A number of books are available for free download from www.forgottenbooks.org
The range is wide, from books on boat building, learning Sanskrit, to old fiction and philosophy. If you provide your email, they send you a link to one free book every day.
A really interesting site.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace is a fictional account of a real-life person, Grace Marks, who lived in Canada in the nineteenth century and was convicted of murder at the age of sixteen. Young and pretty, the case of Grace Marks received a lot of publicity. She was imprisoned in 1843 and released in 1872, after being granted a pardon. However, her co-conspirator, James McDermott, had been executed.
Margaret Atwood, well-known Canadian novelist and poet, uses available material to recreate the life of Grace. It is a fast-paced account, in which Margaret makes Grace the narrator. The novel depicts the inequality between classes, the poor conditions of Grace’s origins, her life as a maid, and the death of her dearest friend. It brings in other aspects, such as hypnotism, and the general society and culture of nineteenth-century Canada.
Was Grace innocent or guilty? And if guilty was her poverty an alleviating circumstance? As Atwood says in her afterward, ‘The true character of the historical Grace Marks remains an enigma’. Overall, an interesting and well-written book.
Margaret Atwood, well-known Canadian novelist and poet, uses available material to recreate the life of Grace. It is a fast-paced account, in which Margaret makes Grace the narrator. The novel depicts the inequality between classes, the poor conditions of Grace’s origins, her life as a maid, and the death of her dearest friend. It brings in other aspects, such as hypnotism, and the general society and culture of nineteenth-century Canada.
Was Grace innocent or guilty? And if guilty was her poverty an alleviating circumstance? As Atwood says in her afterward, ‘The true character of the historical Grace Marks remains an enigma’. Overall, an interesting and well-written book.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Satyavarman: invented passages in the Puranas
It is quite odd that even today people continue to quote invented passages ascribed to the Puranas, that seem to indicate that the story of Noah is contained in them.
In any case, it is useful to note that the composition of the Bible predates the Puranas.
In the passage quoted below, and particularly in the last paragraph, Max Muller reveals the truth.
-----------------------------------------
Extracted from writings of Max Muller.
The first impulse to look in the ancient religion of India for reminiscences of revealed truth seems to have come from missionaries rather than from scholars. It arose from a motive, in itself most excellent, of finding some common ground for those who wished to convert and those who were to be converted. Only, instead of looking for that common ground where it really was to be found—namely, in the broad foundations on which all religions are built up: the belief in a divine power, the acknowledgment of sin, the habit of prayer, the desire to offer sacrifice, and the [pg 101] hope of a future life—the students of Pagan religion as well as Christian missionaries were bent on discovering more striking and more startling coincidences, in order to use them in confirmation of their favorite theory that some rays of a primeval revelation, or some reflection of the Jewish religion, had reached the uttermost ends of the world. This was a dangerous proceeding—dangerous because superficial, dangerous because undertaken with a foregone conclusion; and very soon the same arguments that had been used on one side in order to prove that all religious truth had been derived from the Old Testament were turned against Christian scholars and Christian missionaries, in order to show that it was not Brahmanism and Buddhism which had borrowed from the Old and New Testament, but that the Old and the New Testament had borrowed from the more ancient religions of the Brahmans and Buddhists.
This argument was carried out, for instance, in Holwell's “Original Principles of the Ancient Brahmans,” published in London as early as 1779, in which the author maintains that “the Brahmanic religion is the first and purest product of supernatural revelation,” and “that the Hindu scriptures contain to a moral certainty the original doctrines and terms of restoration delivered from God himself, by the mouth of his first created Birmah, to mankind, at his first creation in the form of man.”
Sir William Jones48 tells us that one or two missionaries in India had been absurd enough, in their zeal for the conversion of the Gentiles, to urge “that the Hindus were even now almost Christians, because [pg 102] their Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa were no other than the Christian Trinity;” a sentence in which, he adds, we can only doubt whether folly, ignorance, or impiety predominates.
Sir William Jones himself was not likely to fall into that error. He speaks against it most emphatically. “Either,” he says, “the first eleven chapters of Genesis—all due allowance being made for a figurative Eastern style—are true, or the whole fabric of our national religion is false; a conclusion which none of us, I trust, would wish to be drawn. But it is not the truth of our national religion as such that I have at heart; it is truth itself; and if any cool, unbiassed reasoner will clearly convince me that Moses drew his narrative through Egyptian conduits from the primeval fountains of Indian literature, I shall esteem him as a friend for having weeded my mind from a capital error, and promise to stand amongst the foremost in assisting to circulate the truth which he has ascertained.”
But though he speaks so strongly against the uncritical proceedings of those who would derive anything that is found in the Old Testament from Indian sources, Sir William Jones himself was really guilty of the same want of critical caution in his own attempts to identify the gods and heroes of Greece and Rome with the gods and heroes of India. He begins his essay,49 “On the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India,” with the following remarks:—
“We cannot justly conclude, by arguments preceding the proof of facts, that one idolatrous people must have borrowed their deities, rites, and tenets from another, since gods of all shapes and dimensions [pg 103] may be framed by the boundless powers of imagination, or by the frauds and follies of men, in countries never connected; but when features of resemblance, too strong to have been accidental, are observable in different systems of polytheism, without fancy or prejudice to color them and improve the likeness, we can scarce help believing that some connection has immemorially subsisted between the several nations who have adopted them. It is my design in this essay to point out such a resemblance between the popular worship of the old Greeks and Italians and that of the Hindus; nor can there be any room to doubt of a great similarity between their strange religions and that of Egypt, China, Persia, Phrygia, Phœnice, and Syria; to which, perhaps, we may safely add some of the southern kingdoms, and even islands of America; while the Gothic system which prevailed in the northern regions of Europe was not merely similar to those of Greece and Italy, but almost the same in another dress, with an embroidery of images apparently Asiatic. From all this, if it be satisfactorily proved, we may infer a general union or affinity between the most distinguished inhabitants of the primitive world at the time when they deviated, as they did too early deviate, from the rational adoration of the only true God.”
Here, then, in an essay written nearly a hundred years ago by Sir W. Jones, one of the most celebrated Oriental scholars in England, it might seem as if we should find the first outlines of that science which is looked upon as but of to-day or yesterday—the outlines of Comparative Mythology. But in such an expectation we are disappointed. What we find is merely a superficial comparison of the mythology of [pg 104] India and that of other nations, both Aryan and Semitic, without any scientific value, because carried out without any of those critical tests which alone keep Comparative Mythology from running riot. This is not intended as casting a slur on Sir W. Jones. At his time the principles which have now been established by the students of the science of language were not yet known, and as with words, so with the names of deities, similarity of sound, the most treacherous of all sirens, was the only guide in such researches.
It is not pleasant to have to find fault with a man possessed of such genius, taste, and learning as Sir W. Jones, but no one who is acquainted with the history of these researches will be surprised at my words. It is the fate of all pioneers, not only to be left behind in the assault which they had planned, but to find that many of their approaches were made in a false direction, and had to be abandoned. But as the authority of their names continues to sway the public at large, and is apt to mislead even painstaking students and to entail upon them repeated disappointments, it is necessary that those who know should speak out, even at the risk of being considered harsh or presumptuous.
A few instances will suffice to show how utterly baseless the comparisons are which Sir W. Jones instituted between the gods of India, Greece, and Italy. He compares the Latin Janus with the Sanskrit deity Ganesa. It is well known that Janus is connected with the same root that has yielded the names of Jupiter, Zeus, and Dyaus, while Ganesa is a compound, meaning lord of hosts, lord of the companies of gods.
[pg 105]
Saturnus is supposed to have been the same as Noah, and is then identified by Sir W. Jones with the Indian Manu Satyavrata, who escaped from the flood. Ceres is compared with the goddess Sri, Jupiter or Diespiter with Indra or Divaspati; and though etymology is called a weak basis for historical inquiries, the three syllables Jov in Jovis, Zeu in Zeus, and Siv in Siva are placed side by side, as possibly containing the same root, only differently pronounced. Now the s of Siva is a palatal s, and no scholar who has once looked into a book on Comparative Philology need be told that such an s could never correspond to a Greek Zeta or a Latin J.
In Krishna, the lovely shepherd-god, Sir W. Jones recognizes the features of Apollo Nomius, who fed the herds of Admetus, and slew the dragon Python; and he leaves it to etymologists to determine whether Gopâla—i. e., the cow-herd—may not be the same word as Apollo. We are also assured, on the authority of Colonel Vallancey, that Krishna in Irish means the sun, and that the goddess Kâlî, to whom human sacrifices were offered, as enjoined in the Vedas (?) was the same as Hekate. In conclusion, Sir W. Jones remarks, “I strongly incline to believe that Egyptian priests have actually come from the Nile to the Gangâ and Yamunâ, and that they visited the Sarmans of India, as the sages of Greece visited them, rather to acquire than to impart knowledge.”
The interest that had been excited by Sir William Jones's researches did not subside, though he himself did not return to the subject, but devoted his great powers to more useful labors. Scholars, both in India and in Europe, wanted to know more of the ancient religion of India. If Jupiter, Apollo, and Janus [pg 106] had once been found in the ancient pantheon of the Brahmans; if the account of Noah and the deluge could be traced back to the story of Manu Satyavrata, who escaped from the flood, more discoveries might be expected in this newly-opened mine, and people rushed to it with all the eagerness of gold-diggers. The idea that everything in India was of extreme antiquity had at that time taken a firm hold on the minds of all students of Sanskrit; and, as there was no one to check their enthusiasm, everything that came to light in Sanskrit literature was readily accepted as more ancient than Homer, or even than the Old Testament.
It was under these influences that Lieutenant Wilford, a contemporary of Sir William Jones at Calcutta, took up the thread which Sir William Jones had dropped, and determined at all hazards to solve the question which at that time had excited a worldwide interest. Convinced that the Brahmans possessed in their ancient literature the originals, not only of Greek and Roman mythology, but likewise of the Old Testament history, he tried every possible means to overcome their reserve and reticence. He related to them, as well as he could, the principal stories of classical mythology, and the leading events in the history of the Old Testament; he assured them that they would find the same things in their ancient books, if they would but look for them; he held out the hopes of ample rewards for any extracts from their sacred literature containing the histories of Adam and Eve, of Deukalion and Prometheus; and at last he succeeded. The coyness of the Pandits yielded; the incessant demand created a supply; and for several years essay after essay appeared in [pg 107] the “Asiatic Researches,” with extracts from Sanskrit MSS., containing not only the names of Deukalion, Prometheus, and other heroes and deities of Greece, but likewise the names of Adam and Eve, of Abraham and Sarah, and all the rest.
Great was the surprise, still greater the joy, not only in Calcutta, but in London, at Paris, and all the universities of Germany. The Sanskrit MSS. from which Lieutenant Wilford quoted, and on which his theories were based, had been submitted to Sir W. Jones and other scholars; and though many persons were surprised, and for a time even incredulous, yet the fact could not be denied that all was found in these Sanskrit MSS. as stated by Lieutenant Wilford. Sir W. Jones, then President of the Asiatic Society, printed the following declaration at the end of the third volume of the “Asiatic Researches”:—
“Since I am persuaded that the learned essay on Egypt and the Nile has afforded you equal delight with that which I have myself received from it, I cannot refrain from endeavoring to increase your satisfaction by confessing openly that I have at length abandoned the greatest part of the natural distrust, and incredulity which had taken possession of my mind before I had examined the sources from which our excellent associate, Lieutenant Wilford, has drawn so great a variety of new and interesting opinions. Having lately read again and again, both alone and with a Pandit, the numerous original passages in the Purânas, and other Sanskrit books, which the writer of the dissertation adduces in support of his assertions, I am happy in bearing testimony to his perfect good faith and general accuracy, both in his extracts and in the translation of them.”
[pg 108]
Sir W. Jones then proceeds himself to give a translation of some of these passages. “The following translation,” he writes, “of an extract from the Padma-purâna is minutely exact”:—
“1. To Satyavarman, the sovereign of the whole earth, were born three sons; the eldest, Sherma; then Charma; and thirdly, Jyapeti.
“2. They were all men of good morals, excellent in virtue and virtuous deeds, skilled in the use of weapons to strike with, or to be thrown, brave men, eager for victory in battle.
“3. But Satyavarman, being continually delighted with devout meditation, and seeing his sons fit for dominion, laid upon them the burden of government,
“4. Whilst he remained honoring and satisfying the gods, and priests, and kine. One day, by the act of destiny, the king, having drunk mead,
“5. Became senseless, and lay asleep naked; then was he seen by Charma, and by him were his two brothers called.
“6. To whom he said: What now has befallen? In what state is this our sire? By those two was he hidden with clothes, and called to his senses again and again.
“7. Having recovered his intellect, and perfectly knowing what had passed, he cursed Charma, saying, Thou shalt be the servant of servants:
“8. And since thou wast a laugher in their presence, from laughter shalt thou acquire a name. Then he gave to Sherma the wide domain on the south of the snowy mountains.
“9. And to Jyapeti he gave all on the north of the snowy mountains; but he, by the power of religious contemplation, obtained supreme bliss.”
[pg 109]
After this testimony from Sir W. Jones—wrung from him, as it would seem, against his own wish and will—Lieutenant Wilford's essays became more numerous and more startling every year.
At last, however, the coincidences became too great. The MSS. were again carefully examined; and then it was found that a clever forgery had been committed, that leaves had been inserted in ancient MSS., and that on these leaves the Pandits, urged by Lieutenant Wilford to disclose their ancient mysteries and traditions, had rendered in correct Sanskrit verse all that they had heard about Adam and Abraham from their inquisitive master. Lieutenant (then Colonel) Wilford did not hesitate for one moment to confess publicly that he had been imposed upon; but in the meantime the mischief had been done, his essays had been read all over Europe, they retained their place in the volumes of the “Asiatic Researches,” and to the present day some of his statements and theories continue to be quoted authoritatively by writers on ancient religion.
Such accidents, and, one might almost say, such misfortunes, will happen, and it would be extremely unfair were we to use unnecessarily harsh language with regard to those to whom they have happened. It is perfectly true that at present, after the progress that has been made in an accurate and critical study of Sanskrit, it would be unpardonable if any Sanskrit scholar accepted such passages as those translated by Sir W. Jones as genuine.
In any case, it is useful to note that the composition of the Bible predates the Puranas.
In the passage quoted below, and particularly in the last paragraph, Max Muller reveals the truth.
-----------------------------------------
Extracted from writings of Max Muller.
The first impulse to look in the ancient religion of India for reminiscences of revealed truth seems to have come from missionaries rather than from scholars. It arose from a motive, in itself most excellent, of finding some common ground for those who wished to convert and those who were to be converted. Only, instead of looking for that common ground where it really was to be found—namely, in the broad foundations on which all religions are built up: the belief in a divine power, the acknowledgment of sin, the habit of prayer, the desire to offer sacrifice, and the [pg 101] hope of a future life—the students of Pagan religion as well as Christian missionaries were bent on discovering more striking and more startling coincidences, in order to use them in confirmation of their favorite theory that some rays of a primeval revelation, or some reflection of the Jewish religion, had reached the uttermost ends of the world. This was a dangerous proceeding—dangerous because superficial, dangerous because undertaken with a foregone conclusion; and very soon the same arguments that had been used on one side in order to prove that all religious truth had been derived from the Old Testament were turned against Christian scholars and Christian missionaries, in order to show that it was not Brahmanism and Buddhism which had borrowed from the Old and New Testament, but that the Old and the New Testament had borrowed from the more ancient religions of the Brahmans and Buddhists.
This argument was carried out, for instance, in Holwell's “Original Principles of the Ancient Brahmans,” published in London as early as 1779, in which the author maintains that “the Brahmanic religion is the first and purest product of supernatural revelation,” and “that the Hindu scriptures contain to a moral certainty the original doctrines and terms of restoration delivered from God himself, by the mouth of his first created Birmah, to mankind, at his first creation in the form of man.”
Sir William Jones48 tells us that one or two missionaries in India had been absurd enough, in their zeal for the conversion of the Gentiles, to urge “that the Hindus were even now almost Christians, because [pg 102] their Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa were no other than the Christian Trinity;” a sentence in which, he adds, we can only doubt whether folly, ignorance, or impiety predominates.
Sir William Jones himself was not likely to fall into that error. He speaks against it most emphatically. “Either,” he says, “the first eleven chapters of Genesis—all due allowance being made for a figurative Eastern style—are true, or the whole fabric of our national religion is false; a conclusion which none of us, I trust, would wish to be drawn. But it is not the truth of our national religion as such that I have at heart; it is truth itself; and if any cool, unbiassed reasoner will clearly convince me that Moses drew his narrative through Egyptian conduits from the primeval fountains of Indian literature, I shall esteem him as a friend for having weeded my mind from a capital error, and promise to stand amongst the foremost in assisting to circulate the truth which he has ascertained.”
But though he speaks so strongly against the uncritical proceedings of those who would derive anything that is found in the Old Testament from Indian sources, Sir William Jones himself was really guilty of the same want of critical caution in his own attempts to identify the gods and heroes of Greece and Rome with the gods and heroes of India. He begins his essay,49 “On the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India,” with the following remarks:—
“We cannot justly conclude, by arguments preceding the proof of facts, that one idolatrous people must have borrowed their deities, rites, and tenets from another, since gods of all shapes and dimensions [pg 103] may be framed by the boundless powers of imagination, or by the frauds and follies of men, in countries never connected; but when features of resemblance, too strong to have been accidental, are observable in different systems of polytheism, without fancy or prejudice to color them and improve the likeness, we can scarce help believing that some connection has immemorially subsisted between the several nations who have adopted them. It is my design in this essay to point out such a resemblance between the popular worship of the old Greeks and Italians and that of the Hindus; nor can there be any room to doubt of a great similarity between their strange religions and that of Egypt, China, Persia, Phrygia, Phœnice, and Syria; to which, perhaps, we may safely add some of the southern kingdoms, and even islands of America; while the Gothic system which prevailed in the northern regions of Europe was not merely similar to those of Greece and Italy, but almost the same in another dress, with an embroidery of images apparently Asiatic. From all this, if it be satisfactorily proved, we may infer a general union or affinity between the most distinguished inhabitants of the primitive world at the time when they deviated, as they did too early deviate, from the rational adoration of the only true God.”
Here, then, in an essay written nearly a hundred years ago by Sir W. Jones, one of the most celebrated Oriental scholars in England, it might seem as if we should find the first outlines of that science which is looked upon as but of to-day or yesterday—the outlines of Comparative Mythology. But in such an expectation we are disappointed. What we find is merely a superficial comparison of the mythology of [pg 104] India and that of other nations, both Aryan and Semitic, without any scientific value, because carried out without any of those critical tests which alone keep Comparative Mythology from running riot. This is not intended as casting a slur on Sir W. Jones. At his time the principles which have now been established by the students of the science of language were not yet known, and as with words, so with the names of deities, similarity of sound, the most treacherous of all sirens, was the only guide in such researches.
It is not pleasant to have to find fault with a man possessed of such genius, taste, and learning as Sir W. Jones, but no one who is acquainted with the history of these researches will be surprised at my words. It is the fate of all pioneers, not only to be left behind in the assault which they had planned, but to find that many of their approaches were made in a false direction, and had to be abandoned. But as the authority of their names continues to sway the public at large, and is apt to mislead even painstaking students and to entail upon them repeated disappointments, it is necessary that those who know should speak out, even at the risk of being considered harsh or presumptuous.
A few instances will suffice to show how utterly baseless the comparisons are which Sir W. Jones instituted between the gods of India, Greece, and Italy. He compares the Latin Janus with the Sanskrit deity Ganesa. It is well known that Janus is connected with the same root that has yielded the names of Jupiter, Zeus, and Dyaus, while Ganesa is a compound, meaning lord of hosts, lord of the companies of gods.
[pg 105]
Saturnus is supposed to have been the same as Noah, and is then identified by Sir W. Jones with the Indian Manu Satyavrata, who escaped from the flood. Ceres is compared with the goddess Sri, Jupiter or Diespiter with Indra or Divaspati; and though etymology is called a weak basis for historical inquiries, the three syllables Jov in Jovis, Zeu in Zeus, and Siv in Siva are placed side by side, as possibly containing the same root, only differently pronounced. Now the s of Siva is a palatal s, and no scholar who has once looked into a book on Comparative Philology need be told that such an s could never correspond to a Greek Zeta or a Latin J.
In Krishna, the lovely shepherd-god, Sir W. Jones recognizes the features of Apollo Nomius, who fed the herds of Admetus, and slew the dragon Python; and he leaves it to etymologists to determine whether Gopâla—i. e., the cow-herd—may not be the same word as Apollo. We are also assured, on the authority of Colonel Vallancey, that Krishna in Irish means the sun, and that the goddess Kâlî, to whom human sacrifices were offered, as enjoined in the Vedas (?) was the same as Hekate. In conclusion, Sir W. Jones remarks, “I strongly incline to believe that Egyptian priests have actually come from the Nile to the Gangâ and Yamunâ, and that they visited the Sarmans of India, as the sages of Greece visited them, rather to acquire than to impart knowledge.”
The interest that had been excited by Sir William Jones's researches did not subside, though he himself did not return to the subject, but devoted his great powers to more useful labors. Scholars, both in India and in Europe, wanted to know more of the ancient religion of India. If Jupiter, Apollo, and Janus [pg 106] had once been found in the ancient pantheon of the Brahmans; if the account of Noah and the deluge could be traced back to the story of Manu Satyavrata, who escaped from the flood, more discoveries might be expected in this newly-opened mine, and people rushed to it with all the eagerness of gold-diggers. The idea that everything in India was of extreme antiquity had at that time taken a firm hold on the minds of all students of Sanskrit; and, as there was no one to check their enthusiasm, everything that came to light in Sanskrit literature was readily accepted as more ancient than Homer, or even than the Old Testament.
It was under these influences that Lieutenant Wilford, a contemporary of Sir William Jones at Calcutta, took up the thread which Sir William Jones had dropped, and determined at all hazards to solve the question which at that time had excited a worldwide interest. Convinced that the Brahmans possessed in their ancient literature the originals, not only of Greek and Roman mythology, but likewise of the Old Testament history, he tried every possible means to overcome their reserve and reticence. He related to them, as well as he could, the principal stories of classical mythology, and the leading events in the history of the Old Testament; he assured them that they would find the same things in their ancient books, if they would but look for them; he held out the hopes of ample rewards for any extracts from their sacred literature containing the histories of Adam and Eve, of Deukalion and Prometheus; and at last he succeeded. The coyness of the Pandits yielded; the incessant demand created a supply; and for several years essay after essay appeared in [pg 107] the “Asiatic Researches,” with extracts from Sanskrit MSS., containing not only the names of Deukalion, Prometheus, and other heroes and deities of Greece, but likewise the names of Adam and Eve, of Abraham and Sarah, and all the rest.
Great was the surprise, still greater the joy, not only in Calcutta, but in London, at Paris, and all the universities of Germany. The Sanskrit MSS. from which Lieutenant Wilford quoted, and on which his theories were based, had been submitted to Sir W. Jones and other scholars; and though many persons were surprised, and for a time even incredulous, yet the fact could not be denied that all was found in these Sanskrit MSS. as stated by Lieutenant Wilford. Sir W. Jones, then President of the Asiatic Society, printed the following declaration at the end of the third volume of the “Asiatic Researches”:—
“Since I am persuaded that the learned essay on Egypt and the Nile has afforded you equal delight with that which I have myself received from it, I cannot refrain from endeavoring to increase your satisfaction by confessing openly that I have at length abandoned the greatest part of the natural distrust, and incredulity which had taken possession of my mind before I had examined the sources from which our excellent associate, Lieutenant Wilford, has drawn so great a variety of new and interesting opinions. Having lately read again and again, both alone and with a Pandit, the numerous original passages in the Purânas, and other Sanskrit books, which the writer of the dissertation adduces in support of his assertions, I am happy in bearing testimony to his perfect good faith and general accuracy, both in his extracts and in the translation of them.”
[pg 108]
Sir W. Jones then proceeds himself to give a translation of some of these passages. “The following translation,” he writes, “of an extract from the Padma-purâna is minutely exact”:—
“1. To Satyavarman, the sovereign of the whole earth, were born three sons; the eldest, Sherma; then Charma; and thirdly, Jyapeti.
“2. They were all men of good morals, excellent in virtue and virtuous deeds, skilled in the use of weapons to strike with, or to be thrown, brave men, eager for victory in battle.
“3. But Satyavarman, being continually delighted with devout meditation, and seeing his sons fit for dominion, laid upon them the burden of government,
“4. Whilst he remained honoring and satisfying the gods, and priests, and kine. One day, by the act of destiny, the king, having drunk mead,
“5. Became senseless, and lay asleep naked; then was he seen by Charma, and by him were his two brothers called.
“6. To whom he said: What now has befallen? In what state is this our sire? By those two was he hidden with clothes, and called to his senses again and again.
“7. Having recovered his intellect, and perfectly knowing what had passed, he cursed Charma, saying, Thou shalt be the servant of servants:
“8. And since thou wast a laugher in their presence, from laughter shalt thou acquire a name. Then he gave to Sherma the wide domain on the south of the snowy mountains.
“9. And to Jyapeti he gave all on the north of the snowy mountains; but he, by the power of religious contemplation, obtained supreme bliss.”
[pg 109]
After this testimony from Sir W. Jones—wrung from him, as it would seem, against his own wish and will—Lieutenant Wilford's essays became more numerous and more startling every year.
At last, however, the coincidences became too great. The MSS. were again carefully examined; and then it was found that a clever forgery had been committed, that leaves had been inserted in ancient MSS., and that on these leaves the Pandits, urged by Lieutenant Wilford to disclose their ancient mysteries and traditions, had rendered in correct Sanskrit verse all that they had heard about Adam and Abraham from their inquisitive master. Lieutenant (then Colonel) Wilford did not hesitate for one moment to confess publicly that he had been imposed upon; but in the meantime the mischief had been done, his essays had been read all over Europe, they retained their place in the volumes of the “Asiatic Researches,” and to the present day some of his statements and theories continue to be quoted authoritatively by writers on ancient religion.
Such accidents, and, one might almost say, such misfortunes, will happen, and it would be extremely unfair were we to use unnecessarily harsh language with regard to those to whom they have happened. It is perfectly true that at present, after the progress that has been made in an accurate and critical study of Sanskrit, it would be unpardonable if any Sanskrit scholar accepted such passages as those translated by Sir W. Jones as genuine.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Smoke and Mirrors: An experience of China
A book by Pallavi Aiyar, based on her experiences in China, where she lived and travelled between 2002 and 2007.
It consists of a series of essays on her experiences in China, seen from an Indian perspective. Smoke and Mirrors thus provides a first-hand account of the new China, where change and development is constant, and money and material wealth the apparent focus.
The essays are diverse, both amusing and insightful. One learns how Chinese students give themselves Western names when attending classes in English, names chosen by themselves, that include Byron, or the more descriptive Better or Fat (because I am fat, the student explains). The makeover for the Olympics, the SARS crisis, industrial zones, rich villages, religion, strange food habits (from an Indian point of view!), and finally Tibet, are some of the essay topics. The author constantly compares India with China, and contrasts the dignity of labour and welfare for the poor in China, with democracy, the caste system, and the different approach in India. However, sometimes one feels she is less in touch with India than with China, and her comparisons are with an India of twenty years ago. For instance she feels that owning a TV, DVD and motorbike in India would classify one as middle class, which is certainly not the case today. At other times, the comparisons reflect a desire to whitewash India’s problems, as when she compares India’s north-east policy with China’s Tibet policy, but totally ignores insurgency in the north-east, instead stating: ‘The North-East might not have figured prominently in the national imagination or policy priority list, but the local governments that ruled these states were genuinely representative.’ There are also too many generalisations, both on China and India. Are the Chinese really as non-intellectual, uncritical and materially oriented as she portrays? Or do they refrain from revealing what they think to a foreign visitor? These are some of the questions that come to mind while reading the book, but on the whole it presents a fascinating and incredible picture of China as a country on the move.
It consists of a series of essays on her experiences in China, seen from an Indian perspective. Smoke and Mirrors thus provides a first-hand account of the new China, where change and development is constant, and money and material wealth the apparent focus.
The essays are diverse, both amusing and insightful. One learns how Chinese students give themselves Western names when attending classes in English, names chosen by themselves, that include Byron, or the more descriptive Better or Fat (because I am fat, the student explains). The makeover for the Olympics, the SARS crisis, industrial zones, rich villages, religion, strange food habits (from an Indian point of view!), and finally Tibet, are some of the essay topics. The author constantly compares India with China, and contrasts the dignity of labour and welfare for the poor in China, with democracy, the caste system, and the different approach in India. However, sometimes one feels she is less in touch with India than with China, and her comparisons are with an India of twenty years ago. For instance she feels that owning a TV, DVD and motorbike in India would classify one as middle class, which is certainly not the case today. At other times, the comparisons reflect a desire to whitewash India’s problems, as when she compares India’s north-east policy with China’s Tibet policy, but totally ignores insurgency in the north-east, instead stating: ‘The North-East might not have figured prominently in the national imagination or policy priority list, but the local governments that ruled these states were genuinely representative.’ There are also too many generalisations, both on China and India. Are the Chinese really as non-intellectual, uncritical and materially oriented as she portrays? Or do they refrain from revealing what they think to a foreign visitor? These are some of the questions that come to mind while reading the book, but on the whole it presents a fascinating and incredible picture of China as a country on the move.
A Jain prayer
Unlike most prayers, which are to deities, this one is to all living beings. The prayer is:
'I forgive all living beings;
May all living beings forgive me.
All in this world are my friends,
I have no enemies.'
'I forgive all living beings;
May all living beings forgive me.
All in this world are my friends,
I have no enemies.'
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Home schooling-1
Home schooling is something that is slowly catching on in India. Given the numerous options available, such as the IB and international systems, apart from the ISC, CBSE and other examinations in India, as well as the ambitions of parents, it seems doubtful it could have much of a following here.
Home schooling implies highly educated parents, with adequate time to spend with their children. It assumes that the parents have competence in a wide variety of fields – including science, maths and language. Do home schooling parents want their children to pass exams? Or do they want their children to be forever out of the mainstream? Do parents have the right to decide whether their children should be home-schooled or not? In insisting that children learn at home, what are the children being deprived of? Alternatively, in what way are they benefiting?
Some reasons why parents (a small minority in India ) are thinking of home schooling seem to be:
* the difficulty of getting into a good school.
* poor education and poor teaching.
In the first case home schooling seems to be a ‘second best’ choice.
In the second case, one question raised is whether the parents can do any better?
But there are other questions too.
School is not just about academics, but about making friends, about having a life outside one’s home, of the freedom to develop in one’s own way, without parental constraints. It is about experiencing a different world.
Home schooling implies highly educated parents, with adequate time to spend with their children. It assumes that the parents have competence in a wide variety of fields – including science, maths and language. Do home schooling parents want their children to pass exams? Or do they want their children to be forever out of the mainstream? Do parents have the right to decide whether their children should be home-schooled or not? In insisting that children learn at home, what are the children being deprived of? Alternatively, in what way are they benefiting?
Some reasons why parents (a small minority in India ) are thinking of home schooling seem to be:
* the difficulty of getting into a good school.
* poor education and poor teaching.
In the first case home schooling seems to be a ‘second best’ choice.
In the second case, one question raised is whether the parents can do any better?
But there are other questions too.
School is not just about academics, but about making friends, about having a life outside one’s home, of the freedom to develop in one’s own way, without parental constraints. It is about experiencing a different world.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
2012: Some different views -1
According to the Maya calendar, the world will see a great change at the end of 2012. What do other ancient calendars have to say? There are many different accounts in various texts. Here we look at the Yugas in Hinduism.
There are 426888 years left before the golden age starts!
Hindu texts such as the Puranas look at vast time periods of Kalpas, Manvantaras and Yugas. The Yuga is the smallest period of time, but is not small at all. Four Yugas, the Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali, comprise one Mahayuga or great yuga.. The Mahayuga is part of a larger cycle of time, the Manvantara. Each Manvantara contains seventy-one Mahayugas. The Manvantara, in turn, is part of the Kalpa.
At present, we are said to be living in the Kali Yuga. It lasts for 432,000 years. In 2010, only 5112 years have passed, hence there is a long way to go!
Each successive yuga is shorter and also shows a decline in morals and in the way of life. The four yugas consist of 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 years of the gods, and each year of the gods extends for 360 human years. Together they comprise 12,000 years of the gods, which are equal to 4,320,000 human years.
I
The first of the four Yugas, the Krita Yuga, was the golden age of truth and righteousness. It is also known as the Satya Yuga, or ‘age of truth’. The Yuga lasts for 4800 divine years, which is equal to 1,728,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour white.
II
The second of the four Yugas, the Treta Yuga follows the Krita Yuga, and in it the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga, is reduced by one-fourth. Its primary virtue is knowledge. The Yuga lasts for 3600 divine years, which are equal to 1,296,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour red.
III
The third of the four Yugas, the Dvapara Yuga follows the Treta Yuga, and in it the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga, is reduced by half. Its primary virtue is sacrifice. This Yuga lasts for 2400 divine years, which are equal to 864,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour yellow.
It is succeeded by the Kali Yuga.
IV
Kali Yuga
The Kali Yuga follows the Dvapara Yuga, and is the Yuga that exists today. It marks a general decline, and there is only one-quarter of the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga.. The Kali Yuga is said to have begun in 3102 BCE and will last for 1200 years of the gods, equal to 432,000 human years. It is symbolised by the colour black. After this a new cycle of the Mahayuga will begin , starting again with the Krita or Satya Yuga.
There are 426888 years left before the golden age starts!
Hindu texts such as the Puranas look at vast time periods of Kalpas, Manvantaras and Yugas. The Yuga is the smallest period of time, but is not small at all. Four Yugas, the Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali, comprise one Mahayuga or great yuga.. The Mahayuga is part of a larger cycle of time, the Manvantara. Each Manvantara contains seventy-one Mahayugas. The Manvantara, in turn, is part of the Kalpa.
At present, we are said to be living in the Kali Yuga. It lasts for 432,000 years. In 2010, only 5112 years have passed, hence there is a long way to go!
Each successive yuga is shorter and also shows a decline in morals and in the way of life. The four yugas consist of 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 years of the gods, and each year of the gods extends for 360 human years. Together they comprise 12,000 years of the gods, which are equal to 4,320,000 human years.
I
The first of the four Yugas, the Krita Yuga, was the golden age of truth and righteousness. It is also known as the Satya Yuga, or ‘age of truth’. The Yuga lasts for 4800 divine years, which is equal to 1,728,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour white.
II
The second of the four Yugas, the Treta Yuga follows the Krita Yuga, and in it the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga, is reduced by one-fourth. Its primary virtue is knowledge. The Yuga lasts for 3600 divine years, which are equal to 1,296,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour red.
III
The third of the four Yugas, the Dvapara Yuga follows the Treta Yuga, and in it the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga, is reduced by half. Its primary virtue is sacrifice. This Yuga lasts for 2400 divine years, which are equal to 864,000 human years, and is symbolised by the colour yellow.
It is succeeded by the Kali Yuga.
IV
Kali Yuga
The Kali Yuga follows the Dvapara Yuga, and is the Yuga that exists today. It marks a general decline, and there is only one-quarter of the righteousness that existed in the first Yuga.. The Kali Yuga is said to have begun in 3102 BCE and will last for 1200 years of the gods, equal to 432,000 human years. It is symbolised by the colour black. After this a new cycle of the Mahayuga will begin , starting again with the Krita or Satya Yuga.
2012: Some different views -2
A new age in 4099
Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855-1936), a noted guru whose best-known disciple was Sri Paramahansa Yogananda said the earlier calculations were wrong, and the Kali Yuga would very gradually evolve into the Krita Yuga or golden age. The Kali Yuga would be succeeded by the Dvapara Yuga, and then the Treta Yuga and finally the Krita Yuga. He also calculated the length of time of each Yuga differently.
He believed the Kali Yuga had ended, and the Dvapara Yuga began in 1698-99, and the Treta Yuga will begin in 4099.
Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855-1936), a noted guru whose best-known disciple was Sri Paramahansa Yogananda said the earlier calculations were wrong, and the Kali Yuga would very gradually evolve into the Krita Yuga or golden age. The Kali Yuga would be succeeded by the Dvapara Yuga, and then the Treta Yuga and finally the Krita Yuga. He also calculated the length of time of each Yuga differently.
He believed the Kali Yuga had ended, and the Dvapara Yuga began in 1698-99, and the Treta Yuga will begin in 4099.
2012: Some different views-3
Perhaps it is 2012!
The Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian text describing creation, and the cycles of life is written in Pahlavi and dates to about the tenth century CE, but incorporates earlier material.
This text also has a cyclical theory of time. Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda or the supreme god) and Ahriman (Angra Mainyu or the evil one) are engaged in a conflict for nine thousand years, divided into three periods of three thousand each. Actually, Ohrmazd is supreme in omniscience and goodness, and unrivalled in splendour, but allowed the conflict to take place, to arouse and affirm goodness in the hearts of those he had created. The period of nine thousand years of conflict was decided by Ohrmazd.
1. First three thousand years: Ohrmazd recited the sacred prayer, Ahuna Vairya, after which Ahriman retreated.
Creation: Ohrmazd created the divine beings, the Amesha Spentas, followed by the world, starting with the sky, then water, the earth, plants, animals and people. He produced the celestial sphere, the constellation stars, which were divided into twenty-eight divisions, and other stars. All would join in the battle against evil. He asked the consciousness and wisdom of people, as well as their guardian spirits (Farohars or Fravashis): ‘ Which seems to you most advantageous, when I shall present you to the world? That you shall contend in a bodily form with the fiend (druj) and the fiend shall perish, and in the end you will be created again perfect and immortal,…or that it will always be necessary to provide you protection from the destroyer?’ (2.10) Then the Farohars and Omniscient wisdom decided that evil could only be defeated for ever, if human beings fought against it in the world.
2. Next three thousand years: Ahriman began his battle against goodness, beauty, and life. Gayomard, the first of the human species, and Gayodad the primeval bull died from his assault, but from their essence the world was recreated and the mountains, seas, plants, animals and people came into being again. Evil still affected them, but at the end of this period the prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) came to save the world. As people listened to him and followed his words, slowly good began to triumph over evil.
3. Final three thousand years: the struggle between good and evil continues, within each person, but inspired by the words of Zarathushtra, gradually good prevails. Then the renewal of existence, in total perfection (Frashokereti) takes place. Meanwhile the Saoshyant (messiah) and his helpers are also in the world to help in the struggle.
Perfection achieved
All who have died again come into existence in bodily form. The evil suffer for a period of time, but are finally purified. There is no eternal hell, they recognise their own misdeeds. The world becomes eternal, there is nothing more to be done.
Calculating the date of this perfection depends on the date of Zarathushtra. The earlier date assigned to him was 600 BCE. Now scholars feel it could be around 1200 BCE, or earlier. Three thousand years from this would almost correspond with Sri Yukteswar’s date for the beginning of the Dvapara Yuga. Alternatively, the great renewal of existence could actually be 2012, as Zarathushtra lived at the end of the last period, how long before the end, or when it actually ended, is not known.
The Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian text describing creation, and the cycles of life is written in Pahlavi and dates to about the tenth century CE, but incorporates earlier material.
This text also has a cyclical theory of time. Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda or the supreme god) and Ahriman (Angra Mainyu or the evil one) are engaged in a conflict for nine thousand years, divided into three periods of three thousand each. Actually, Ohrmazd is supreme in omniscience and goodness, and unrivalled in splendour, but allowed the conflict to take place, to arouse and affirm goodness in the hearts of those he had created. The period of nine thousand years of conflict was decided by Ohrmazd.
1. First three thousand years: Ohrmazd recited the sacred prayer, Ahuna Vairya, after which Ahriman retreated.
Creation: Ohrmazd created the divine beings, the Amesha Spentas, followed by the world, starting with the sky, then water, the earth, plants, animals and people. He produced the celestial sphere, the constellation stars, which were divided into twenty-eight divisions, and other stars. All would join in the battle against evil. He asked the consciousness and wisdom of people, as well as their guardian spirits (Farohars or Fravashis): ‘ Which seems to you most advantageous, when I shall present you to the world? That you shall contend in a bodily form with the fiend (druj) and the fiend shall perish, and in the end you will be created again perfect and immortal,…or that it will always be necessary to provide you protection from the destroyer?’ (2.10) Then the Farohars and Omniscient wisdom decided that evil could only be defeated for ever, if human beings fought against it in the world.
2. Next three thousand years: Ahriman began his battle against goodness, beauty, and life. Gayomard, the first of the human species, and Gayodad the primeval bull died from his assault, but from their essence the world was recreated and the mountains, seas, plants, animals and people came into being again. Evil still affected them, but at the end of this period the prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) came to save the world. As people listened to him and followed his words, slowly good began to triumph over evil.
3. Final three thousand years: the struggle between good and evil continues, within each person, but inspired by the words of Zarathushtra, gradually good prevails. Then the renewal of existence, in total perfection (Frashokereti) takes place. Meanwhile the Saoshyant (messiah) and his helpers are also in the world to help in the struggle.
Perfection achieved
All who have died again come into existence in bodily form. The evil suffer for a period of time, but are finally purified. There is no eternal hell, they recognise their own misdeeds. The world becomes eternal, there is nothing more to be done.
Calculating the date of this perfection depends on the date of Zarathushtra. The earlier date assigned to him was 600 BCE. Now scholars feel it could be around 1200 BCE, or earlier. Three thousand years from this would almost correspond with Sri Yukteswar’s date for the beginning of the Dvapara Yuga. Alternatively, the great renewal of existence could actually be 2012, as Zarathushtra lived at the end of the last period, how long before the end, or when it actually ended, is not known.
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