On Aug 1, 2007, at 10:39 AM, Richard J. Williams wrote:
Vaj wrote:
> Yes, that's because kundalini is the essence (rasa) of prana
> and prana is the essence of life.
>
Yes, but doesn't the Sanskrit term "rasa" refer to the sacred
ambrosia, sexual fluid, the essence of life, described in the
Tantras? Rasa isn't mentioned in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras which
predate the Tantras.
In this context rasa means "essence" (of some thing). I was not
referring to rasa-shastra.
'The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India'
by David Gordon White
University Of Chicago Press, 1998
> Beyond that, I wouldn't read too much into it because his
> knowledge of kundalini-vidya was clearly lacking.
>
Beyond that, I wouldn't read too much into it except to note
that once again you've got your Indian history all mixed up.
The Tantras were composed during the Gupta Age. The term
prana in Hatha Yoga refers to the breath, not to rasa - rasa
is nectar, a warm fluid, sometimes extracted from plants like
the sacred mushroom and sometimes from women dakinis.
Once again you show you utter lack of understanding and knowledge.
The tantras pre-date written history, Sanskrit and devanagari.
'Biographies of Rasik Saints'
by H.D. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati
ISDL, 1981
P.S. Have you ever considered using a standard Sanskrit
lexicon?
Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon:
1 rasa m. the sap or juice of plants. Mercury, quicksilver
(sometimes regarded as a kind of quintessence of the human
body, else where as the seminal fluid of Shiva; semen virile
RV. i, 105, 2.
http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/tamil/recherche
Actually I use it fairly frequently, along with my own digitized,
searchable copy of Monier-Williams.
In Sanskrit translation, context is important, so therefore your
remarks are, as usual, deliberately misleading. If you look at the
first line of your aforementioned dictionary entry you would have
found the relevant definition:
"the best or finest or prime part of anything, essence"
And it would have been appropriate to include the entire entry:
rasa
m. (ifc. f. %{A}) the sap or juice of plants , Juice of fruit , any
liquid or fluid , the best or finest or prime part of anything ,
essence , marrow RV. &c. &c. ; water , liquor , drink MBh. Ka1v.
&c. ; juice of the sugar-cane , syrup Sus3r. ; any mixture ,
draught , elixir , potion R. BhP. ; melted butter L. ; (with or scil.
%{gavAm}) milk MBh. ; (with or scil. %{viSasya}) poison Das3. Ra1jat.
[869,3] ; nectar L. ; soup , broth L. ; a constituent fluid or
essential juice of the body , serum , (esp.) the primary juice called
chyle (formed from the food and changed by the bile into blood) ib. ;
mercury , quicksilver (sometimes regarded as a kind of quintessence
of the human body , else where as the seminal fluid of S3iva)
Sarvad. ; semen virile RV. i , 105 , 2 ; myrrh L. ; any mineral or
metallic salt Cat. ; a metal or mineral in a state of fusion (cf. %
{upa-} , %{mahA-r-}) ; gold L. ; Vanguieria Spinosa L. ; a species of
amaranth L. ; green onion L. ; resin L. ; = %{amRta} L. ; taste ,
flavour (as the principal quality of fluids , of which there are 6
original kinds , viz. %{madhura} , sweet ; %{amla} , sour ; %
{lavaNa} , salt ; %{kaTuka} , pungent ; %{tikta} , bitter ; and %
{kaSAya} , astringent ; sometimes 63 varieties are distinguished ,
viz. beside the 6 original ones , 15 mixtures of 2 , 20 of 3 , 15 of
4 , 6 of 5 , and 1 of 6 flavours) S3Br. &c. &c. ; N. of the number `"
six "' VarBr2S. S3rutab. ; any object of taste , condiment , sauce ,
spice , seasoning MBh. Ka1v. &c. ; the tongue (as the organ of taste)
BhP. ; taste or inclination or fondness for (loc. with or scil. %
{upari} , or comp.) , love , affection , desire MBh. Ka1v. &c. ;
charm pleasure , delight ib. ; (in rhet.) the taste or character of a
work , the feeling or sentiment prevailing in it (from 8 to 10 Rasas
are generally enumerated , viz. %{zRGgAra} , love ; %{vIra} ,
heroism ; %{bIbhatsa} , disgust ; %{raudra} , anger or fury ; %
{hAsya} , mirth ; %{bhayAnaka} , terror ; %{karuNa} , pity ; %
{adbhuta} , wonder ; %{zAnta} , tranquillity or contentment ; %
{vAtsalya} , paternal fondness ; the last or last two are sometimes
omitted ; cf. under %{bhAva}) Bhar. Das3ar. Ka1vya7d. &c. ; the
prevailing sentiment in human character Uttarar. Ra1jat. ; (with
Vaishn2avas) disposition of the heart or mind , religious sentiment
(there are 5 Rasas or Ratis forming the 5 degrees of %{bhakti} q.v. ,
viz. %{zAnti} , %{dAsya} , %{sAkhya} , %{vAtsalya} , and %{mAdhurya})
W. ; a kind of metre Pin3g. ; N. of the sacred syllable , `" Om , `"
S3a1n3khGr2. ; the son of a Nisha1da and a S3anaki1 L. ; (%{A}) f.
see s.v.
