Vedic Culture

There is fundamentally more to Baul spirituality and scripture than merely the music and lyrics that one comes by, and conceivably nobody can ‘delve deep’ into the music form without having some basic understanding and concepts about its tottyo. This book
is an attempt to understand and explain the intricacies of the Baul scriptures. The esoteric couplets, sentences and arguments that usually have moral or historical over tone, the pointed reminders, the signature lines, and the over all thrust of arguments within a very short periphery of time, the alankar (embellishments), all mesh in and combine to create a completed aura of ethereal munificence. Baul music with exceptions follows different traditions and Guru’s in every district of Bangladesh, and sometimes each has its own unique Guru Shishya parampara (student/teachers discourses), leading on to birth of newer, progressive and more challenging schools of thoughts.

While Fakir Lalon Shah is the most celebrated of sages of Bangladesh, the schools of Baul thought encapsulates perhaps several hundred more sages and men of great wisdom, whose writings and philosophies continue to inspire and whose graves
more often than not, take on the shape of shrines, usually devoid of any religious or sectarian symbolism. Being an oral tradition Baul music ironically is also one of our near extinct heritages as most of the works have either disappeared or have been claimed by
unscrupulous people over time. Studies on authorship of many Baul songs (including those of Lalon) and their relevance to original scores and or manuscripts remains a very complicated process and is mired by many unfortunate controversies. To top it off, it is believed that while there were over 300 different types of Baul melodies or tunes; today we are left with scarcely 35. While researching the Bauliana album, I could identify only 20 authentic tunes.

The essays ‘Bauliana: Worshipping the Great God in Man’ in 2003 were written through a feeling of guilt and remorse. While I did receive praise for my work for the musical album of 1996, troubling me intently was a feeling of not been able to share the many
words of wisdom that were imparted to me by the Baul’s over the years to a wider audience, teachings I was sure would benefit a lot of later day enthusiasts. I had made scores of notes at the time, as also consigned most of the teachings to memory but there was always a deep apprehension, that unless my writings were passed on hand to
hand; all the hard work that went into it, will fail my original intention i.e. opening newer dimensions into reading on Baul music, lyrics, philosophy and way of life.

A word-by-word explanation of the translation of the so-called creation hymn of Rigveda. The translation is very different from traditional ones.

As I demonstrate, the hymn has been completely misunderstood by previous translators.

The hymn has nothing to do with the origin or creation of the Universe. It is in fact, simply a prayer to God.

A fresh and original translation from Sanskrit of the dashrajnya hymn (hymn 7.18 of Rig Veda) describing this defining battle between Aryan king Sudas and his Aryan as well as non-Aryan foes. The decisive battle led to the uprooting of many tribes from the Sapta Sindhu area.

Many existing beliefs are shown to be merely due to misunderstandings. Further, it is shown that the existing translations fall well short of the true meaning.
For example, no Matsya tribe was involved in this battle.

Ancient Vedic society went through many changes, making a transition from asemi-nomadic, clan-based system of chiefdoms practicing pastoralism and limited agriculture, to an increasingly sedentary society with a clear division of labour,
greater reliance on agriculture, and monarchies. This parallels the establishment and growth of settlements through the first millennium BCE in the Gangetic plains withthe emergence of cities and states.

This essay will explore the meaning of certain aspects of Vedic ritual in relation to these social changes. It will argue that the Upanayana, along with other life cycle rituals, came to serve the function of maintaining cohesion within the elite castes, as well as excluding from this closed society those from the lower orders.

This hymn pertains to the river crossing event of the Rigveda.

A massive and continuous flood stopped the Bharatas in their tracks. Their guide Vishwamitra then organised a sacrifice and composed this hymn to mollify the rivers' fury. Amazingly, the rivers did subside for a while, just enough for the army to cross over.

This fresh translation of Rig Veda's hymn 3.33 brings out the meaning clearly. It shows there was no real or imaginary dialogue between the sage Vishwamitra and the rivers. Rather, this was Vishwamitra's prayer to the rivers in which the Bharata army joins in at the very end.

The Elephant is an animal found only in India and Africa. If this animal were to be mentioned in the Rigveda, it would be a clear proof that the Events described in the Rigveda took place in India. However, this translation shows that the words from the Rigveda commonly understood to denote the elephant, actually refer to another animal. This animal is not found in India.

In Rig veda, Indra is treated much like a celebrity sportsperson of today.

This original translation from Sanskrit, of Hymn 3.45 of Rigveda, just as my other translations, demonstrates how lucid and lively the hymns of Rigveda are, in contrast to the almost abstract work of all previous translators.

Interpreting Indus seals by deploying the literary sources, social and cultural practices that prevailed in those times, unearth information hidden in the seals. Some of the Indus seals show a peculiar picture of a man merging with a tiger.  The man is adorned with the animal skin and has long matted hair depicted horizontally like a snake. His head is decorated with a turban on which are the decorations of twigs and flowers.  The extended portion of the turban is held in the left hand. The merging with animal body is depicted with the front two feet like human and the back ones like tiger’s. The arms are serrated and depicted to be holding a long stick, shula or lance in the right hand. These characters correlate closely with the Rig Vedic description of a group of ascetics of tribal origin termed Vratyas or Kesins who are described in the 10th mandala (Hymns of Rig veda, Ralph T.H. Griffith, 10.136.1-7). Since the depiction of vratyas is seen in the Indus seals, as  described in vedas, one can say that  vratyas lived  either before or during the Indus civilisation time.
This paper attempts to trace the term Vratyas described in vedas and how well the vratyas and Vratya pati – Rudra is mirrored in the Indus seals. My analysis of the 4 seals here, show a strong correlation to vedic practices that were followed in Indus period.

हजारों वर्षों पूर्व अनुभवसिद्ध एवं प्रयोगसिद्ध ऋषियों (Indian Scientists) के अनगिनत प्रोयोगों तथा अनुसंधानों में से एक ‘भारतीय गाय’ (Indian Cow) पर हुए प्रयोग बहुत ही रोचक और अद्भुत रहे हैं | हजारों वर्षों पूर्व ही ऋषियों ने गौ के बहुआयामी महत्वों एवं उपयोगों को उनके द्वारा विरचित विभिन्न ग्रंथों में संस्कृत सूत्रों जैसे :
“यतो गावस्ततो वयम् |”
“गावो विश्वस्य मातर: |” आदि के माध्यम से उल्लेखित कर दिए हैं |

वर्षों के अनुसंधान से यह स्पष्ट हुआ कि गौएँ केवल मनुष्य ही नहीं अपितु समग्र विश्व के लिए वरदान है | वे औषधि निर्माण, कृषि विकास, इंधन निर्माण, रोजगार निर्माण, ग्रामीण उन्नयन, अणुयुग की समस्याओं के समाधान, विदेशी मुद्रा के अर्जन आदि में गाय का स्थान अद्वितीय है और इसीलिए केवल आज एक गौ को लेकर “गौ-अर्थशास्त्र” जैसी अवधारणा प्रचलन में आई है |

“हुड़- हुड़” “त्सुनामी” “जलवायु-परिवर्तन” “तापमानवृद्धि” जैसी मानवकृत विभीषिकाओं में से उबरने के लिए दुनियाभर में आज कई सुज्ञ शास्त्रज्ञ नये सूत्र ढूँढ रहे हैं | ऐसे में गौ स्वयं तथा गौ से उपलब्ध सभी वस्तुएँ ऐसे सूत्र का कार्य कर रही हैं | Trans-national, Trans-professional, Trans-color, Trans-language के रूप में आज कई वैश्विक संगठन विश्व को बचाने के लिए कमर कसते हुए आज खड़े हो गए हैं और आगे बढ़ रहे हैं |

प्रस्तुत शोध प्रपत्र का उद्देश्य गौ अर्थशास्त्र के अंतर्गत भारतीय गौ एवं गौवंश से उपलब्ध पंचगव्य द्वारा औषधि निर्माण (पंचगव्य चिकित्सा एवं औषधि), पर्यावरण शुद्धि, कृषि विकास, इंधन निर्माण, रोजगार निर्माण, अणुयुग की समस्याओं के समाधान, विदेशी मुद्रा के अर्जन  आदि पर प्रकाश डालना है |

In an academic environment shaped up by some phenomenal breakthroughs in information technology, the disciplines specialised under humanities and social sciences also tend to keep pace with those in pure and applied sciences in their progress in working out solutions to the problems and challenges that arise in their way in numerous fashions. The facilities that have emerged in high-tech environments today generously support the researchers in the humanities and social sciences in accessing and exploring hidden domains of knowledge and achieving and maintaining quality through the accuracy in the surveys, analyses, comparisons, and arguments they make. Thus, while the environment facilitates research with numerous technical devices such as the World Wide Web (WWW), EMAIL, NEWS, TELNET, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Internet Relay Chat (IRC), it poses a vertical challenge to the researchers regarding the defence of the claims they make. Unlike in the past, today everybody has access to a large number of devices in testing the veracity, accuracy, and completeness of a claim somebody makes, and therefore the researchers in the humanities and social sciences also consider that their findings should be true, accurate and consummate. In a background featured by such a high demand for academic excellence the publication of a journal of this sort invites numerous challenges. However, having left behind an innumerable multitude of obstacles, we are ready to go to the press with a substantial manuscript with 10 research papers.
The present issue of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Journal is meant to address some important concerns in the disciplines that are specialised under nine separate university departments within the faculty as a timely contribution to the ongoing process of producing and disseminating knowledge. The issue is featured by several journal papers that present the outcomes of the meticulous research carried out by a group of academics from the university system of Sri Lanka, specialising in a variety of disciplines.