#3/thread on Angkor wat

Christianity and islam may be the largest religion of today’s world but Sanatan dharm has the largest religious monument in the world in the form of Angkor wat. It is situated in combodia and spread across over 400 acres / 1.6 km².

It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, which encouraged an international effort to save the complex.
It was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu. In Khmer, the Cambodian language, Angkor means "city" and Wat means "temple grounds".

So Angkor Wat means "Temple City". Its original name was Vrah Vishnuloka or Parama Vishnuloka, meaning the sacred dwelling of Vishnu in Sanskrit.
But, it gradually turned into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century & is still used for worship today.

Angkor Wat was initially designed and constructed in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II, as the king’s state temple and capital city. It was built without the aid of any machinery, as there was no machinery available at that time.

Evidence for these dates comes in part from inscriptions, which are vague, but also from the architectural design and artistic style of the temple and its associated sculptures.

Another aspect is that the five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru,

#Thread on veda vyas and vedanga

Veda vyas was a sage who is famous as the author of Mahabharat. But very few among us know that the meaning of vyas is “the spliter”, hence veda vyas is a title earned by him. His real name was Krishna Dvaipayana.

The Vedas are Śruti, which means "that which is heard.” In the Dwapara Yuga, these verses were compiled by Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa into a set of four books we call the Vedas. (Technically Vyasa only compiled the first three books - Rig, Yajur, and Sama, while

the Atharvana Veda is attributed to the sages Angiras and Atharvan.)

Actually, in the Dwapara Yuga, he compiled these verses from all those different sages into a coherent work, dividing them into a set of four books we call the Vedas.

But Vyasa wasn't the first one to compile and divide the Vedas, and he won't be the last. Vedavyasa is in fact a title, assigned to a different person in every Dwapara Yuga, as described by Vyasa's father Parashara in the Vishnu Purana, khand 3, chapter 3, verse 7 onwards:

Twenty-eight times the Vedas have been arranged by the great Rishis in the Vaivaswata Manwantara in the Dwápara age, and consequently eight and twenty Vyásas have passed away; by whom, in their respective periods, the Veda has been divided into four.

#Thread on kundalini- The hidden treasure!

In Hinduism, there are few topics which can fascinate even an atheist. Kundalini is one of them.

Kundalini is the latent Shakti sleeping near the Muladhara region (bottom of the spinal cords).

Siva Samhita, chapter 5 (pic 2)

Two fingers above the rectum and two fingers below the linga , four fingers in width is a space like a bulbous root.

Between this space is the yoni having its face towards the back.That space is called the root;there dwells the Goddess Kundalini.

It surrounds all the nadis and has three coils and a half;and catching its tail in its own mouth,it rests in the hole of the Sushumna(nadi).

Significance-

Chandogya Upanishad 8.6.6 and Katha Upanishad  2.16 says:

यदा सर्वे प्रभिद्यन्ते हृदयस्येह ग्रन्थयः ।
अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्येतावद्ध्यनुशासनम् ॥

शतं चैका च हृदयस्य नाड्य-
    स्तासां मूर्धानमभिनिःसृतैका ।
तयोर्ध्वमायन्नमृतत्वमेति
    विष्वङ्ङन्या उत्क्रमणे भवन्ति ॥

When all the knots of Hridaya Granthi are cut down, mortal becomes an immortal & attains Brahman there. There are 101 Nadis which emerge from heart, one Nadi goes out piercing the head. Going up through that, one attains immortality; the others serve for departing in diiff. ways.

#Thread on speed of light in terms of vedic measurement.

Galileo Galilee was among the first to try to measure the speed of light in the early 17th century. Today we know that the exact speed of light is defined as 29,97,92,458 metres per second (approximately 186000 mi/s).

But, when it comes to Indian prospect, there are many references about the speed of light much before the 17th century.
The speed of light is not directly from the Rigveda Samhita but It is given by a great Indian scholor Sāyaṇācārya, popularly known as Sayana.

Sayana was a sanskrit scholar under king Bukka Raya I and Harihara II of Vijaynagar empire in 14th century. His commentary on vedas are very famous and was translated from Sanskrit to English by Max Müller, himself.

RigVeda verse 1.50.4-
तरणिविश्वदर्शवो ज्योतिष्कृदसि सूर्य । विश्वमा भासि रोचनम् ।।
Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya, maker of the light, Illuming all the radiant realm.

As it talks about maker of light. Commentary of Sayana in this verse is as:

तथा च स्मर्यत योजनानां सहस्रम् द्वे द्वे शते द्वे च योजने । एकेन निमिषार्धेन क्रममाण नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
It is remembered, [O Sun] bow to you, you who traverse 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha.
Here it is talking about speed of Sun.

#Thread on Swastika

Meaning-

Swastika (स्वस्तिक) = Su (सु) + Asti (अस्ति) + Ka(क)
• Su(सु) means Shubh(शुभ) i.e auspicious or welfare
• Asti(अस्ति) means be/happen or exist. It stand for power or existence.
• Ka(क) stands for doer or performer i.e Karta(कर्ता)

So, Swasti means Be Auspicious or Be Welfare
and Swastika means Auspicious/Welfare Doer.
It is also believed to be a symbol of good, auspicious and welfare from ancient times.

History-

The journey of Swastika from its origin to today's world is filled with mysteries and

broken links of evidences spread over different ages of civilization.

According to a research published by IIT kharagpur-
“The Vedas also have a mention of various forms of Swastika. 1.89.6 of Rig Veda, gives a brief introduction of Swastika in the cosmos,

with the higher level of Indra, Pusha, Tarksya and Brihaspati at the macrocosmic level and seeking their blessing is the man at microcosmic level. Lusha Dhanaka Rishi explains the various manifestations of the Swastika in the 10:35 and 36 Suktas of Rig Veda.”

The graphic form of in Indus Valley seals are the earliest recorded swastikas in India. The epic of Ramayana also mentions the symbol embossed in the boat that ferried Lord Rama while the Mahabharata describes the Chakra-Vyuha or the Swastika maze.

#Thread on Sarasvatî and related controversies.

The root of the term Sarasvati is sri (सृ)+ asun (असुन्)= saras (सरस्) meaning 'watery substance' + vati वती ie वतुप् स्त्री, meaning 'containing of' = sarasvati which means a lake, a pond, a large water body(stagnant).

@BesuraTaansane

#Thread on Purūsharthå

The word Purūsharthå is mentioned in Suryopanishad which is a minor Upanishad allied to the Atharva Veda.

Here Purush in Purūsharthå doesn't refers to a man, but to an individual soul in its purest aspect, that is similar for both men and women.

Dharma , Artha,Kama,Moksha known to be four goals of an individual's life and codified as Purūsharthå, It is also mentioned in the sacred book of Dharma called Dharmashashtra.

These are important concepts to know if we really want to understand Hinduism.

Dharma: Dharma is universal. It simply means religion of righteousness, wholesomeness,& truth. It is very difficult to grasp the exact meaning of dharma as acting vigorously doesn't mean precisely the same for everyone and also operates within concrete circumstance.

Anything which is acquired in the absence of Dharma will occur towards the misery. Each personhas their own Dharma called 'Sva-Dharma’, which is deeply illustrated in Bhagvad Geeta .

As per mānusmriti ...

धृतिः क्षमा दमोऽस्तेयं शौचमिन्द्रियनिग्रहः ।
धीर्विद्या सत्यमक्रोधो दशकं धर्मलक्षणम् ॥ ६\९२ ॥

Meaning—
(1) Steadiness (2) Forgiveness, (3) Self-control, (4) Abstention from unrighteous appropriation, (5) Purity, (6) Control of the Sense-organs,

#Thread on mamta banerjee: The uncrowned dictator.

mamta banerjeee who made several headlines in 2005 by throwing papers on the speaker of parliament over the issue of ilegal immigrant, who knew then 14 years after she will have a completely different stand on illegal immigrant.

But, why I’m calling her an uncrowned dictator? Following are the reasons-

1. She swings for power & not for the ideology- she started her career with congress in 970. Then, she aligned with bjp in 1999 and became railway minister, then;

she again aligned with congress for the state election in 2001. Then again she returned to bjp in 2003 and became coal minister in 2004. Then again she joined UPA in 2009 for the parliamentary election. Clear she has no ideology; she is hungry for power just like a dictator.

2. Media is being gagged up- The first thing that every dictator do is gagging up the media. The editor of Anandabazar Patrika, the highly respected and largest-circulated Bangla newspaper, has resigned, with the news emerging four days afterdidi accused the 98-year-old daily of

showing the state govt. in bad light and the editor was summoned by Kolkata Police for allegedly publishing fake news. There are many such incident which shows that media in bangal is under complete control.

#Thread on decoding the ॐ/AUM/OM

AUM is made up of 3 syllables: A, U, & M, or, phonetically, “aaah,” “oooh,” & “mmm.” A is the first of the guttural sound, so it is the very first sound that human can utter, M is the last of the labial sounds and

U is the sound produced by rolling the wind over the whole of the tongue. Hence the conjunction of these 3 primary sounds can be comprehended to contain the rudiment of all sounds that human can ever give utterance to and so it can be taken as the fittest sound symbol of Brahman.

According to Taittiriya Upanishad 1.8.1-

MnOm is Brahman. Om is everything here.

At a physical level, the Aum syllable addresses the whole of the human sound instrument: we open the mouth (a), move the lips closer to each other (u) & then close the mouth (m).

This activates the larynx fully. ‘A’ resonates in the stomach and chest, ‘u’ in the throat and chest and ‘m’ in the nasal cavity, skull and brain. By chanting Aum we move the energy from the abdomen up to the brain.

Moreover, the syllable AUM represents several important triads:

Worlds - Earth, Atmosphere, and Heaven; Major Hindu Gods - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; Gunas: Tamas, Rajas and
Sattva; Sacred Vedic scriptures - Rg, Yajur, and Sama; Actions: Creation, Preservation, and Destruction; Time: Past, Present, and Future;

#Thread on Tantra

The word ’Tantra’ literally means ‘loom’ in Sanskrit. There are several differing explanations as to what this word means. According to one source, this name is supposed to be a pun, and in order to understand it, one has to first understand the word ‘sutra’.

The key texts of Hinduism are known as sutras, a word which also means ‘formula or thread’. Therefore, if a sutra is a single thread of thought, then Tantra would be the loom that produces these threads of thoughts into a whole system of thoughts.

As a comparison, another source suggests that Tantra is a combination of two words, ‘tattva’ and ‘mantra’, which mean the science of cosmic principles and the science of mystic sound and vibration respectively.

In other words, Tantra may be regarded to be “the application of cosmic sciences with a view to attain spiritual ascendancy.”

In the beginning of Satyuga, Lord Shiva appeared in the form of Swacchandanatha, with his five mukha(mouth), namely Ishana, Tatpurusha, Sadyojata,

Vamadeva & Aghor. These mukhas represent his 5 energies, namely, Consciousness, Bliss, Will, Knowledge & Action. He manifested Tantras through his 5 mukhas (energies), some given by each of his mouth while others recited by him through two or more than two mouths simultaneously.

Thread on decoding KAMASUTRA

Kamasutra is a book written by Rishi Vātsyāyana in about 3rd century. It is famous for its erotic mentions and is considered as a controversial book.

1. Origin:

After creating the universe lord Brahma created a text, TRIVERG,

which had 3 subjects- Dharma, Artha & Kama, for the well being of humans.

Rishi Manu used the subject dharma and created ‘Dharmshastra’, Viraspati used the subject artha and created ‘Arthshastra’ and shiva’s nandi used the subject kama and created, ‘Kamashastra’ which had a

more than 1000 chapters.

Later, all the 3 shastras were simplified by various Rishi. Out of those Rishis, Vātsyāyana simplified the Kāmashastra and created kamasutra.

2. Is it a sex manual or pornography?

Well, Kamashastra has 7 chapters, in which only 20% of total text talks

about sex, which I’ll explain later but, first lets come to the rest 80%-

A) first chapter, which is ‘Sadharanam’, focuses about, ‘What should be the AIMS OF THE LIFE OF A PERSON. It says, a person should first understand what his/her dharma is. Dharma doesn’t mean religion, it

means ‘Righteousness duty’, which can be understood by taking education (vidya). When a person understood its dharma, He/she should starting making economy (Artha) by using dharma and education. A person having the knowledge of dhama and has a certain amount of economy, should

#Thread on controversial #khajuraho temple.

A temple which is famous for its erotic and sexual sculpture and has been targeted by left liberals on its meaning and importance. However, it may shock you, if I say sexual themes cover only less than 10% of the temple sculpture.

Its like judging and creating a buzz about the whole movie over one bed scene. Still i’ll explain the reason behind the erotic theme of the temple. But first lets discuss about khajuraho being more than that-

The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand during 925-1050 AD

Most of the temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga.

There were 85 temples in khajuraho but now only 25 temples are there. Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of the 12th century.

This changed in the 13th century; after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb–ud-din Aibak, attacked & seized the Chandela kingdom. After that temples were controlled by various Muslim dynasties from the 13th century through the 18th century.

#Thread on forgotten bihar

कहते है इतिहास ख़ुद को दोहराता है। पर जितना मैं इतिहास के गहराइ में गया हूँ , एक ही बात समझ पाया हूँ की इतिहास ख़ुद को दोहराए ना दोहराए वो सबसे ताक़तवर चीज़ को हमेशा ही दबा देता है । जैसे की हमारा देश भारत। इतिहास में हम पूरी दुनिया में सबसे आगे थे,

चाहे वो कोई भी क्षेत्र क्यूँ ना हो। और आज हम ग़रीबी से जूझ रहे हैं। पर भारत के अंदर भी एक राज्य के साथ ठीक ऐसा ही कुछ हुआ, जैसा कि 2014 तक भारत के साथ विश्व में होता था। वो राज्य है - बिहार । हाँ वही बिहार जो भारत में सबसे ज़्यादा IAS-IPS देता है , पर आज भी हम बिहारियो को बेकार

और बेवक़ूफ़ समझा जाता है । पढ़े लिखे लोगों कि हिसाब से बोले तो low standard. आइए एक बार आपको बिहार के इतिहास में ले चले ।

हज़ारों साल पहले की बात है जब हरी भरी भूमि से, जहाँ गंगा की पवित्र धारा बहती है, एक ख़ूबसूरत रानी ने जन्म लिया - सीता ।

सीता बिहार की बेटी जिसका बचपन बिहार में ही बिता और बिहार के मिट्टी से शुरू हुई अब तक की सबसे बड़ी महाकाव्य की रचना- रामायण । हाँ, वही रामायण और सीता जिसके लिए हम आज भी ट्विटर पर लड़ते है । विश्वप्रसिद्ध मिथिला पेंटिंग की शुरुआत भी सीता कि विवाह से ही शुरू हुई ।

क्योंकि जो मिथिला पेंटिंग की पुरानी चित्रकला मिलती है वो सीता राम की ही है । बिहार का इतिहास बताता है की बिहार में औरतों को बहुत अधिक इज़्ज़त दी जाती थी क्योंकि वो सीता जैसी ही स्वाभिमानी होती थी । और शायद यही कारण था की मौर्य समराज्य के पहले राजा चंद्रगुप्त मौर्य की 700 महिला

#Thread on "Kashi (Varanasi), From Birth to Death and Death to Moksha."

Located on the left bank of the Ganga, Varanasi is one of the 7 holy cities of the Hindus. According to the Vamana Purana, two rivers named Varuna and Assi originated since the beginning of the timei

The name Varanasi originates from the two tributaries of the Ganges, the Varuna &the Assi, which flows at its northern & southern boundaries. The land lying between them was named 'Varanasi'. Its original name was derived from the word 'Kashi', 'Kaasha', which means brightness.

By the way, kashi is mentioned in many Vedic literatures. Kaushitaki Upanishad mentioned about the places like Kashyas and Videhas. Ajatashatru has been declared as the ruler of Kashi or Videha in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Apart from this, Kashi &Videha are also mentioned in

Shankhayan & Boudhayan Srotasutra.

It also mentions about Kashi joining the Kosala after the independent state got destroyed. It is often referred as adjectives such as 'city of temples', 'religious capital of India', 'city of Shiva', 'city of lamps', 'city of knowledge' etc.

Famous American writer Mark Twain writes: " banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”

In the Middle Ages it was a part of the Kannauj kingdom and later it was ruled by Pala kings of Bengal.