*Deivaththin Kural Part 1 The Call of the Divine*
Vaidik Religion -Religion based on Vedas Religion without a name Hindu (Religion) is a misnomer. Hindu means love. Hindu reviles (Thushiththal = தூஷித்தல் = revile, avoid) causing injury to others. Hindu as a word is more nominal than actual (and an external appellation from foreigners). No sacred texts have a word, ‘Hindu’ in their contents. The word Hindu is an appellation from foreigners. The foreigners came to our country Bharata (The Land of the Bharatas) by crossing the River Sindhu. Therefore, Sindhu became Hindu; the country became India; and the religion was called Hinduism. ம ராகி pairāki = bairāgī. Ascetic pilgrim from North India Let me tell you how this could have happened with an analogy. In North India, all Bairāgis (Ascetic pilgrims) when they go begging, receive alms. The Bairagis complain about South Indians for being tight-fisted. They sing a song about the south. illa pOpa GahE Telungi இல்லா ச ா கசஹ சதலுங்கி. The Telugus drive them out with an admonition, Po Po. (ச ா ச ா = leave, leave). But the Telugus do not really say Po Po but say VeLLu VeLLu (சவள்ளு, சவள்ளு). Po is a Tamil word. Then why do the Bhairagis attribute Po Po to Telugus? When Northerners come down south, the Telugu country is the first in their itinerary. So these wandering mendicants called Tamil country also as Telugu country. Tamil country Telugus call Tamil country Arava Nadu (அரவ நாடு = southern country). The southern part of Telugu country is called Arava Desam. Whatever below that, is also Arava Desam. On the same line of thinking, the foreigners, landing in Sindu country, called Bharata country, Hindu country. So Hinduism is not the name from antiquity. It was not even a Vedic Religion. It is not even Sanathana Dharmam. If you look into authoritative sacred texts, there is no mention of a name for Hindu religion. Reflecting on this, I felt a deficiency. Let it be so, for now. One day, I was told Ramu was there to see me. Preoccupied by other thoughts, I asked which Ramu it was. 'What Ramu? How many Ramus are there?' so they said. Then I remembered, my town had four Ramus: Black Ramu, Red Ramu, Tall Ramu and Short Ramu. That was the reason, I asked which Ramu it was, recalling my thoughts from the past. There is no need for an adjective modifier if there was only one Ramu in town. I understood why our religion did not have a name. Only when you have many religions, there is a need for a name. If there is only one religion, where is the need for a name? Except our religion, other religions were founded by and named after a Great personage. There was no religion with that name before him. Buddhism was founded by Buddha and so named after him. Jainism was founded by Mahavirar. Jesus Christ founded Christianity. There were no religions in their names before the Advent of the respective founders. Our religion was in existence before these religions came into being. Hinduism was prevalent all over the world. Because there were no other religions, there was no need to attribute a name for our religion. When this came to me (as an epiphany), the existing deficiency in me disappeared. Along with its disappearance, a sense of honor and pride filled me. Ok, let us assume our religion is immemorial. The question of who the founder was, arises in our mind. Much research produced no results as to the founder of our religion. It was neither Vyasa of Brahma Sutra nor Krishna of Bhagavadgita. They made mention of preexisting Vedas. Could we call the Rishis, who wrote the Mantras, as the founders? They deny any authorship of the Vedas. The Mantras named after the Rishis preceded the Rishis, who, according to their claim, did not compose the Mantras. The Rishis claim that they saw and received these Mantras from the sky or space, when they were in meditation. They were Mantra-Drstas (Mantra seers) and not Mantra-Kartas (Mantra composers). Space or the sky is the birth place (origin) of many sounds, from which Dristi (Seeing, beholding, intuition, Vision) came about. Science tells us that Space-Vibration is the Causal Agent of this earth. The Rishis, on account of the greatness of their Tapas or austerity, saw the sounds (synesthesia) as soul-liberating Mantras in space. These Apurusheya (Not composed by man) Mantras are the respirations of Paramatman in the form of Space. Having seen and found them, the Best of Rishis gave them to the world. If we know this, the fact that we do not know the founder of our religion could be a matter of pride for us. With the Vedas being the breath of Paramatman, observing the Vedas and remaining the heirs to the timeless religion, we can experience exhilaration at our heritage. The religion that is called Hinduism was prevalent throughout the whole world. Since the existing religion in the world was only one, there was no necessity to give it a special name. My opinion is that the authoritative sacred texts had no name for our religion. If you look at the research on buried treasures of the ancient times, we see in foreign countries plenty of our Veda-related portrayals. A thousand three hundred years before Christ, an agreement between two rulers, in the name of Mitra-Varuna as the witnesses was unearthed. In Madagascar about threequarters of the towns bear names derived from Sanskrit. King Ramses bears a connection to Lord Rama in the name. There are many symbols of connectedness below the equator. In Mexico, during our Navaratri celebrations, the Mexicans conduct a festival, which bears the name, Rama-Sita. Whenever the earth is dug there, a Pillaiyar idol is found. Before Spain conquered Mexico, the indigenous people of that land were known as Aztecs, which is a corrupted form of the Sanskrit word Astica (ஆஸ்திக = Believer in God). விஷு² viṣu =, n. < vṛṣa. The 15th year of the Jupiter cycle. In Peru, sun worship takes place exactly in the auspicious Vishu period. These people are the Inkas. Inan is the name of the sun. We call Rama, the Ina-Kula Tilakan (the Best among the Sun Dynasticals). I have seen the photos of naked dance of Australian Aborigines in a book titled *Native Tribes of Central Australia and authored by Killen.* The pictures identified as no. 128 and 129 had the subtitles, 'Siva Dance.' I saw them with a critical eye and found the third eye drawn on the foreheads of both of them. Observation has been made in Borneo Island that since Brahmas creation, there was a big virgin forest. Upon entry into the forest, a deed in Grantha script was found. There were notations as to the name of the king, the celestial tree, Battle Victory Post (Yūpastambam), and its place of installation. This is called Yupa inscription Mulvarman of Koeti. The British, who made derisive remarks on Hinduism, made all these discoveries. கற்pa க விருட்சம் = kaṛpaka virutsam = Celestial tree. யூpa ம் yūpam = Battle-array. More impressive than these, let me bring to your attention something that may sound humorous. Sagarars dug their way into subterranean regions looking for Sacrificial horses. The ocean created by this digging bears the name for the ocean, Sagar. At the end of their digging expedition, they found the horses near Kapila Maharishi's hermitage. Thinking that he was the horse thief, they terrorized him. The Muni rendered and reduced them into ashes by his mere sight (Drishti). This is the story in Ramayana. If we were to assume America as the subterranean region right below India, Kapilāranyam (Kapila Forest) corrupted into California. Near that, there are the Horse Island and Ash Island. Sagarar and Sagar bring me to another story. Sahāra desert was once an ocean. Could Sāgaram have become Sahāra. Having seen our religious artifacts all around the world, parivattaṉam took place; our people went from here to there; those foreigners came here. paரிவத்தனம் parivattaṉam = , n. < pari- vartana. 1. Circumambulation, going around. The researchers talk about the movement of people around the world. My position is that one Dharma prevailed in all places. These artifacts were the creations of the native people of those lands. The researchers knowing the discovery of ancient testimonies from the historical period of 2 to 3 thousand years ago say, Indians went to the distant lands, supplanted the native culture or introduced Hindu culture to become part of their culture. Even 4 thousand years before now, Vedic artifacts were present in many countries. In Greece, religion, polytheism, many big temples and some shared parts of Vedic religion were existent. Before the dawn of Christian era, there were resemblances to Vedic religion, including the Varnāsrama (caste classification) divisions in Semitic and Hebrew religions. In Mexico, many religions prevailed among the aborigines. They saw divinity in nature and worshiped nature as deities. There were many rituals in those religions. Greek civilization, including Hellenic Polytheistic religion is no more. Christianity took its roots in their place. Buddhism spread to Fareast and Japan. Islam spread to many nations. In these religions, there are resemblances to Hindu religion. Let me give you some examples.. For the understanding of average man, Tattvas are explained in the form of stories (kathārupam = கதாரூpa ம்). General public received instructions in Tattvas in the form of rituals. Stories and rituals explained the underlying Tattvas. I am not joining the anti-ritual crowd by saying these things. Rituals carry the power. The Puranas explain the Tattvas. I am not saying," Do not believe the stories as real or historical." In truth, these stories are historical and actually happened; besides, they point out the Tattvas. šrēyas = Good, welfare; நன்மம These rituals do offer first benefits, and later Citta-Sakti (சித்த சக்தி = mental power) without fruits. Within the welfare-offering (šrēyas) rituals, there are Tattvas. With the passage of time, the rituals may diverge from the Tattvas with the inner meaning. We may altogether forget them. In foreign countries many thousands of years ago, the new-found religions lost the connection with the Vedic religion and the Vedic Tattvas underwent changes. Let me come to the example, I said before. In Hebrew religion, you would have heard about the story of Adam and Eve. There was a Tree of Knowledge. The injunction of the Lord was that Adam and Eve should not eat the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam did not eat the fruit. Eve did eat the fruit. Knowing that the ups and downs befalling Eve would befall him too, Adam ate the fruit: That is Genesis in Old Testament. In Old Testament, one of many Upanishadic Tattvas took the form of a story. When this happens with regards to time and country (place), the story and Tattvas undergo distortion, as if the original Tattva disappeared. According to a story in Upanishad, there are two birds in the Pipal tree. One bird is not eating but watching the other bird (eating the fruit). The body is the tree. In it, the self-centered Jīvātma eats the fruit of sensual pleasures. He is the bird. In this body, Paramatman abides as another bird, is the puppeteer of the fruit-eating bird, never moves, and remains the witness of all the activities of the Jīvābird. Though Paramatman is the hypostasis of Jīvā, He is neither sensual, nor eats the fruits, nor experiences the fruits of karma. கவித்துவம் kavittuvam , n. < kavi-tva. Poetic talent. Upanishad with poetic talent (கவித்துவம்) parlays these as two birds, the Jīvā-bird eating the fruit and the other abiding still as the witness and Paramatman, who knows himself as the Self. This Jīvā(-Bird) in the Old Testament of the Hebrews becomes Eve; Jī(-va) becomes the E(ve). It is common according to the rules of grammar, that ja series sounds become Ya series. That is how Yamuna became Jamuna; Yogīndir becomes Jogīndir. Jīvā becomes Eve. Ātma becomes Ādam. Pipal becomes Apple. Tree of Knowledge is our Bodhi Tree. Bodham is Jñānam. Buddha received Jñānam under the Bodhi tree. Even before the Buddha, Pipal tree (Arasamaram = அரசமரம் = Ficus religiosa) had the name Bodhi Virutcam (*விருட்சம்* = viruṭcam = tree). As Upanishad spread to other countries, it underwent many changes and forms, and its original meaning (தாற்pa ரியம் tāṟpariyam) changed. Bible story (Genesis) goes topsy-turvy, when antisensuous Atman (Adam) eats the forbidden fruit. On the contrary, our Bodhi tree takes us away from the pleasure principle (of the senses). Genesis in Bible says Tree of Knowledge stands for the worldly pleasures (and Faustian knowledge). This bears witness to the fact that our Vedic religion was existent there in the days of yore (though in a mutated form). In spite of the mutated form, they point to their origin in Vedic religion. Let me give you another example to fortify your trust in this matter. Our Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai are not as old as the Vedas. The researchers say these two works belong to a period before 1100 AD. The authors Manickavasagar and Andal appeared after the age of Vedas and Itihasas. The Colas established overseas kingdoms. More importantly, we should lay stress on Tamil commerce, flourishing across the seas. Because of these merchants, the foreigners appreciated and adopted our culture. Particular mention must be made of the Far-East countries. Hinduism swept through Bali. Hindu culture, known as Sri Vijaya Sāmrājyam, spread to Thailand (Siam), Indo-China, Philippines... There was a time in antiquity, when Vedic religion was practiced in the foreign countries. Thereafter, new (unnamed) religions mushroomed. Later, these religions withered and died, as religions like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism sprouted and spread across the landscape. It is a compelling historical fact that influence of Hindu culture shone like a live splendor in Southeast Asia. At this stage, huge Tamil Temples like Angkor-vat in Cambodia, Borobudur and Prambanan in Java, Indonesia arose on the landscape. During this temple-building spree, Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai (திருப் ாமவ - திருசவம் ாமவ) made their debut in Thailand. Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai = Fixed-length poems with meter and rhyme, glorifying Vishnu and Siva respectively. To bear witness to it, every year there are festivals with recitation of these poems during the Margazi month (Dec-Jan). As if they intended to fuse the Saiva and Vaishnava lore in hailand, they sat a man dressed in the guise of Siva on the swing in Dolotsava (Swing Festival), meant for Vishnu. They do not know anything about these two compositions. You may think there is no basis for an assumption that the festival happening in Dec-Jan has anything to do with these compositions. They call these Triyampavai and Tripavai (Note the misspelling). Dolotsava = दोलोत्सर् = சடாசலாட்சவம் = Swing Festival = Dol Jatra = Dol Purnima. A festival wherein Krishna (Vishnu) and Radha are seated on a swing or palanquin, and people swing them. Though the Bible readers do not know anything about Upanishads, they still keep the remnants of mutated stories. Though the Thais do not render Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai as they are, they still celebrate the Swing festival with Siva on the swing in the place of Vishnu. The compositions are there with corrupted titles. If such changes take place in our living memory, the events in the foreign countries three to four thousand years ago must have morphed and mutated over millennia. Though so many changes took place, the vestigial elements of Vedic traditions rear their noticeable head. The religions of prehistoric aborigines still have some symbols and artifacts of our religion. In the distant past, when no civilization was there to speak of, our religion and culture did not spread by invasion and commerce, which are not a matter for pride, joy or greatness (perumitham, pe ருமிதம்). It appears to me that Vedic religion must have had its roots firmly planted all over the world. Later, the Vedic religion morphed, mutated, became the vestigial religions of the olden times in the world and was supplanted by history-bound recent religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam... Pranam KR IRS as told by HIM 19121 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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