"Akshara - Word - Language" - Its nature, science and few basics

Disclaimer:
It is an articulation of what i have understood and sharing it as a blog. Any
suggestions / comments welcome.




Everything in this world vibrates. Whatever vibrates produces a sound.
Every vibration has sound, meaning, form, colour and light. While all of us may
agree on the sound being part of vibration some of us would not agree that it
always has a meaning, colour and light. 




Sounds are of 2 types:




1. That which is part of an human language. Here word is constructed from
letters and each word has its meaning and the language being compiled using the
grammar.




2. Sounds that are not part of human language and hence does not make sense
to us. Hence we may perceive that it does not have any meaning. Here too there
are sounds which have meaning like Beeja Aksharas or animal sounds which
certainly has meaning. But lets ignore the second type in this blog and focus
on the first.




In the first type the aggregation of vibration as sound can be represented
with a Akshara (Alphabet / letter) which also has a meaning. If you need more
details you can refer to this site which http://www.sanskrit-sanscrito.com.ar/en/learning-sanskrit-first-steps-1-1/406 offers
more details on Sanskrit alphabets.




So, this alphabet is called Akshara - which is formed by the
merging of sound, meaning, form, color and light. This is the origin
or Moolam in Tamil. This akshara cannot be broken down further which means
sound and its attribute (meaning), light and its attributes (form, color) all
coexist and cannot exist independently. In tamil and Sanskrit this
combination of light and sound is called Bindu and Nadham.




Let’s look at the attributes of light which is the form of the letter.
There are 4 fundamental shapes that gives rise to form. Dot, Line,
Curve (Cresent) and circle also known as Bindu, kodu, pirai,
vattam in Tamil. All forms in this universe are based on the
combination of the above 4 fundamental shapes. 




Everything starts with bindu (dot), at a very small
time-distance dimension everything is a straight line (Kodu), at a medium
spacio-temporal dimension everything is a pirai or curve / cresent, because
everything is rotating. At a very large time-distance dimensio everything is a
circle in 2 dimension and a helical spiral leading to a sphere in 3D.
Alternatively what can be said is a bindu (dot) over Spacio temporal journey
becomes a line, cresent, a circle / sphere and ends as a dot. "What
starts with a bindu ends in a bindu after this journey".




Now, lets look at the fundamentally attributes of
an akshara. Each letter apart from having meaning, sound, light, form, color as
5 attributes has further attributes as:




1. State of its existence:  As either matter, energy (life-
vowels), Consonants - Energy+Matter, a living word. Only when they combine
a letter itself is formed. Body + life is a living organism and hence an
Akshara. 

2. Gender: Each Akshara can also be classified as a male, or
female or neuter gender. These articles below can explain this paragraph
better.

http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.in/2012/01/time-space-series-part-2-sound-merges.html

http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.in/2012/01/time-space-series-part-3-vaak-artha.html

http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.in/2012/01/time-space-series-part-5-energy-matter.html




So an akshara has the following 7 attributes -
sound, meaning, form, color, light, gender, state of existence. When Aksharas combine with each other and
with time a word is produced. Each Akshara has a small time duration called
Matra. When Aksharas combine then so many matras get added and a word is
formed.




Or alternatively time (Kaalam) creates word from a
combination of aksharas. When the combination of sound, light, meaning, form
and color is aligned with the vibration then it is called as word. When
everything is aligned in the above fashion the word has a natural rhythm. This
is called Seelam in Tamil.




Combination of words form a language. A language so
created from the moolam (primordial vibration) by the kaalam (time) with seelam
(natural rhythm aligned with primordial vibration) that retains a natural
meaning for that vibration is a classical language. This means 7 attributes of each alphabet is
aligned well that the word's attributes are in line with the sum of the
attributes of the letter. The quick measure for this are:




1. Can you break a word to its roots, ie.
individual letters?

2. Does each letter carry a meaning?

3. More importantly when these letters are combined
is the individual meanings of the letter retained in the word?

4. Does each letter sound uniquely?

5. Does that letter retain that sound in a word?
Alternatively when you add the sounds of the letter can you pronounce the word?




These words also take a gender in a classical
language. So a word has 2 more attributes than the alphabet. They are time
(kaalam) and ability to combine / fusion (sandhi) as per the grammar. Here
grammar is an expression of seelam (natural rhythm).




When you speak in classical languages like Sanskrit
and Tamil, there is no difference between how the word is pronounced and how
the letters in that combination is pronounced. There are no silent words and
the pronunciation will not change with different words.




For Ex. In Psychology (P) is silent. This can be
written as Sykhology, cykhology and everything can be right.




So an Akshara has 7 attributes as mentioned above
and words have 2 more attributes and these attributes fundamentally define a
language. I am stopping this article now and based on queries raised for this
blog, i shall write the next article on this topic.




Happy reading!

Sanskrit sayings 5 - Sharing, Humility, Useless people, Pyre and Worry

This is part 5 of the Sanskrit quotes that i liked. Hope you enjoy it.

 1: Giving & Sharing

दानोपभोगरहिता दिवसा यस्य यान्ति वै। 
स लोहकारभस्त्रेव श्वसन्नपि न जीवति॥
Dhaanaubhogarahita divasaa yasya yaanti vai!

Sa lohakaarabhastraiva svasannapi na jeevati!!

Meaning:

The quote very nicely captures “Living is in giving and giving is living”. A person who passes his days without donations and enjoyments is like a blacksmith's bellows, he breathes but does not live.

Topic 2: Humility

भवन्ति नम्रास्तरवः फलोद्गमैः
नवाम्बुभिर्भूरिविलम्बिनो घनाः ।
अनुद्धताः सत्पुरुषाः समृद्धिभिः
स्वभाव एवैषः परोपकारिणाम् ॥
Bhavanti namraastaravaha phalaudhajamaihi

Navaam bhubhirbhuri vilambino ganaaha

Anudhdhatha satpurushaaha samrudhdhibhihi

Svabhaava yevaisha paropakaarimaan!!

Meaning:
On bearing fruits, trees bend (i.e. become humble), 
with new [recently] gathered water, clouds hang very low,
wealthy good men maintain non-arrogant nature,
this is the nature of benevolent persons.

Topic 3: Useless poeple

व्दौ अम्भासी निवेष्टव्यौ गले बदध्वा दृटां शिलां!

धनावान्तामदातारम  दरिद्रम चातपस्विनम !!

Vdau Ambaasi niveshtavyau Gale Bandhvaa dritaam sheelam

Dhanaavaanataam dhaathaaram Daridram chaatapasvinam!!

There are two types of people who should be pushed in deep water with heavy stones tied to their body! One who does not donate despite being rich and the other who does not work hard despite being poor !!

Topic 4: Worry & Pyre

चिन्ता चिता समानाऽस्ति बिन्दुमात्रविशेषतः |
सजीवं दहते चिन्ता निर्जीवं दहते चिता ||

Chinta Chita samaanasti binda maatra visheshita!

Sajeevam dahate chinta nirjeevam dahate chita!

This is a classic quote which talks about similarity between worry and funeral pyre. While worry burns the body alive, the funeral pyre burns the dead body. "Chita" means pyre and "Chinta" means worry and the difference is just an anusvara! So, avoid anxiety.

Topic 5: Always worry about this!

कः कालः कानि मित्रांनी को देशः कौव्ययागमौ

कज्चाहं का चमे शक्ति रीति चिन्त्यं मुहुमुर्हुः!!

Well. While the earlier quote told us not to worry, this quote tells us to worry about few things always. If you are confused at the contradictions. Isn't life all about balancing extremes and contradictions? Instead of using the word "Worry" i would rather use circumspect and contemplate.

How is the time / situation around me? who & how are my friends? what is condition in the country? what are the things for and against me (or what do I have and what I don't have)? who am I? what are my strengths?" one should always worry about these questions. 

Happy reading!

Sanskrit sayings 4 - Women, Help, overindulgence, Tongue and leadership trait

Here we continue to part 4. I shall start with the importance of women in the society and continue this part.

Topic 1: Importance of women

यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यंते रमंते तत्र देवताः।
यत्र तास्तु न पूज्यंते तत्र सर्वाफलक्रियाः॥
Yatra naaryastu poojyante ramnte tatra devataaha

Yatra thaastu na poojyante tatra sarva phalakriyaaha!!

Meaning:
This quote highlights the importance we attached to women in the society. Angels and goddess won’t dwell in a place where women are not worshiped.

Where women are worshiped, goddesses dwell.
Where they are not worshiped, all actions are fruitless.

Topic 2: Remember and repay the help received

प्रथमवयसि पीतं तोयमल्पं स्मरन्त:
शिरसि निहितभारा नारिकेला नराणाम्।
ददति जलमनल्पास्वादमाजीवितान्तं
न हि कृतमुपकारं साधवो विस्मरन्ति॥
Prathamavayasi pitham thoyamalpam smarantham

Shirasi nihithabhaara naarikela naranaam

Dhadhathi jalamanalpasvaadhamaa jeevithaantham

Nahi kritamupakaaram saadhavo vismaranthi

Meaning:

The Coconut trees, remembering the little amount of water they were fed, when they were saplings, carry loads of coconuts on their top and supply humans with very-tasty and sweet water in abundance, for their life-span.

The Wise never forget a help received.

There is an equally beautiful poem in Tamil by Auvaiyaar which I want to quote with a word of caution. Please do not try to find out whether it came in Tamil first or Sanskrit. Both of them are beautiful as languages and had ocean of wisdom with them.

நன்றி ஒருவர்க்குச் செய்தக்கால் அந்நன்றி

என்று தருங்கோல் என வேண்டா - நின்று
தளரா வளர்தெங்கு தாளுண்ட நீரைத்
தலையாலே தான்தருத லால்.

Topic 3: An important trait  of leadership

अमंत्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम्‌।
अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः॥
Amantram aksharam Naasti, naasti moolam aushadam

Ayogya: purusha naasti yojakasthram durlabha

Meaning:

This is a good quote for parents, teachers and managers esp. the third line, where it says that every individual has a potential and it is up to the leader to make use of them.

There is no letter which doesn't have charm (curative property).

There is no root which doesn't have medicinal property.
There is no man who is not able.
Rare is a person who knows its proper application.

Topic 4: Importance of tip of the tongue

लक्ष्मीर्वसति जिह्वाग्रे।
जिह्वाग्रे मित्रबान्धवा:।
जिह्वाग्रे बन्धनं प्राप्तं
जिह्वाग्रे मरणं ध्रुवम्। 
Lakshmir vasati jihvaagre

Jihvaagre mitrabaandhavaaha

Jihvaagre bandhan praaptham

Jihvaagre maranam Dhruvam

Meaning:

How careful you need to be with the tip of the tongue and the quote ranges from prosperity to death.

Prosperity resides on the tip of the tongue, friends are found there on it. The tip of your tongue has the capacity to arrest you and verily death resides on it for sure.

Topic 5: Overindulgence

अतिदानाद्बलिर्बद्धो ह्यतिमानात् ढुरियोधन:।
विनष्टो रावणो लौल्यादति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत्।
Atidhaanaad balir Bhadhdho hayatimanaat Dhuriyodhanaha!

Vinashto raavano laulyaadhathi sarvatra varjayet!!

Meaning:
Well! This is a gem of a quote which highlights extremes are very bad and we need to be balanced. It is a gem because even excessive charitable nature is to be shunned and it gives an example of King Bali, because of his excessive charitable nature he was killed.

(The demon king) Bali was vanquished due to his excessive charitable nature.
King Duryodhana was humbled for his excessive pride.
(Demon Emperor) Ravana was destroyed due to excessive womanising.
Hence one should shun excessiveness in all things.

So lets meet again in the next blog.

Happy reading!

Sanskrit sayings 3 - Quotes, Beauty, wealth and Destiny

This is part 3 in this series. I am sharing some of the quotes which i liked. Considering the attention span i shall limit to 5 quotes per blog and continue this in the next blog.

1. Topic: On sweetness of Sanskrit quotes

द्राक्षा म्लानमुखी जाता शर्करा चाश्मतां गता
सुभाषितरसं दृष्ट्वा सुधा भीता दिवं गता!!

Draksha mlaanamukhi jaatha, sharkara chaasha mataam jaata

Shubhashita rasam drishtvaa sudha bheetaa divam jaata!!

Meaning:

(The sweetness of Sanskrit quotes are so good that the considered sweeter things in this world ran away at the sight of sweetness of Sanskrit quotes). Looking at the flavor of subhashitas (good Sanskrit quotes), grape turned pale, sugar turned into crystals and amrita [elixir of life] ran away to heaven.

2. Topic: On the inability to share Sanskrit quotes

बोधारो मत्सरग्रस्ताः प्रभवः स्मयदूषिताः। 

अबोधोपहताश्चान्ये जीर्णमङ्गे सुभाषितम्॥

Meaning:

Well! We saw a quote related to sweetness of Sanskrit quotes and this quote is for people who wants to share a good quote but are not doing it for whatever reasons. This person is very anxious that he is unable to share his quote and you yourself read what the reasons are behind it?

Learned men are jealous, master(s) laugh at me.

Other do not understand, thus good quote remains in this old body of mine.

3. Topic: Real beauty of an individual

श्रोत्रं श्रृतेनैव न कुन्डलेन दानेन पाणिर्न तु कंकणेन

विभाति काय: करुणापराणां परोपकारैर्न तु चन्दनेन

Srotram Shrutenau na kundalenam, dhaanena paanirnatu kankanena

Vibhaati kaaya: karunaaparaanaam paropakaarairna chandanena!

Meaning:
We wear multiple ornaments to add beauty to our form. This quote highlights what is adds to the real beauty to a person.

For the kind hearted people, their ear glows by the knowledge & not by the ear ring, their hand glows by the donation by the hand & not by bracelet, their body glows by the selfless deeds done & not by anointment with sandalwood oil.

4. Topic: Real wealth

न चोरहार्यं न च राजहार्यं न भ्रातृभ्राज्यं न च भारकारि।
व्यये कृते वर्धत एव नित्यं विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम्॥
Na Chorahaaryam na cha raajahaaryam na bhraatur bhraajyam na cha bhaarakaari

Vyaye krite vardhata eva nityam vidyadanam sarva dhana pradhanam.

Meaning:
What is the best of all wealth? Which can’t be taken by a king or thief? Which wealth shall increase upon sharing? This quote gives the answer.

It cannot be stolen by a thief.
It cannot be taken away by a King.
It cannot be divided among brothers.
It does not cause load. It always increases when spent.
The wealth of knowledge is the greatest of all wealth.

5. Topic: Destiny

रात्रिर्गमिष्यति भविष्यति सुप्रभातम्
भास्वानुदेष्यति हसिष्यति पंकजश्रीः। 
इति विचारयति कोषगते द्विरेफे 
हा हंत हंत नलिनीं गज उज्जहार॥
Raatrir gamishyati bhavishyati suprabhaatam

Bhaasvaanudheshyati hasishyati pankajasri

Iti vichaarayati koshagate dvirephe

Ha hantham hantham nalineem gaja ujjahara!!

Meaning:
Night will be over, there will be morning,
The sun will rise, lotus flower will open.
While the bee inside the lotus flower was thinking thus,
The lotus plant was uprooted by an elephant.

I shall continue this in the next part.

Happy reading!

The Great Sages of India - Brahmins Vs Kshatriyas - Part 10

Throughout the history we can notice that the Brahmins and Kshatriyas have always shared a Love / Hate relationship with each other. 

• Brahmins have always been under the protective cover of the rulers and even Lord Krishna says (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.16.10), “The brahmanas, the cows, are defenseless creatures and they are my own body.”

• Kshatriyas have largely been patronizing the Brahmins for their wisdom, knowledge and austerity. But there are many instances where Brahmins and Kshatriyas have been at loggerheads like cats and dogs and when you read few stories filled with vengeance and violence it would send shivers through your spine.

• Barring the story of Parasurama who belongs to the same Bhargava Clan, Brahmins have always been at the receiving end.

• We read many instances of inter-caste marriages between Brahmins and Kshatriyas that were very prevalent those days and it should be noted that Brahmin men were allowed to marry ladies from the 3 castes (lowest class excluded) but Kshatirya men were not allowed to marry Brahmin ladies but can marry ladies from other 3 castes. I don't know the logic for this but this was the rule.

• When Ravana's sister Soorpanaka asks Rama to marry her, Lord Rama rejects her saying, she is the daughter of grand son of Brahma who is a Brahmin and hence he cannot marry her. Poet Kambar uses a fantastic term to describe her "பூவிலோன் புதல்வன் மைந்தன் புதல்வன் புதல்வி..."

• Sage Chavanar married Sukanya who is the daughter of King Saryathi. The kings were also very much happy in most of the instances to marry their daughter off to Sages like Chyavanar.

• In Ramayana Seeta tells Lord Rama "Sukanya Chyavanam Yatha" meaning i shall be as dedicated Sukanya who was a loyal and dedicated wife to Sage Chyavana.

• As i said in my introduction we need to recollect the sage and his wife together since the tapas, austerity and spiritual powers were shared by both and it was not a male dominated society. There are multiple stories about Sage Chyavanar and Sukanya which highlights Sukanya's loyalty and dedication to her husband.

Sage Chyavanar could foresee that this inter-caste marriage arrangement would lead to extreme hostilities between Brahmins and Kshatriyas and he tried his level best to avert this but he could not.

We will see this story in the next part.

Happy reading!

The Great Sages of India - Value of ONE Cow - part 9

Sage Chyavanar was once meditating under Ganges for many years continuously and one day he got caught in the fishing net of the local fishermen. The fishermen were shocked to see a Sage in meditation midst the catch and the Sage came out of his meditation.

The fishermen pleaded for the Sage's mercy and they told him that it was a mistake that he was fished out his meditation from deep waters. The Sage understood that it is not their mistake and he submitted himself to them and said,"I am your catch and you can sell me just like you would sell the fish". The fishermen did not know how to react and they ran to their king and told them the story.

The local king then was Nahusha, who was known for his governance and dharma. He came running to the Sage offering apologies for the inadvertent mistake of his people. Then a discussion starts between Sage Chayvanar and King Nahusha which is called as "Chayvana- Nahusha Samvadam".

King: Oh! Sage, please accept my apologies for the mistake of my men. Please tell me how can i be of help to you.

Sage: Never mind Nahusha. It is not their mistake and I belong to them now and they should see me like any other catch of theirs. You can buy me from them and set me free for me to continue my meditation.

Nahusha realized the embarrassing position he was put in. He was also scared to put a value for the Sage, so he requested the Sage to tell him what the value is so that he can pay that to the fishermen. The king thought that he would offer few thousand gold coins and buy out the sage from the fishermen. Just as he was thinking the Sage said:

Sage: Use your Buddhi (intelligence) and decide for yourself as to what my value is.

King: Can i value you and offer 100000 gold coins?

Sage: Please talk to your ministers and decide what my value is.

King: The king summoned most intelligent of his ministers and finally came to the Sage and said, Can i value you and offer 10,000,000 gold coins?

Sage: The sage neither agreed or disagreed but said, please talk to learned Brahmins  and decide what my value is.

King: By that time the word had spread and the crowd has started swelling around the place. After consulting the learned Brahmins, the king said, i can offer my entire kingdom for you Sage. Please accept my offer.

Sage: The sage neither agreed or disagreed but said, please talk to wise Sages in your country and decide what my value is.

The king for the first time realized that there is something of more value than his kingdom which he thought is the highest value that he can offer. Probably he understood the difference between his perception of value and the Sage's perception of value. As he was about to set off to his forest to meet wise Rishis, one Rishi was walking through the country at that time.

The King prostrated to the Rishi and explained him the problem and requested for a solution. The Rishi quipped just once sentence and walked away. What was the one liner that provided instant solution for this problematic question?

The Rishi's answer was "Gaurmoolyam Parikalpatam", meaning that just offer one Cow as the value for that Sage and free him from the fishermen. Sage Chyavanar accepted this happily and the issue was resolved.

This is captured in Mahabharatha (13.51.27,28) as:

कीर्तनं श्रवणं दानं दर्शनं चापि पार्थिव।
गवां प्रशस्यते वीर सर्वपापहरं शिवम्।। 
गावो लक्ष्म्याः सदा मूलं गोषु पाप्मा न विद्यते।
अन्नमेव सदा गावो देवानां परमं हविः।।

"King, Cows are the most sacred among the universal creatures.

Even seeing them, talking about them, donating them can reduce your sins

Goddess Lakshmi is permanently residing in the cows

All the Devas are kept happy through the offerings from Cows"

Not just protection of the cow but praying Cows as mother goddess is deeply embedded in our culture. Should i say WAS part of our culture.

Today I can't express my emotions after i saw this film in you tube. I want you to watch this movie in the You tube and spare 30 minutes:

Tamil version of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eGHfPQGbUlc#!

English Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8-Hi2N8FcE&feature=relmfu

From being country which respected every living being and killing a cow was thought to be one of the worst crime you can commit, we are today among the top 5 exporters of meat / meat products. The government of the day encourages slaughter houses and gives concessions with tax payers money.

I shall write a separate article on the importance of Cow protection and how our future is inextricably linked to the welfare of cattle. But for now, let me stop this blog with a quote from MAHATMA GANDHI:

"If there is an option to choose between Independence and prevention of Cow Slaughter, I would choose the latter, for its protection shall open all means to achieve true independence."

And we did not know that Gandhi placed cow protection above India's independence.

Happy reading!

The Great Sages of India - Chyavana Prasava Lehyam - Part 8

The brilliant boy with so much radiance who protected his mother and burnt the demon  at the time of his birth is Sage Chyavanar. He is one of the most respected sages in the Bhrigu clan and his name in the pravara is mentioned as Chyaavana. 

It is told that he does Tapas for years together, which includes 12 years of Tapas under water at Prayag (at the junction of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati) and also some instances where termites build castles around him since he meditates unmoved in one place. He is also described as extremely skinny and looks very old, impatient, obstinate, quick to anger.

In one instance in a Yagna he invited "Ashwini Devas" for the Soma bana drink. Each Yagna is done with specific invitees and the offering in Yagna is given to only those invitees. Typically only Devas are invited and though technically being devas, "Ashwini Devas" are the lord of medicine to the mankind. Since Devas are immortal they do not require any medicine so they considered "Ashwini Devas" as inferior to them. The other reason why devas were against Ashwini brothers is interesting, "They kill plants and herbs to make medicines, though medicines save human life, they still kill the plants and hence they are not qualified in this divine gathering". Now this highlights that killing even a plant despite it saving lives are considered bad in certain section of the universe. Compare the type of crime we commit when we kill animals to satisfy our taste buds.

The devas objected to Sage Chyavanar that he cannot call Ashwini Devas for the yagna and offer them Soma Bana as it the right of "qualified" devas only. But the sage was obstinate and told them that it is his Yagna and he shall decide whom to invite and what to offer. Considering the spiritual powers of the Sage, the devas grudgingly agreed.

Ashwini Devas were treated well in the yagna by Chyavanar and were offered Soma bana drink. In return Ashwini Devas gave Sage Chyavanar a special medicine which shall remove his old age and bring back youth and virility to him.

This potion / medicine which was given to Sage Chyavanar by Ashwini Devas is called as Chyavana Prasava Lehyam now popularly called as "Chyavanprash" today.

The above story is documented part of our Vedas which are actually undated, yet it is dated at least 5000 years back even by skeptics. Now if that is so, we have a medical product in Ayurveda, to this date which delivers the same benefits.

I leave it to you whether to dismiss this as some story or mythology or accept that it could have been part of our remote past. Lets see more about Sage Chyavanar in the next post.

Happy reading!

The Great Sages of India... Bhargava Ganam ... Part 7

Apart from astrology and contribution to Vedas Sage Bhrigu also has contributions in Ayurveda, Bhriguvalli section in Taitropanishad, Sage Bhrigu - Bharadwaja samvadam in Maha Bharatha et al.

Agni as Sarva Pakshan (All consuming) :

One of the qualities of Agni (Fire), as we know today, is that it burns everything. In Vedas it is referred as Agni consuming / eating things. Can you believe that Agni once upon a time used to burn only things which were given as a part of Yagna and nothing otherwise? Sounds difficult to believe but there is a story to it, linked to Sage Bhrigu.

Sage Bhrigu was also married to Puloma (understandably he had many wives) who was very beautiful and a demon wanted to snatch her away from the Sage. Since the Sage was very powerful it was scared to do that and hence was waiting for the right time. Knowing the demon's intent the Sage used to keep Agni as the guard for his wife, if he has to go out of the ashram.

Once when the Sage went out with Agni as the guard, the demon entered the ashram and was trying to abduct Puloma. Agni could have prevented the demon but did not do it for whatever reason. At that time Puloma was pregnant and was about to deliver a baby. Just as the demon carried the pregnant Puloma from the ashram, the Sage returned and at the same time Puloma delivered a radiant baby boy which fell to the ground.

The radiance of the new born child just burnt the demon fully and saved his mother. Sage Bhrigu was so angry that he cursed Agni that you shall become Sarva Pakshan. This is a very demeaning curse for the devas since Agni was supposed to be pure and should consume only what is given as Havis in a yagna and nothing otherwise.

Since the Sage was very powerful and also angry at that time, even Lord Brahma (his father) could not pacify the Sage and reverse the curse. No doubt had there been no curse like this, we would have an Agni which is so different in its quality then we know today.

So a Sage who was in love with Agni and discovered him in water was also the one who cursed it to change its quality to burn everything instead of a selective few.

The boy who fell on the ground and burnt the demon with his radiance was called Sage Chayavanar. We will discuss about him in the next post.

Happy reading!

PS: You may think what about fire resistant / retardant products which are fire proof. If you read the fine print of any of the fire proof products or for that matter fire extinguishers it says that it is a matter of time that it can resist, the maximum temperature it can resist, the strength of the fire, of course being a function of all the three.

The Great Sages of India - Bhargava Ganam - Part 6

Sage Bhrigu was created by Brahma from his skin and is the father of Sri Vatsa Gothra and his clan is called as Bhargava Ganam. We will start with this lineage. 5 Rishis form the pravara who are direct sons of each other starting from Sage Bhrigu, as 

Sage Bhrigu - Sage Chayavanar - Sage Aapnavar - Sage Auravar - Sage Jamadagni

All the five sages have significant contribution to our Sanatana Dharma and if Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says "Maharishinaam Bhriguraham", meaning Sage Bhrigu is the superior of the rishis then there is nothing more required to praise his greatness.

• Sage Bhrigu and his wife Khyadi gave birth to Goddess Maha Lakshmi and hence Sage Bhrigu is the father in law of Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi is called as "Bhargavi" daughter of Bhrigu.
• Sage Bhrigu and Khyadi gave birth to Sage Sukrachariyar the Guru of Demons.
• Khyadi was the daughter of Dakshan and hence Bhrigu is the Co-brother to Lord Shiva (Who married Sati - Dakshan's daughter), Co-brother to Sage Kashyapar (who married 13 daughters of Dakshan), Co-brother to Chandran (who married 27 daughters of Dakshan). Looks like Dakshan was a whole sale producer of good looking girls and every male at time in India should have wished that is father in-law is like Dakshan. :)
• Lord Indra's daughter Jayanthi aka Kavya was married to Sukrachariyar and hence Lord Bhrigu was Sambandhi of Indra.
• Bhrigu Samhita is the first treatise in the field of predictive Astrology written by Bhrigu.

Sage Bhrigu was also highly self-conceited at some point of time and his pride was removed by Lord Vishnu when the eye in sage's feet was destroyed. This is a well known story.

Fire from Water:

According to Vedas fire can be produced from different sources like Space, plants, trees, thick & dry shrubs, stones, forest, some medicines and also from water. Till our western science came up with the formula for water as H2O, they did not know that fire (Oxygen) is embedded in water and can be produced from it.

इमं विधन्तो अपां सधस्थे पशुं न नष्टं पदैरनु गमन |

गुहा चतन्तमुशिजो नमोभिरिछन्तो धीराभ्र्गवो.अविन्दन ||

imaṃ vidhanto apāṃ sadhasthe paśuṃ na naṣṭaṃ padairanu ghman |

ghuhā catantamuśijo namobhirichanto dhīrābhṛghavo.avindan ||

Worshipping, seeking him with adoration like some lost creature followed by its footprints,

Wise Bhrgus, yearning in their hearts, pursued him, and found him lurking where the floods are gathered.

The above Rig Mantra says that Sage Bhrigu, was the first person who discovered that fire can be produced from water. All the sages have significant relationship with fire and fire rituals. The above sloka states that just how a person who has lost his cattle would search around even tracing its footprint, Sage Bhrigu searched for fire in this universe and discovered it in water. Such was the Sage's love for fire that he even cursed and changed the quality of fire totally which we will see in the next section.

The above verse is dated 3000 BC even by the skeptics of Sanatana Dharma which is certainly 4500 years earlier than the western scientists told us that fire can be produced from water. Why should such wisdom be allowed die due to our ignorance and indifference? Think about it.

We will see more in the subsequent blogs...

Happy Reading!