Dr. BR Ambedkar says that the doctrine of equality is glaringly fallacious. Men can never be equal. They are born with different genetics, education etc. However, he says adopting the idea of equality is the only way a statesman can proceed in politics. (Realpolitik)

In Sundarakāṇḍa (38) a celestial crow (son of Indradeva) in Chitrakūṭa eats the flesh of the Goddess Sītā & torments her. This son of Indra is spared from certain death despite the rage of Bhagavān Rāma on him.

But the demon king Rāvaṇa is killed.

Why? A thread..+

To summarize the event. This incident happens on the Chitrakūṭa mountain. The crow is a celestial son of Indradeva. He does not leave Sītā alone despite her numerous attempts to ward him away. He eats the flesh of her bossom, pierces them with his sharp claws...+

Lord Rāma (whose lap Sītā was sleeping on) wakes up and sees the the torn bossom of Sītā. Upon finding the crow was guilty, he releases a brahmāstra on him. The crow tries to seek shelter but all the devas turn him away. He comes back to Rāma & falls on his feet..+

..he is spared by the lord but he has to loose one eye because a brahmāstra once casted cannot be taken back. (मोघम् कर्तुम् न शक्यम् तु ब्राह्मम् अस्त्रम्).

Now, why was this? Let us see the exegesis of Achārya Parāśara Bhaṭṭa of this incident.

Both the celestial crow & rāvaṇa transgressed against the Goddess. But the crow's transgression was unique because it was in the presence of the divine couple of Rāma-Sītā together. Due to the mere sannidhi (proximity) of the divine mother - Bhagavān bestowed his grace.

According to Sanatana Dharma, all men are somatic descendants of The Gods (via the lineage of our forefather Manu Vaivasvata, descendant of God Vivasvant [Surya])

It is because of this lineage, our ultimate ancestors are The Gods & we fulfill this relationship with their worship

Mankind very literally is divine born, descendant of The Gods in the lineage of our all-father Manu.

Therefore, the Mahabharata says

मार्तण्डस्य मनुर्धीमानजायत सुतः प्रभुः
मनोर्वंशो मानवानां ततोऽयं प्रथितोऽभवत्

Translation..+

"To Lord Vivasvant was born a son Yama. To Lord Yama was born Mārtaṇḍa. The wise father Manu was born to Lord Mārtaṇḍa. The race [vaṃshaj] born from Manu is the Mānavas . It is this clan that became famous as the clan of mankind."

Then the Mbh says,

ब्रह्मक्षत्रादयस्तस्मान्मनोर्जातास्तु मानवाः

"Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, Shūdras - all these were descended from Manu. Therefore they are Mānavas."

In India, Manu was also the foremost divine lawgiver of mankind. In Greece, King Minos of Crete (Son of Zeus & Europa) was the divine lawgiver to mankind who received the law from Zeus.

Plato says this in

The Kushana Empire was founded by Mahārājādhirāja Kujula Kadphises, a Shaivite Hindu convert from his ancestral Steppe religion of the Yüeh-chih. He was not a Buddhist, as popularly believed.

A thread on the Hindu Emperors of the Kushana Dynasty.

The Kushanas were part of a tribal confederation called the Yüeh-Chih that originally lived in the western part of the Gansu Province of China. They were pushed west by the invasions of the Xiongnu (Huna) confederation. Kuja Kadphises united all the five sub-tribes under Kushana.

Emperor Kuja Kadphises had converted to Shaivism, a Mathura inscription from the Tōkrī Tīla mound (Maṭ village) clears up previous confusion (Based on him being called "satyadharmasthita" or 'steadfast in the true dharma' people speculated he was a Buddhist)

This is incorrect.

The Mathura inscription applied the same epithet to Emperor Huvishka (satyadharmasthita) but explicitly says the Kingdom was conferred upon its founder by Lord Shiva (Sarva is the epithet of Shiva). This makes it clear Kujula Kadphises had adopted Shaivism & the Kharoshti script.

This also makes sense, when we realize his son, Emperor Vima Kadphises was also a devoted Hindu Shaivite (and in his coins we clearly see a trishulin ithyphallic shiva with a tiger skin).

So his son had just been continuing his father's tradition & upbringing.

Navayana (The religion founded by BR Ambedkar) rejected all the core doctrines of Buddhism

- Rejected law of karma, rebirth in a new life, the concept of samsara, the 4 noble truths

How is this religion still called “Buddhism”? It rejects every core tenent Buddhism believes in.

To give an example - this is like a man who rejects the soul, rejects the law of karma, rejects transmigration of the soul, rejects the doctrine of mokṣa call himself a “Hindu”

It is an internal inconsistency that makes no sense.

Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in karma & rebirth. They also believe in liberation from samsara. The chief disagreement is whether the soul exists or not.

I’d say Hinduism & Buddhism are much closer to each other than Navayana is to any Buddhism.

Thread on best books + readers to learn Sanskrit. I will list only books I have read & their pros and cons.

1. Samskrita Bharati (4 Part Series)

This is by far the best structured english course to learn to read, speak & write Sanskrit. The material is well-structured.

... and grammar is introduced at apt phases. There is enough Sanskrit text to immerse yourself & best part is they have accompanying online/in-person courses entirely in Sanskrit. This is the best method to learn spoken Sanskrit.

2. Svayam Sanskrit Shikshak (Hindi)

This is the second best immersive-learning series. There are 2 parts and progression is gradual. The advantage is it is entirely in Hindi, so the 1:1 syntax + vocab connect for native speakers is instant, Hindi being a daughter of Sanskrit.

this however is also it's only disadvantange. It's language restricted & not suitable for say a Telugu with poor Hindi or for an American or European learner. There is enough reading material here to "learn" Sanskrit.

3. The Sanskrit Language – Walter H Maurer

This is an amazing course. The best to learn Sanskrit for Americans/Europeans & an excellent one for Indians to use to learn the western grammar terminology. Best part about it? It is extremley long & has at least 100 pages of Sanskrit.

This is Kuinini ‘Nini’ Manumua, the woman who was ultimately displaced by inclusion of Laurel Hubbard.

She’s 21, and it would have been her first Olympics.

This is my son, Sam. He’s 5. And today he learned how shitty and harmful #ToxicMasculinity is. My rage meter is spiking right now so excuse me if this is a little raw but there are some things I want to say about BS #gender norms (a thread)

Sam is my middle child & he’s a terror. A “boy’s boy” as so many (not me) would say. He’s rough and tumble, he’s loud, he’s always dirty, loves trucks, plays sports and knee drops me from the couch. But he also loves a lot of “girl” things.

Sam has a collection of purses because he likes to carry things around. And he also loves to have his nails painted bright colors because he thinks they “look beautiful.” And he’s right – they are beautiful…

So he proudly wore his red nail polish to kindergarten this morning because Sam has absolutely no concept of nail polish only being for girls or reason to think anyone would possibly have a problem with beautiful nails.

But his classmates did have a problem. A big one. Sam was ridiculed for being a boy with nail polish. They called him names and told him to take it off. This lasted the entire day.

Puthucode Annapoorneshwari Temple,
Palakkad, Kerala 🚩
#keralatemples
अन्नपूर्णे सदापूर्णे शङ्करप्राणवल्लभे 
ज्ञानवैराग्यसिद्ध्यर्थं भिक्षां देहि च पार्वति 

Temple is also called Puthukode Bhaghavathy Kshetram
Parasurama did Prathishta of Devi here. Temple is one amoung 👇

108 Durga temples
Navarathri festival is celebrated in a grant manner here. Annadanam is done daily on these days. The Idichu pizhinja payasam/ Chathachatayam is the main nivedyam in Annapoorneswari temple during Navarathri.
In the mornings, Devi Mahatmyam and Sundarakandam are

recited here daily.
Sri Godavarma Raja gifted lots of rice fields for the maintenance of the temple.
Annapoorneshwari holds Shanku and Chakra in her hands. Puthucode Annapoorneswari Temple is managed by the Naduvil Madom Devaswom.
🙏🕉🙏

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