Rigveda: Mother Sarasvati, with the wealth of your knowledge, protect us and further our thoughts
Sarasvati is one of the important deities of Rigveda. She is described as the best mother, best river, and the best goddess. She is invoked with the other gods and goddesses for various blessings at the rituals of Soma Sacrifice. She is metaphorically described as the wealth giver, feeder of choicest things, etc. She is the slayer of demons like Paravatas, like Indra killed demons like Vrtra. According to the following hymn she confers wealth: Rigveda 8.21.17, “Indra or blest Sarasvati alone bestows such wealth, treasure so great, or thou, O Citra, on the worshipper.” Rigveda 7.35.11 says, “May all the fellowship of Gods befriends us, Sarasvati, with Holy Thoughts, be gracious.” Rigveda also describes her as the one who brings the capacity for rational or intelligent thought in this hymn, Rigveda 10.30.12: “For, wealthy waters, ye control all treasures: ye bring auspicious intellect and Amṛta. Ye are the Queens of independent riches Sarasvati give full life to the singer!” Some of the blessings sought during the Soma ritual is described in Shukla and Krishna Yajurveda. For example, in Taittiriya Samhita 29.8, “Bharati with Adityas love our worship! Sarasvati with Rudras be our helper, And Ida in accord, invoked with Vasus! Goddesses - place our rite among the Immortals.”
One of the highlights of this book is the widely discussed location of River Sarasvati as described in Rigveda, other Vedic texts, the Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and Puranas. Different accounts of Sarasvati are narrated in puranas including the course of this river as well as the location of her disappearance. The intermittent nature of the flow purporting up to a stretch of distance followed by her disappearance as an underground channel and then the reappearance down towards the west into the Indian Ocean. The scriptures are interpreted not only with reference to the literature, but also based on the results of the research and the various archaeological and geological studies undertaken so far. Instead of adopting a segmented approach in identifying the Vedic Sarasvati, an integrated approach is used in a holistic manner.
The disappearance of the River Sarasvati is also attributed to the river drying up in stages but continues to flow as a subterranean channel. Some recent studies have attributed the drying up of Sarasvati to a tectonic shift in its catchment area which sizably reduced the flow. But in earlier period around 1900 BCE, the lower reaches of the Sarasvati were crowded with Harappan settlements. This may be the reason why Sarasvati is described as a mighty river in the earliest Vedic text, but in latter Rigvedic hymns, the descriptions allude to the confluence of two rivers, Sarasvati and Sutlej.
The Vedas and the Brahmanas introduce Sarasvati as the River Goddess of speech, and the Puranas complete her as a goddess of learning, fine arts and culture. The Vedas and the Mahabharata emphasizes the sacredness of Sarasvati as a river and catalogues the holy sites of the mighty river. The pilgrimage of Balarama described in Book 9 of Mahabharata suggests the course followed by this river is a sacred and spiritual part of Hindu practices. The Puranas reinforce through legends and folklore. Markandeya Purana describes Sarasvati as the mother of all worlds and the originator of all gods. She is known to have supreme knowledge, undefinable, imperishable, celestial and supreme personality. She symbolizes the concept of Brahman of Upanishads and Vedanta. Sarasvati represents the equality afforded to women in early Hindu scriptures that are not found in Abrahamic faiths.
This is a very readable, engaging and well written book about goddess Sarasvati with extensive study of Vedas, Brahmanas and Puranas.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Book Reviewed: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World Paperback, by Steve Brusatte
Highway to Hell Creek; the discovery of the remnants of Jurassic park
In this dazzling rehash, author Steve Brusatte tells the mesmerizing story of dinosaurs; their origins, evolution, diversity, habitats and their cataclysmic extinction. This is a captivating narrative that engages the reader till the end of the book. Highly readable and well researched that interest readers focused in ancient history this planet, dinosaurs, and life in late cretaceous era (100 – 66 million Years). The book describes immediate events after planet was hit by 6.5-mile-long asteroid (Chicxulub meteorite), at the speed of 67,000 miles per hour, 65.5 million years ago. The fossils from this event are preserved all over the planet, which gives a grim picture. It simply demonstrates that life on earth is susceptible to the wrath of nature. This was the sixth extinction of life in 4.5 billion history of the planet, and it was colossal, cosmic and catastrophic. How did life witness this? The author describes in detail as what may have happened immediately before and after the greatest hit in the recent history of our planet. Although this has been discussed on several TV shows on Nat Geo, Discovery, PBS and Science channels by geophysicists, astronomers and paleontologists, it is interesting to read from the point of a paleontologist who studies dinosaurs with passion. In fact, it is common in recent days to read about the discovery of new species of dinosaurs, birds and mammals from this event. One of the goldmines for finding the lost species is Hell Creek, Montana where treasure trove of fossils is preserved. It is a mixing of fossil carcasses and a layer of glass tektites from meteorite hit with impact impressions deposited minutes to hours after the apocalypse.
The Hell Creek Formation in the Upper Great Plains of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota were laid down by ancient rivers and streams as they traveled from the Rocky Mountains in the west toward the east before emptying into a large interior seaway that bisected North America during the latest Cretaceous period. Due to rise in sea-level in the Late Cretaceous, North America was bisected by a seaway stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. The states of NM, AZ, CO, SD, ND and MT were buried under water in a shallow sea that ran from Mexico to NW Canada. At that time the states of CA, OR, WA and ID were on the West and the rest of United States were on the east. The Hell Creek rocks preserve the remains of dinosaurs after Chicxulub meteorite struck into the ocean in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The death and destruction of the most iconic dinosaurs include Tyrannosaurus Rex, the three horned dinosaur, Triceratops, the duckbilled dinosaur, Edmontosaurus, and the tank-like armored dinosaur, Ankylosaurus. The fossils also include; crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, salamanders, fishes, plants and mammals.
At this time, the planet was largely one supercontinent called Pangea, but it had started to split into several fragments. Europe and Asia were still globed together, and they were linked to North America by a series of islands. But what made these animals to become big? They had to eat and digest vast quantities of food, they had to grow fast, must be able to breathe very efficiently, and shed excess body heat. This process was enabled by their unique body plan that included a highly efficient lung more related to a birdlike lung because many bones of the chest cavity had big openings. There were many air sacs that extended throughout their body that helped lungs to take in enough oxygen to stoke their metabolism.
During the final 20 million years of the Cretaceous, tyrannosaurs flourished, ruling the river valleys, lakeshores, flood plains, forests, and deserts of North America and China. Colossal tyrannosaurs never seemed to gain a foothold in Europe or the southern continents, where other groups of large predators prospered, but in North America and China, species of tyrannosaurs were unrivaled. They had become the transcendent terrors that fire our imaginations. The species of Tyrannosaurus Rex was not a global but existed only in North West of United States.
On that fateful morning 66 million years ago, when a pack of T. Rexes woke up on what would go down as the final day of the Cretaceous Period, all seemed normal in their Hell Creek kingdom, the same as it had for two millions of years. Forests of conifers and ginkgoes stretched to the horizon, interspersed with palms and magnolias. The distant churn of a river, rushing eastward to empty into the great seaway that lapped against western North America. For the last several weeks, the more perceptive of the T. Rexes may have noticed a glowing orb in the sky, far off in the distance and a hazy ball also had a fiery rim. The orb would appear and disappear for hours. As it appeared again, it was bigger, its shine illuminating much of the sky to the southeast in a cloudy psychedelic mist. Then a flash. No noise, only a split-second flare of yellow that lit up the whole sky, disorienting the animals for a moment. As they blinked their eyes back to focus, they noticed that the orb was now gone. Moments later, and then they were blindsided. Another flash, but this one far more vengeful. The rays lit the morning air in a fireworks display and burned into their retinas. In fact, no noise at all. By now, the birds and flying raptors had stopped chirping, and silence hung over Hell Creek. The calm lasted for only a few seconds. Next, the ground beneath their feet started to rumble and shake, and then flew like waves; pulses of energy were shooting through the rocks and soil, the ground rising and falling as if a giant snake were slithering underneath. Everything not rooted into the dirt was thrown upward; then it crashed down, and then up and down again, the Earth's surface was acting like a trampoline. Everything within a radius of about six hundred miles from the Yucatan Peninsula of modern-day Mexico was annihilated, and vaporized. For several years, the Earth turned cold and dark because of soot, sulfur, sulfuric acid and rock dust in the atmosphere that blocked out the sun. The darkness brought severe winter for years that only the hardiest of animals could survive. The rains were highly acidic that wiped out much of marine species. Here and there, species of lizards, crocodiles, turtles, birds and rat-size mammals made it but with lots of duress under the fury of nature. Hell-Creek was turned to Hell that reverberated in rest of the world.
In this dazzling rehash, author Steve Brusatte tells the mesmerizing story of dinosaurs; their origins, evolution, diversity, habitats and their cataclysmic extinction. This is a captivating narrative that engages the reader till the end of the book. Highly readable and well researched that interest readers focused in ancient history this planet, dinosaurs, and life in late cretaceous era (100 – 66 million Years). The book describes immediate events after planet was hit by 6.5-mile-long asteroid (Chicxulub meteorite), at the speed of 67,000 miles per hour, 65.5 million years ago. The fossils from this event are preserved all over the planet, which gives a grim picture. It simply demonstrates that life on earth is susceptible to the wrath of nature. This was the sixth extinction of life in 4.5 billion history of the planet, and it was colossal, cosmic and catastrophic. How did life witness this? The author describes in detail as what may have happened immediately before and after the greatest hit in the recent history of our planet. Although this has been discussed on several TV shows on Nat Geo, Discovery, PBS and Science channels by geophysicists, astronomers and paleontologists, it is interesting to read from the point of a paleontologist who studies dinosaurs with passion. In fact, it is common in recent days to read about the discovery of new species of dinosaurs, birds and mammals from this event. One of the goldmines for finding the lost species is Hell Creek, Montana where treasure trove of fossils is preserved. It is a mixing of fossil carcasses and a layer of glass tektites from meteorite hit with impact impressions deposited minutes to hours after the apocalypse.
The Hell Creek Formation in the Upper Great Plains of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota were laid down by ancient rivers and streams as they traveled from the Rocky Mountains in the west toward the east before emptying into a large interior seaway that bisected North America during the latest Cretaceous period. Due to rise in sea-level in the Late Cretaceous, North America was bisected by a seaway stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. The states of NM, AZ, CO, SD, ND and MT were buried under water in a shallow sea that ran from Mexico to NW Canada. At that time the states of CA, OR, WA and ID were on the West and the rest of United States were on the east. The Hell Creek rocks preserve the remains of dinosaurs after Chicxulub meteorite struck into the ocean in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The death and destruction of the most iconic dinosaurs include Tyrannosaurus Rex, the three horned dinosaur, Triceratops, the duckbilled dinosaur, Edmontosaurus, and the tank-like armored dinosaur, Ankylosaurus. The fossils also include; crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, salamanders, fishes, plants and mammals.
At this time, the planet was largely one supercontinent called Pangea, but it had started to split into several fragments. Europe and Asia were still globed together, and they were linked to North America by a series of islands. But what made these animals to become big? They had to eat and digest vast quantities of food, they had to grow fast, must be able to breathe very efficiently, and shed excess body heat. This process was enabled by their unique body plan that included a highly efficient lung more related to a birdlike lung because many bones of the chest cavity had big openings. There were many air sacs that extended throughout their body that helped lungs to take in enough oxygen to stoke their metabolism.
During the final 20 million years of the Cretaceous, tyrannosaurs flourished, ruling the river valleys, lakeshores, flood plains, forests, and deserts of North America and China. Colossal tyrannosaurs never seemed to gain a foothold in Europe or the southern continents, where other groups of large predators prospered, but in North America and China, species of tyrannosaurs were unrivaled. They had become the transcendent terrors that fire our imaginations. The species of Tyrannosaurus Rex was not a global but existed only in North West of United States.
On that fateful morning 66 million years ago, when a pack of T. Rexes woke up on what would go down as the final day of the Cretaceous Period, all seemed normal in their Hell Creek kingdom, the same as it had for two millions of years. Forests of conifers and ginkgoes stretched to the horizon, interspersed with palms and magnolias. The distant churn of a river, rushing eastward to empty into the great seaway that lapped against western North America. For the last several weeks, the more perceptive of the T. Rexes may have noticed a glowing orb in the sky, far off in the distance and a hazy ball also had a fiery rim. The orb would appear and disappear for hours. As it appeared again, it was bigger, its shine illuminating much of the sky to the southeast in a cloudy psychedelic mist. Then a flash. No noise, only a split-second flare of yellow that lit up the whole sky, disorienting the animals for a moment. As they blinked their eyes back to focus, they noticed that the orb was now gone. Moments later, and then they were blindsided. Another flash, but this one far more vengeful. The rays lit the morning air in a fireworks display and burned into their retinas. In fact, no noise at all. By now, the birds and flying raptors had stopped chirping, and silence hung over Hell Creek. The calm lasted for only a few seconds. Next, the ground beneath their feet started to rumble and shake, and then flew like waves; pulses of energy were shooting through the rocks and soil, the ground rising and falling as if a giant snake were slithering underneath. Everything not rooted into the dirt was thrown upward; then it crashed down, and then up and down again, the Earth's surface was acting like a trampoline. Everything within a radius of about six hundred miles from the Yucatan Peninsula of modern-day Mexico was annihilated, and vaporized. For several years, the Earth turned cold and dark because of soot, sulfur, sulfuric acid and rock dust in the atmosphere that blocked out the sun. The darkness brought severe winter for years that only the hardiest of animals could survive. The rains were highly acidic that wiped out much of marine species. Here and there, species of lizards, crocodiles, turtles, birds and rat-size mammals made it but with lots of duress under the fury of nature. Hell-Creek was turned to Hell that reverberated in rest of the world.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Book reviewed: Stories Jesus Told: How to Read a Parable Paperback, by Greg Carey
The principals of Dharma found in the Parables of Jesus
Would you believe that Jesus preached something besides love, forgiveness and peace? In fact, one-third of Jesus' words in the Synoptic Gospels are parables, which are enigmatic and oracular but still constitutes the only form of his teachings. In this book, the author says that by devoting a significant time to study parables, one can learn how to interpret them. Historically, millesimal number of Biblical scholars have read and re-read parables, and the literature filled with both scholarly and faith based commentaries that change the perspectives of millions who believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for the sins of his believers.
Parables have more value from a literary and cultural point of view than pulpit interpretations. They illustrate parallels with rabbinic teachings. The first-century Judaism was not merely the backdrop for Jesus' teachings but that was the center stage from which Jesus delivered his message. His ethics and theology are from Old Testament, Jewish laws, and the Greco-Roman history. The metaphoric and polyvalence of the parables offer challenges in reconstructing the historical Jesus. The three apostles used the parables within the literary and theological frameworks of their gospels. However, it is also confounding that the book of John does not have any parables, and the Gospel of Thomas, excluded from Bible, is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four Canonical Gospels. It is not a narrative account of life of Jesus; instead, it consists of sayings attributed to him, sometimes stand-alone, sometimes embedded in short dialogues. The text contains a possible allusion to the death of Jesus but does not mention his crucifixion, his resurrection, or the final judgment; nor does it mention a messianic understanding of Jesus. There is no mention of Jesus having performed miracles. Instead, Jesus provides insight about our true self and offers a way of salvation. For Thomas, resurrection is a cognitive event of spiritual attainment, one even involving a certain discipline or asceticism. This is contrasting to John's bodily resurrection, which is an indispensable part of Christian faith. According to Thomas, Jesus’ teachings align with that of Buddha, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, both of which remain outside the canonical boundaries.
Most of Jesus' ethics are grounded in Buddhism. Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under the Bodhi tree, then he remined silent and fasted before he started preaching with five of his former companions, the ascetics with whom he shared six years of hardship. Buddha gave the first presentation of the Four Noble Truths, which are his foundational teaching that lead one's liberation from suffering in life. The wheel of dharma leads to enlightenment. Similarly, the Sermon on the Mount is a collection of teachings of Jesus that emphasizes morality found in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapters 5, 6, and 7). This is after he was baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus goes fasting and performs meditation in the desert, and then begins to preach in Galilee at the Mount of Beatitudes with widely recited Lord's Prayer.
Jesus Seminar, a group of Biblical scholars and academics re-created gospels and evaluated the historical Jesus. Among other things, they asserted that the Gospel of Thomas is more authentic than the Gospel of John. The authors of synoptic gospels used oral and written traditions of first century to re-create their work, and sightings of risen Jesus is visionary experience rather than physical encounters.
The author of this book uses an academic approach to re-define and review the parables rather than a faith-based approach. Hence, this book is interesting and intellectually stimulating than a book written by those who preach from the pulpit.
Would you believe that Jesus preached something besides love, forgiveness and peace? In fact, one-third of Jesus' words in the Synoptic Gospels are parables, which are enigmatic and oracular but still constitutes the only form of his teachings. In this book, the author says that by devoting a significant time to study parables, one can learn how to interpret them. Historically, millesimal number of Biblical scholars have read and re-read parables, and the literature filled with both scholarly and faith based commentaries that change the perspectives of millions who believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for the sins of his believers.
Parables have more value from a literary and cultural point of view than pulpit interpretations. They illustrate parallels with rabbinic teachings. The first-century Judaism was not merely the backdrop for Jesus' teachings but that was the center stage from which Jesus delivered his message. His ethics and theology are from Old Testament, Jewish laws, and the Greco-Roman history. The metaphoric and polyvalence of the parables offer challenges in reconstructing the historical Jesus. The three apostles used the parables within the literary and theological frameworks of their gospels. However, it is also confounding that the book of John does not have any parables, and the Gospel of Thomas, excluded from Bible, is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four Canonical Gospels. It is not a narrative account of life of Jesus; instead, it consists of sayings attributed to him, sometimes stand-alone, sometimes embedded in short dialogues. The text contains a possible allusion to the death of Jesus but does not mention his crucifixion, his resurrection, or the final judgment; nor does it mention a messianic understanding of Jesus. There is no mention of Jesus having performed miracles. Instead, Jesus provides insight about our true self and offers a way of salvation. For Thomas, resurrection is a cognitive event of spiritual attainment, one even involving a certain discipline or asceticism. This is contrasting to John's bodily resurrection, which is an indispensable part of Christian faith. According to Thomas, Jesus’ teachings align with that of Buddha, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, both of which remain outside the canonical boundaries.
Most of Jesus' ethics are grounded in Buddhism. Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under the Bodhi tree, then he remined silent and fasted before he started preaching with five of his former companions, the ascetics with whom he shared six years of hardship. Buddha gave the first presentation of the Four Noble Truths, which are his foundational teaching that lead one's liberation from suffering in life. The wheel of dharma leads to enlightenment. Similarly, the Sermon on the Mount is a collection of teachings of Jesus that emphasizes morality found in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapters 5, 6, and 7). This is after he was baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus goes fasting and performs meditation in the desert, and then begins to preach in Galilee at the Mount of Beatitudes with widely recited Lord's Prayer.
Jesus Seminar, a group of Biblical scholars and academics re-created gospels and evaluated the historical Jesus. Among other things, they asserted that the Gospel of Thomas is more authentic than the Gospel of John. The authors of synoptic gospels used oral and written traditions of first century to re-create their work, and sightings of risen Jesus is visionary experience rather than physical encounters.
The author of this book uses an academic approach to re-define and review the parables rather than a faith-based approach. Hence, this book is interesting and intellectually stimulating than a book written by those who preach from the pulpit.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Book Reviewed: Paul vs. James: What We've Been Missing in the Faith and Works Debate, by Chris Bruno
A brief story of the early Christian church
James, the brother of Jesus connected with him closely and as a typical Essene, he was zealous for the Jewish laws. However, Paul departed from the Jewish laws to introduce faith as the most fundamental part Christ’s message. James strongly resisted Paul’s law-free version of the gospel, but the relationship between James and Paul was important for early Christianity; it epitomized the need to preserve the movement’s Jewish roots as its membership became predominantly non-Jewish. Though it created tensions, the connection of James with Jerusalem was important for Paul; his letters reflect both his theological departure from James and James’ authority on Jerusalem community. It also undermined James’ firsthand encounters with Jesus. But Paul’s strong personal experience of the risen Christ shaped his theology and identity as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The Pseudo-Clementine writings of the late fourth century illustrate the tensions between James and Paul. These writings are based on sources and traditions derived from Christian Jews from Jerusalem who fled to Pella around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. These writings portray Paul as the enemy of James and Christian Judaism. Historically, however, the evidence suggests that though the relationship involved tensions, the two were not enemies. In fact, this is the message of the author of this book
In the last chapter titled, Life and Works in Real Life, the author addresses controversial issues like same-sex marriage. He concludes that we need to apply whole of Bible’s teachings on faith and works. Because the scripture is clear that faith alone justifies. If that is the case, then gay-life styles, same-sex marriage and transsexualism is a sin as Sodom and Gomorrah. The author’s approach is understandable as a preacher, but one must separate belief and reality.
Jesus Seminar, a scholarly group that re-created early gospels found that the historical Jesus was a Jewish revolutionary and a faith-healer who preached a gospel of liberation. Jesus broke with established Jewish theological dogmas and social conventions in both his teachings and his behavior, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of his audience. The Seminar also concluded that the sightings of a risen Jesus was a visionary experience rather than a physical encounter. The belief systems are man-made and strict adherence to gospels are unscientific and unrealistic.
James, the brother of Jesus connected with him closely and as a typical Essene, he was zealous for the Jewish laws. However, Paul departed from the Jewish laws to introduce faith as the most fundamental part Christ’s message. James strongly resisted Paul’s law-free version of the gospel, but the relationship between James and Paul was important for early Christianity; it epitomized the need to preserve the movement’s Jewish roots as its membership became predominantly non-Jewish. Though it created tensions, the connection of James with Jerusalem was important for Paul; his letters reflect both his theological departure from James and James’ authority on Jerusalem community. It also undermined James’ firsthand encounters with Jesus. But Paul’s strong personal experience of the risen Christ shaped his theology and identity as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The Pseudo-Clementine writings of the late fourth century illustrate the tensions between James and Paul. These writings are based on sources and traditions derived from Christian Jews from Jerusalem who fled to Pella around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. These writings portray Paul as the enemy of James and Christian Judaism. Historically, however, the evidence suggests that though the relationship involved tensions, the two were not enemies. In fact, this is the message of the author of this book
In the last chapter titled, Life and Works in Real Life, the author addresses controversial issues like same-sex marriage. He concludes that we need to apply whole of Bible’s teachings on faith and works. Because the scripture is clear that faith alone justifies. If that is the case, then gay-life styles, same-sex marriage and transsexualism is a sin as Sodom and Gomorrah. The author’s approach is understandable as a preacher, but one must separate belief and reality.
Jesus Seminar, a scholarly group that re-created early gospels found that the historical Jesus was a Jewish revolutionary and a faith-healer who preached a gospel of liberation. Jesus broke with established Jewish theological dogmas and social conventions in both his teachings and his behavior, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of his audience. The Seminar also concluded that the sightings of a risen Jesus was a visionary experience rather than a physical encounter. The belief systems are man-made and strict adherence to gospels are unscientific and unrealistic.
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