “Persons” set and who is the person who lives at ADR1, where ADR1 is a subset of ADDRESS-EVENTS, itself a subset of ‘ALL EVENTS’, and has location ‘37 Maple St.‘, an element of Addresses; and who is a “worker” of ‘occupation 1’. . .etc.” The degree to which a semantic net (or any unambiguous, nonsyntactic representation) is cumbersome and odd-sounding in a natural language is the degree to which that language is “natural” and deviates from the precise or “artificial.” As we shall see, there was a language spoken among an ancient scientific community that has a deviation of zero. The hierarchical structure of the above net and the explicit descriptions of set-relations are essential to really capture the meaning of the sentence and to facilitate inference. It is believed by most in the AI and general linguistic community that natural languages do not make such seemingly trivial hierarchies explicit. Below is a description of a natural language, Shastric Sanskrit, where for the past millenia successful attempts have been made to encode such information. Shastric Sanskrit The sentence: (1) “Caitra goes […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article written by T.L.Subash Chandira Bose on “Who am I”. Note that, there are many articles that would be circulating on the similar discussion, henceforth mathomathis would not like to generate any conclusion by comparing articles that are written by various research scholars across the globe. Mathomathis would just like to present an article written by author T.L.Subash Chandira Bose to our readers. Readers are indeed free to comment or ask questions on the same. At certain stage each and every human being asked a question in the past, asking now and will ask in future i.e., who am I? and search for the correct answers. The answers are given in a form of symbol (Sogam) on Indus seals. The symbol Sogam reveals an interesting Vedantham philosophy. According Thamizh dictionary; Sogam means all the souls (life) and Supreme soul is one and the same and Vedantham means Upanishad and end of knowledge. According to swami Vivekananda the Upanishads are attributed to 5000 years before. The whole of the Vedaantha philosophy is in a story of two birds living on a same tree. Swami Vivekananda describes the Vedantha as a story in his translation work on Mundaka Upanishad pages 38-41; 2006, Published by Advaida Ashrama, Kolkata-700 014 Upon the same tree there are two birds, one on the top, the other below. The bird on the top is calm, silent and majestic, immersed in his own glory; the bird on the lower branches, eating sweet and bitter fruits by turn, hopping from branch to branch, is becoming happy and miserable by turns. After a time the lower bird eats an exceptionally bitter fruit and gets disgusted and looks up and see the other bird, that wondrous one of golden plumage, who eats neither sweet nor bitter fruits, who is neither happy nor miserable, but calm and who sees nothing beyond his self. The lower bird longs for this condition, thinking, “How I would love to be like him!” and hops a little way towards him. Soon he forgets all about his desire to be like the upper bird and begins to eat the fruits. After little while he eats another exceptionally bitter fruit, which makes him feel miserable, and he again looks up and tried to get nearer to the upper bird. Once more he forgets and after a time he looks up and so on he goes again and again, until he comes very near to the beautiful bird. He sees the reflection on light from upper bird’s plumage playing around his own body. He feels a change and seems to melt away. Still nearer he comes and everything about him melts away and at last he understands this wonderful change. The lower bird was, as it were, only the substantial looking shadow, the reflection of the higher; he himself was in essence the upper bird all the time. This eating of fruits, sweet and bitter, this lower, little bird, weeping and happy by turns, was a vain Chimera, a dream: all along, the real bird was there above, calm and silent, glorious and majestic, beyond grief, beyond sorrow. The upper bird is God, the Lord of universe; and the lower bird is human soul (mind and Pranan), eating the sweet and bitter fruits of this world. The human soul knows that it is weak and small and tells all sorts of lies. It says it is a woman or it is a man. It says it will do good or do bad; it will go to heaven and will do a hundred sorts of things. In delirium it talks and works, and the central idea of its delirium is that it is weak. Thus it suffers because it thinks it is nobody. It is a created little being. It is a slave. It is governed by some god or gods, and so is unhappy. Now and then comes heavy blow to the soul. For a time, it stops the eating and goes towards unknown God, and a flood of light comes. It thinks that this world is a vain show. But again senses drag it down, and it begins as before to eat the sweet and bitter fruits of the world. Again an exceptionally hard blow comes. Its heart becomes open again to divine light. Thus gradually it approaches God, and as it gets nearer and nearer, it finds its old self melting away. It finds that its individuality – it’s low, vulgar, intensely, selfish individuality –is melting away. When it has comes near enough, it sees that it is no other than God, and it exclaims, “Why, it has my own glory that I called God, and this little ‘I’, this misery, was all hallucination, it never existed. I was never a woman, never a man, never any of these things.”Then the soul gives up all sorrow. The lower bird was but the reflection of the one above. So we are in reality one with God, but the reflection makes us seem many, as when the one sun reflects in a million dew-drops and seems a million tiny suns. The reflection must vanish if we are to identify ourselves with our real nature which is divine. The universe itself can never be the limit of our satisfaction. That is why the robber robs, the sinner sins that are why you are learning philosophy. All have one purpose. There is no other purpose in life, save to reach this freedom. Consciously or unconsciously we are all striving for perfection. Every being must attain it. That which is in every atom, everywhere present, the essence of all things, the God of this universe-know that thou art He, know that thou art free. This is what Vedaantham teaches. It tells us that we are essentially divine. It shows us the real unity of beings, and that each one of us is God Himself manifested on earth. All of us, from the lowest worm that […]
Hindu Scriptures & Sanskrit Literature | Mathomathis would like to present an article on Root By Kadambi Srinivasan | Published by | Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams | Tirupati 2019. The following article will explain about the creation of the universe by adopting the concepts of vedas and upanishad. Do note that, every concepts including the so called “modern science” has its own way on intercepting the cosmic creations. Readers are expected to have an open thought before making any judgemental thoughts in the article explained. Before proceeding with the following article, complete the previous article The following article provides/gives a diagrammatic view of the hierarchy that was discussed in our previous articles. Readers can right click on the image and select the option “Open image in new tab” for better readability.