Narayana is the name given to the first Nara created out of the waters of ocean. He was not considered as a deity. Qfter thousands years Sri Ramuja seems to have adopted as equaling to " Purusha"
Similarly Vishnu is another name for Surya. There is a sloka in Rgveda that vishnu takes three steps an comes round the earth. The name vishnu was also in vasnavite puranas, written in in early centuries ( 300 to 800 AD )as one of the puranic trinitytrinity.
the modern Hinduism ,so called by invading Arabs and confirmed by Britishers in records , meekly accepted by socalled Hindus.
we have to distinct culture, 1. Vedic and 2. Puranic, overlapping telescopically causing also enormous inner contradiction.
When someone calls vedic deities as Hindu gods , it is an anochronism.
worship is also distinct for vedic and puranic ways/.
Vedic worshipped or prayed all their deities inc,uding agni by fire, that is agni himself.
In puranic period idols gods were central piece of worship,
I hope this brief note could be a stimulant for deeper study of so called Hindu religion.
Thank you all.
Kothand. Gentlemen,
Narayana is the name given to the first Nara created out of the waters of ocean. He was not considered as a deity. Qfter thousands years Sri Ramuja seems to have adopted as eequivalant to " Purusha"
Similarly Vishnu is another name for Surya. There is a sloka in Rgveda that vishnu takes three steps an comes round the earth. The name vishnu was also in vasnavite puranas, written in in earcenturies ( 300 to 800 AD )as one of the puranic trinitytrinity.
the modern Hinduism ,so called by invading Arabs and confirmed by Britishers in records , meekly accepted by socalled Hindus.
we have to distinct culture, 1. Vedic and 2. Puranic, overlapping telescopically ausing also enormous inner contradiction.
When some one calls vedic deities as Hindu gods , it is an anochronism.
worship also is distinct for vedic and puranic ways/.
Vedic worshipped or prayed all their deities inc,uding agni by fire, that is agni himself.
In puranic period idols gods were central piece of worship,
I hope this brief note could be a stimulant for deeper study of so called Hindu relegion.
Quote from Indian Philosophy by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (page 55, source is mentioned as Rig Veda)
"Surya in the form of Vishnu supports all the worlds. Vishnu is the god of three strides. He covers the earth, heaven and highest worlds visible to mortals."
He goes on to say "Vishnu holds a subordinate position in the Rg-Vedam though he has a great future before him". ... "Rudra also holds a subordinate position in the Rg-Veda and is celebrated only in 3 hymns"
Dr. S.R describes the evolution of Rg-Veda.. verses of Rg-Veda were probably composed over a millennia, and start from early exploration onto more concrete philosophies. It also was not dogmatic.. was very willing to understand and even include IVC beliefs, tribal beliefs, etc. It started out as a "theistic" religion saying Varuna was the greatest god.. subsequently, Mithra became greatest. The beliefs were also influenced by Persians and maybe Greeks too. Hence were added Vishwakarma, Parjanya, Vayu, Agni, Indra to the pantheon. The author speculates that when Indra won over Vrtasura, he became the head of Gods. There is also a Krishna mentioned as a head of a tribal cult who fought with Indra :) - this tribal Krishna may have easily evolved into the Krishna we visualize today.
The strange thing is that along with the discovery of so many deities who went in and out of fashion, the foundations of monotheism were laid.. that all these deities were personifications of a single almighty. "ekam sad viprA badhudhA vadanti" - there is one truth, but the learned call it by various names".
Due to this belief, they were completely willing to accept all or any belief/god. (What a contrast to the fundamentalist people of today :) Which is why we go from very philosophical (Upanishads) to ritualistic (Brahmanas) to even tribal/tantric methods (mentioned in Atharva veda). Everything was ok :)
The "Indian Philosophy" book is a treasure.. I am enjoying reading/re-reading it. Deepa
Veda Vyasa divided 4 Vedas ( some times called 5 as yajur veda has 2 major divisions namely Krishna Yajur and Shukla Yajur)
Rig Veda - there were 21 Shakas and only Aitreya Shaka is left. ( the name is derived from the Aitreya Upanishad contained in it)Of the 15 recencions of the Sukla- Yajurveda only two are extant, the Kanva Sakha having a large following in Maharashtra and the Madhyandina Sakha in North India. Of the 94 sakhas of the Krishna- Yajurveda, the Taittiriya has a large following, particularly in the South. We have lost 997 of the 1, 000 sakhas of the Samaveda. In Tamil Nadu those who follow the Kauthuma Sakha are more in number than those who follow the Talavakara Sakha, while in Maharastra there is a small following for Ranayaniya. Once it was feared that out of the 50 recensions of the Atharvaveda none was extant. But on inquiry it was discovered that there was a Brahmin in Sinor, Gujarat, who was conversant with the Saunaka Sakha of this Veda. Kanchi Mahaswami sent students from Tamil Nadu to learn the same from him.
The Aitareya Brahmana and the Kausitaki Brahmana ( also called Sankhayana Brahmana) of the Rigveda are still available to us. The Aitareya Upanisad and the Kausitaki Upanisad, which are part of the Aranyakas belonging to these, are still extant.
Of the Sukla- Yajurveda we have the Satapatha Brahmana. This is common- with minor differences- to both the Madhyandina and Kanva Sakhas. It is a voluminous work which serves as an explanation for all the Vedas. Only one Aranyaka is extant from this Veda and it constitutes the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. I have already mentioned that the Isavasya Upanisad belongs to the Samhita part of the Veda.
Of the Krsna- Yajurveda the Taittiriya Brahmana alone is extant. Among the Aranyakas of this Veda we have the Taittitiya; the Taittiriya Upanisad and the Mahanarayana Upanisad are part of it. The latter contains a number of mantras commonly used. The Maitrayani Aranyaka and the Upanisad of the same name also belong to the Krsna- Yajurveda. As mentioned before, of the Katha Sakha only the Upanisad( Kathopanisad) is available, not the Samhita, Brahmana and Aranyaka.
(Similarly, the Svetasvatoaropanisad of the Krsna- Yajurveda is still extant, but no other part of the relevant sakha. )
Nine hundred ninety- seven sakhas of the Samaveda are lost and of its Brahmanas only some seven or eight have survived- Tandya, Arseya, Devatadhyaya, Samhitopanishad, Vamsa, ( Sadvimsa, Chandogya, Jaiminiya). The Talavakara Aranyaka of this Veda is also called the Talavakara Brahmana. The Kenopanishad comes at the end of it: so it is also known as the Talavakara Upanisad. The Chandogya Brahmana has the Chandogya Upanisad.( We saw Sambandar referring the 1000 divisions of samaveda in Thevaram)
We still have three important Upanisads from the Atharvaveda- Prasna, Mundaka and Mandukya. ( The Nrsimha Tapini Upanisad also belongs to this Veda. ) The only Brahmana of this Veda to have survived is Gopatha.( the above details are taken from the Book Hindu Dharma) With the available small portion of the Vedas , discussing Rudra, Brahma and Vishnu is like discussing ocean by seeing a glass of water.
I was happy to see your message in response to mine.
After graduation I became an industrial worker. But I could spend an hour or two a day. I started with Dr.S.Radhakrishnan. 1. Hindu vie of life. 2. Recovery of faith. The later was a study in comparative Religion. Both were excellent reading. At that time I thought The bantam volume you referred was too large for me to go through. since I was engaged in reading for professional course ( distance Education
I suggest that you shoua small summaries of some important sections of the book " Indian Philosophy, . That would be a welcome servicce
"Surya in the form of Vishnu supports all the worlds. Vishnu is the god of three strides. He covers the earth, heaven and highest worlds visible to mortals."
He goes on to say "Vishnu holds a subordinate position in the Rg-Vedam though he has a great future before him". ... "Rudra also holds a subordinate position in the Rg-Veda and is celebrated only in 3 hymns"
Dr. S.R describes the evolution of Rg-Veda.. verses of Rg-Veda were probably composed over a millennia, and start from early exploration onto more concrete philosophies. It also was not dogmatic.. was very willing to understand and even include IVC beliefs, tribal beliefs, etc. It started out as a "theistic" religion saying Varuna was the greatest god.. subsequently, Mithra became greatest. The beliefs were also influenced by Persians and maybe Greeks too. Hence were added Vishwakarma, Parjanya, Vayu, Agni, Indra to the pantheon. The author speculates that when Indra won over Vrtasura, he became the head of Gods. There is also a Krishna mentioned as a head of a tribal cult who fought with Indra :) - this tribal Krishna may have easily evolved into the Krishna we visualize today. "
THANKS FOR SHARING DEAR MEMBER DEEPA BASKARAN.
But I could spend an hour or two a day. I started with Dr.S.Radhakrishnan.