When was the First Vedic Homa done? - IV
by Jayasree Saranathan on 26 Oct 2023 19 Comments

Origin and evolution of Tamil and Sanskrit

There is textual reference that Tamil existed side by side with Sanskrit.[4] This reference substantiates that Sanskrit was known to Skanda at that time (to facilitate the performance of Vedic Homa). The idea of simultaneous existence of Sanskrit and Tamil is very old - something found in old texts and also coming by tradition. The text ‘Tiruvilayadal Puranam’ states that Lord Shiva simultaneously preached Sanskrit grammar to Panini and Tamil grammar to Agastya in the Pandyan country. (Though Panini lived later than Agastya, the poet used his name for our understanding, to imply that he gave us Sanskrit grammar) This idea is a very old one, found in old texts, and has been told generationally.  There was even a certain period when this happened.

 

The Time of the preaching of the two languages simultaneously by Lord Shiva is mentioned in Thirumanthiram composed by a Siddha named ’Thirumoolar’. His verse says, “There was a time when rainy season and summer season ceased to exist. There was snow everywhere that made the lakes to shrink. At that time Lord Siva taught Sanskrit and Tamil to his consort.”[5]

 

The time corresponds to the Ice age or pre-Holocene when two languages were formed by a people owing allegiance to Siva or Sakti or both. The very purpose of the Tamil Sangam being promotion of grammatical Tamil, it goes without saying that the language was newly formed and was sought to be popularised among the masses. Simultaneously the ‘well-perfected’ Sanskrit was used for Vedic Homa.

 

Thus, we find the birth two languages - both formed with efforts and were not naturally existing and perhaps drawn from a pre-existing proto language. The name of just only one person is associated with both the languages at the time of their formation. That person was Skanda, who initiated the Tamil Assembly for the promotion of Tamil and Vedic Homa in which Sanskrit found an everlasting utility.

 

His time as per Tamil literary evidence was around 10,000 BCE (12,000 years before present). That was the time of the first ever Vedic Homa!

 

His life events as given in Tamil texts more or less match the description given by Marka??eya. The comparison with the Tamil texts is necessary to establish the authenticity of the events involving Skanda.

 

? The first ever event in Skanda’s life as per the Mahabharata was breaking the Kraunca mountain. The same is found in Tamil literature too. That perhaps marks the time people invented means to break the mountain slopes for stone works.

 

? Skanda was described as seated on a hill top in the narration by Marka??eya. That is also the same in Tamil tradition, and temples of Skanda are found on hill tops.

 

? The next event was the fight with Indra in which Indra attacked with Vajrayudha ‘piercing’ Skanda, leading to the birth of Visakha. The parallel in Tamil texts speaks about the first sea flood that was controlled by Skanda by throwing the spear he got from his mother, Sakti.

 

? This event might sound as a myth, but a similar kind of event is reported in Rama’s life too when he was asked to direct his Brahmastra at a location so that the sea at the place he was standing could recede, giving way for him to cross the sea. From the available scientific knowledge, we can say that a tectonic disturbance at a place on the sea- floor can cause the waves to move in a different direction. Both Skanda and Rama directed their weapons at a region in the sea in such a way that water in these places receded and sea floods moved in a different direction.

 

? The name ‘Visakha’ is not associated with this legend in Tamil.

 

? The ‘Fall’ of Abhijit appearing after this incident in Mahabharata is not found in the texts.

 

? The marriage of Svaha and Agni mentioned in the Mahabharata has a different kind of presence in Tamil texts. Skanda has taught the Veda-s to sages. The foremost teaching was giving the Pra?ava mantra (AUM) to his own father Siva, say Tamil texts like Tiruvilaiyadal Purana. Skanda teaching Pra?ava to Siva is found in all legends of Skanda in Tamil. The temple of Skanda at Swamimalai is hailed as the place where he taught the Pra?ava. Pra?ava being the initial utterance at any Vedic chant, it appears now - after realising the role of Skanda in the marriage of Svaha and Agni - that Skanda as initiator of Vedic Homa had been remembered by the Tamils by the story of teaching Pra?ava to Siva himself. In reality it was the occasion of Skanda conceiving the concept of ‘Aupasana’ (AUM-Upasana) and conducting the Homa every day after his marriage with Devasena.

 

Early evidence of rice in Tiruchendur supports genesis of Vedic Homa around that region

In Aupasana homa, rice is offered into the agni. Since Skanda initiated the Aupasana for the first time, it goes without saying that rice was available during the time of Skanda. So far, we have proved that Skanda lived 12,000 years ago. Only if we prove that rice was produced during the same period, can we say that our research is going in the right direction. Our focus is now on the region where Skanda was supposed to have lived.  Though there are six places mentioned in Tamil literature as associated with Skanda, Tiruchendur scores above all as the place where Skanda spent his time in a cave. Skanda was a cave-dweller and he was called Guha. (His followers were called ‘Guhyaka-s’).

 

The Skanda temple in Tiruchendur was originally a cave, and even the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity, Shanmukha (another name for Skanda with six faces) is part of a cave converted into a room-like structure. The history of the temple says that Lord Shiva was housed there, worshiped by Skanda himself. Today Shiva is replaced with Shanmukha in the main shrine. Cave structures, both inside and outside the temple, still exist, and it is said that the cave was broken down a few hundred years ago and built into a temple. Accordingly, the temple appears very low in what seems to be a huge dug-out pit.

 

The sea adjacent to the temple has a rocky bottom, and it is said that the mouth of the cave was facing the sea. In the past, access to the temple (in the cave) was from the seaside. People had to go into the sea to reach the entrance of the cave temple. The difficulty in entering the cave made the people of ancient times create access from land-side by altering the original shape of the cave. 

 

It is seen that Thiruparamkundram, where Skanda is said to have married Devasena, was also carved out of a mountain cave. These places reveal that twelve thousand years ago, before the end of the Ice Age, people stayed in caves in the coastal areas. At that time there was not much population in Bharat, particularly in the north of the Vindhyas, which was cold, with no rivers flowing. Events of that time were recorded as metaphorical legends such as Indra throwing his vajrayudha, indicative of the arrival of rains. Southeast Asia was the region of this early rainfall coming at the end of Ice Age. At that time, climate enabled people to live only in the coastal areas of South India. The sea level was also at a depth of 120 metres below the present level.

 

Many places in the Tiruchendur region and the region between Bharat and Sri Lanka were above the water level at that time. Southern Madurai was somewhere in the south. The original inhabitants lived in the lands around the Bay of Bengal. These include Thailand (Indra Dveepa) and Indonesia (Saka Dveepa).

Most of the areas were above sea level 12,000 years ago. Indra Dveepa, associated with the Parijatha flower, is identified as the abode of Indra, based on the story of Satyabhama, wife of K???a, desiring to possess the Parijatha tree. Today apart from Bharat, Thailand is the only other place where Parijatha grows. From Thailand (Indra Dveepa), the tree must have been brought to Bharat. Skanda married Devasena, the daughter of Indra who must have belonged to Indra Dveepa.

 

Rice is an important grain used as oblations in the Aupasana fire – the primary fire that was initiated by Skanda. This requires cultivation of rice or availability of wild rice in the region around Tiruchendur. Research shows that of all the places in Bharat, wild rice occurred naturally for 20,000 years Before Present (BP) in the region of Tiruchendur! Some 20,000 years ago, when many parts of the world were glaciated and sea levels were low (Glacial Maxima), there was not much vegetation in most parts of the world. However, there is evidence of natural growth of wild rice in the areas around Tiruchendur and in the landlocked region between Bharat and Sri Lanka.

Rice was growing in parts of Eastern India as an extension of Southeast Asian influence. In contrast the rest of India, particularly the Sarasvati region, did not grow rice until 9000 years BP. Rice is imperative for Vedic Homa. Its growth evidenced only 9000 years ago in the Sarasvati region and in the west coast of Peninsular India shows the late arrival of Vedic culture in these regions. However, the Southeast part of Bharat where Skanda lived in the cave regions of Tiruchendur had the presence of rice plant long before. The combined evidence of early rice cultivation and Skanda’s presence in Tiruchendur region makes Southeast Tamilnadu the home of the First Vedic Homa. 

 

The time Manu entered Bharat

 

Having established that Skanda started the Vedic Homa and Manu came into existence only after Skanda, we can trace the path of migration from southeast India (Tiruchendur) to Dwaraka through the coastal line. During Skanda’s period 12,000 years ago, Visakha’s children (Manu and his clan who came up after the Visakha-legend of Skanda’s time) might have moved through the coastal route around Peninsular Bharat. With increase in solar heat at the end of the Ice Age some 12,000 years ago, the melting icebergs that fell into the Antarctic sea caused sudden flash floods.

 

There is scientific evidence of such floods that caused sudden sea-level rise. In one of the earliest floods around 12,000 years ago, Manu and others who were settled on the west coast of Peninsular Bharat must have been pushed into river Sarasvati and reached the Himalayan foothills. They could have also entered through Narmada valley. Those who entered Sarasvati River by a flash flood began a new life in the regions of Sarasvati. Through them, rice cultivation must have spread inside Bharat.

 

The rishis who accompanied Manu and who came after that time created the Rig Veda. This is how the history of the Vedic tradition of Bharat is told, but there is no Indic text saying that they came from Europe and West Asia through the Khyber Pass. Europe was freezing when Skanda was developing the Vedic Homa. Rice-genetics completely rules out Aryan migration from Europe where the climate was not conducive for growing rice. On reaching interior Bharat, Vaivasvata Manu built Ayodhya on the banks of river Sarayu and made his son Ikshvaku a king there. Rice is found in the areas adjoining Sarayu in the early days. The evidence of rice as early as 9000 years ago in the trans-Sarayu region establishes that the Sarayu culture was formed even before the emergence of settlements in the Saraswati-Sindhu region.

 

Time-period of Ramayana

Sri Lanka was connected with Bharat 9,000 years ago. So there is no possibility of the Ramayana having taken place before that date. Bharat and Sri Lanka were land-locked such that the land extension between them was visible above the sea level until 7,000 years ago. Around 7,000 years ago, for the first time the sea level suddenly rose and closed the land link, necessitating the construction of a bund. This was built by Rama, which came to be known as Ram-Setu. The feasibility of building a bund having risen only 7000 years ago, it can be said that the Ramayana occurred only 7000 years ago.

 

Skanda’s influence spread everywhere

The story of Skanda’s marriage with Devasena was preceded by a war with Surapadma. The location of Skanda after his victory in the war was a cave on the seashore of Tiruchendur, hence Tiruchendur is known as Srijayantipuram. The name Tiruchendur is a corrupted form of the Sanskrit word Sindhu - a name Adi Sankara used to denote this place near the ocean, in his composition, Subrahmanya Bhujangam. The word Sindhu joined with the Tamil word ‘ur’ had become Chendur. The prefix ‘Tiru’ was added for auspiciousness.

 

As per local tradition, Skanda stayed in the cave at Tiruchendur. His marriage took place at Tiruparamkundram. He taught the Pra?ava mantra to Lord Siva at Swamimalai. That is likely to be the place where the first Vedic Homa was done. All three places are in the Southeastern tip of Bharat, closer to the seashore. His capital at Southern Madurai surrounded by the sea was somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Evidence exists in Southeast Asia, in Bali, on the formation of Visakha in that region.

 

The oldest pilgrim place, Pura Besakih, on the slopes of the volcano Mount Agung, also known as Meru, dates back to pre-historic times. The entrance of the temple is a split-opening of a volcano. The name Besakih related to Besaka / Vaisakha matches with the description of the story of the fissure formed in Skanda’s fight with Indra. The story of Skanda becoming Visakha by spewing fire from the fissure, matches with the eruption of volcanic lava from a vent on the slopes causing a fissure. The story shifted to Bharat in due course of time; the region continues to be revered by the Balinese.

 

Skanda’s escapades centred around the regions in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia bring out a scenario that the Vedic origins were not in mainland Bharat, but spread throughout Bharat a little later once climatic conditions became hospitable, starting from the current period of Holocene. This spread was initiated by the entry of Vaivasvata Manu into the mainland during the early floods at the beginning of Holocene. He entered through the river Sarasvati while a probability exists that another group of the same clan were pushed into the Persian Gulf by the same flood in the Arabian Sea.

 

Those who entered through the Persian Gulf could have been pushed into the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The records of the Kish Dynasty in the upper regions of Mesopotamia referring to the line of rulers starting from the Holocene, could as well have been about sister clans of Manu. The similarities in practices of the Kish people could not have been a coincidence. The presence of Skanda’s clan is detected in Europe by a genetic marker, red hair. Skanda was a redhead; he had a red body. In Tamil he is known by names that signify reddishness - Sendhil, Chevve? etc. The name Skanda, coming from the root word ‘Skanna’ referring to falling off or shearing off of the upper layers of the skin giving rise to red colour, is caused by a genetic mutant. 

 

This mutant found in Ireland and Scandinavia is traced to the mutation that occurred 10,000 years ago in the Indian sub-continent, matching with Skanda’s time; this makes a case for movement of those genetically connected with Skanda to Europe. The early Scythians, known for their reddish colour, carried javelins and symbols resembling goats and cocks that had always been associated with Skanda.

 

The Scythians were also known for erecting ‘Baba’ stones that strikingly resemble Siva linga. According to Skanda Purana, Skanda created the Siva linga image for his father, Siva. It is surprising to see the face, the hand, etc., carved on Lingam look-alikes in Europe, outside India. These Baba stones are discovered only in regions where the Scythians lived. 

 

After the rise of Christianity, many of these stones were destroyed and no one knows what their use was, but it is clear that they are found in the places inhabited by the Scythians who were red in colour, used spear as their weapon, and exhibited symbols of sheep and roosters.

 

Baba Stone in Ukraine

 

Today these stones found outside Bharat are forbidden archaeology. The information about the red-headed Scythians and the Baba stones establishes the spread of Tamil and Sanskrit along with Vedic practices all over Europe much earlier, say, from the beginning of Holocene.

 

References:

[4] Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam: Tirupati cirappu - 56

 

[5] Tirumandiram – verse 65

 

(Concluded)

User Comments Post a Comment
Rice cutltivation could not have existed 20,000 years BC. since agriculture in India began only around 9000 BC.

Therefore, one has to conclude that the Puranas were simply imagining dates.
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 26, 2023
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The tamil civilization starts with settlement of 18 Velirs whom agastya brought from Dwaraka. This 18 Velirs established the civilization across tamil region. These velirs were laterday evolved as the Vellala ethnic group in tamilnadu, who are the foundation of the entire tamil civilization.

Kanchipuram was the spiritual base of the vellalas, and the base of Muruga worship.

The centrality of Vellalas to the tamil civilization is one of the systematically suppressed history of tamilnadu.

Nammazhwar, one of the Vaishnava Saints belongs to Vellala caste. He composed the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, which the sri-vaishnavas regard as the holy book. This Nalayira Divya Prabhandam is said to be essense of vedic concepts in tamil. Nammazhwar was well versed in vedas and has written this tamil treatise.

In the History of Vellalas, they are said to be well versed in both sanskrit and tamil. But more than that, we can say the tamil civilization is essentially a vellala civilization.

senthil
October 26, 2023
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Thank you Shri Senthil,

I am originally from Kerala, but born and raised in Vishakhapatnam, where my Dad was the Principal of the Andhra Medical College. After high school I studied in Chennai (formerly Madras) and therefore learnt Tamil. I am familiar with both Tamil and Telugu and ironically less with Malayalam.

However, there was a copy in Malayalam of the famed Devi Mahatmiyam, of which I was able to read quite a few lines. Also, in
Tiruvananthapuram, the central deity is Vishnu, I believe. And in my Dad's ancestral home, there was/ is a temple, where the deity is a Bhuvaneshwari. But in my maternal grandfather's family they have/had a Shiva temple, and the namboodiris who performed the pujas were descended from the those who accompanied this family during the Tippu invasions.

I mention all this to indicate that there was and still is a homogeneity about Hindu society that endures and is still the strength of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma. The Vedic rituals were homas, and later, in devotional Hinduism, with the development of temples, there was/is puja.

If you read my article in Vijayvaani, January 22, Gayatri Mantra, a Universal Prayer, you will find a study of Sri Satya Sai Baba's interpretation of the Gayatri.

As you may already know Satya Sai invested the sacred thread on some Dalits. I am currently researching his Social Philosophy and am writing about it. Perhaps sometime in the next week or so I shall send the article to Vijavaani.

He was originally from Andhra Pradesh. His social status is not upper caste Hindu. Neverthless, he has an immense following both in India and abroad, cutting across caste lines.

Interestingly, his Social Philosophy, in my reading, is based on the Veda, the Upanishads, and Devotional Hinduism (which includes all varieties of Agama.

Again, I mention all the above, to indicate that Sanatana Dharma is simply a fine phrase for an eternal cosmic truth. It has survived centuries of invasions and occupations, and still endures.

Jayasree Saranathan's articles also highlight the importance of both Sanskrit and Tamil.
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 26, 2023
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@VijayaRajiva,

You assume the similarities in your maternal and paternal homes pooja rituals, means there is homogenity in the supposedly hindu society.

You would know this is at best imagination, if you look at the history of kerala itself.

Kerala (and the entre west coast, called gokarnam) is the land of parasurama, who reclaimed it from sea, after donating all the lands he won by defeating the kshatriyas. He settled, saraswat brahmins in this land, who later came to be called as namboodris.

But brahmins alone cannot live there, as they need a kshatriya to rule over. So they brought viceroys from nearby chera kingdom (the present kongu region). But due to parasuramas curse, kshatriyas cannot live long there in kerala.

So an arrangement was made, where the kshatriya prince was married to namboodri male, and maternal lineage system was evolved. The descendants of those lineages are what today called as nairs.

The travancore royals derive their cheraman perumal title because of this linkage to neighbouring chera country (kongu region). Kerala is not the chera country.

So the namboodris are completely different from the nairs. There is no homogenity in kerala itself. The ezhavas are the tribal groups who does not fit in to the varna system. So as many other tribes like thiyas, etc.

The travancore royals still claim to be from vellala lineage. The famous sabarimala ayyappa is called in kerala as Vellala Kula Jaathan, meaning the one who belongs to vellala jaathi.

The reason i am stating all these is, the narrative of Hindu society is entirely build based on brahmin heritage alone, and the real history has been suppressed with this Hindu Religious narrative.

So if you look at the kerala story, the nairs derive their lineage from vellalas of neighbouring tamil region. Whereas namboodries are descendants of saraswat brahmins.

There is no homogenity anywhere. The rituals followed by namboodries are NOT followed by the nairs or ezhavas or other communities. The namboodires follow patrilineal, while the nairs follow matrilineal.

When kerala itself does not have any homogenity, how can you say about other parts of India.



senthil
October 30, 2023
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Interesting information. As you know, Kerala is a later name. Travancore and Malabar were combined into one name, Kerala.

Right now, Keralites speak Malayalam, and they refer to themselves as Malayalis.

Your argument is that religion wise and caste wise it is a divided society, brahmins, izhavas, thiyas (in the northern part), etc. and it has a formal homogeneity by the imposition of Brahmanic Hinduism.

Effectively Sanskrit origin Hinduism. Maybe, that is how Indian society evolved, of if you wish, stayed to gether. It is ironic that DMK leaders have Sanskrit names ! Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi!

A noted American scholar once observed that the Vedas have been retained for centuries intact, as if they had been tape recorded !

How true ! I have no objection to that. You obviously do not favour that, Neverthless, it is an existential fact. What is called Hindu society is largely governed by what you call brahmanic rituals.

The homa certainly is Sanskrit. The pooja may have non Sanskrit elements and that is part of temple traditions.

Is it not possible to argue that Sanatana Dharma is simply the eternal cosmic truth. You can use any name you want, but is still the same, just as a rose by any other name smells the same.

Let me conclude by stating an event in Madras when I was a college student. A college friend told me that she is a Vellala. She happened to be a Christian. At the time I simply listened to her. Now, ofcourse, I wonder why as a Christian, supposedly without caste differences, she should consider herself a Vellala.

In your own case, you seem to favour Vellala, since you claim that Tamil culture is Vellala, the upper caste, rather than presumably a Nadar or Mudaliar or whatever !
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 30, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

1. The Brahminic Rituals do not apply to everyone. Its primarily followed by brahmins, and even among them, the rituals are not same across india. The namboodris have different set of rituals than a smartha brahmin of tamilnadu. So again homogenity does not exist here.

2. Sanskrit is wrongly assumed to be exclusive right of brahmins alone. As i said earlier, the vellalas had equal stake in both tamil and sanskrit. Even today in tamilnadu, a small section of vellalas called Othuvars, learn thevaram, thiruvasagam, and also vedic rituals, and are well versed in sanskrit.

3. Vellala is.a ethnic group, not just caste. Your friend being vellala and christian is not a suprise. An ethnic people can change religion, but the ethnic identity remains same. Just like we have muslim rajputs in pakistan. The Nadars, are another ethnic group, who are also christians. Ethnic identity never changes.
That's why i am demanding a constitutional recognition of ethnic identity so that every ethnic group can practice their religion and culture without any disturbance. Current constitution does not have any provisions that recognise ethnicity.

/** it is an existential fact. What is called Hindu society is largely governed by what you call brahmanic rituals. **/

This is what i am contesting. The brahmanic rituals are not followed by everyone. A false narrative is being set.
senthil
October 30, 2023
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I believe that the present day Brahmins are descendants of the class of people who carried out the rituals of the Homa, and took care of providing and cleaning everything concerning the ritual.

They did not actually either compose the Vedic hymns nor did they recite them during the Homa. That was left to another group.Viswamitra was a kshatriya. He composed the Gayatri Mantra. The last line diyo yo na prachodayat simply is calling the Immanent Divine to enlighten our minds.

Who can object to that ?

Hence, today's Brahmins are simply carrying out the rituals as were witnessed by their ancestors. No more, no less.

The Smarta Brahmins do worship 5 deities : Ganapati, Shakti, Surya, Vishnu and Shiva.

The temple pujas may vary from region to region.

Regarding the question of ethnicity not being provided by the Constitution. It is provided in the larger sense that every individual/group is free to worship as they see fit.

It is not clear that ethnic groups do not actually have that freedom, as you claim. No one is preventing them from practising what they believe is their
faith. They very fact that my college friend could be both a Vellala and a practising Christian is testimony to that.

No one is forcing an ezhava or a thiya to follow Brahmin rituals, and yet for every important occasion they often call Brahmin priests to officiate. Why ?

In any case, the great variety of ethnicities, and practices is held together by their own individual strengths and that is what constitutes the strength of Hinduism, of Hindu society.

Hence, the phrase Sanatana Dharma best sums up the variety and the eternal cosmic order.
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 30, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

There are many ethnic group of Brahmins.

Smarta Brahmins have smriti as their base, and they profess in the smriti. They are part of the society, taking a specific role in the functioning of the society.

Srauta Brahmins mostly live isolated in forests, focussing only on vedic homas. They dont have any role in society.

The Brahmins are not single homogenic groups. They are also of multi-ethnic, where each ethnic group has their own identity.

As you said, the brahmins are entrusted with performing the various vedic homas.

The kings across Bharath, seek those brahmins who are well versed in performing these yagnas. They give endowments in the form of chaturvedi mangalams to the best brahmans. The beauty is that these brahmins retain their identity based on where they came from.

In tamilnadu, we have vadama brahmins, vadathesathu vadama brahmins, choliya brahmins, Telugu Smartha brahmins etc. Among vadama, there are many divisions like arcot vadamas etc.

The Smartha and Srautha brahmins have no role in the affairs of the temple. In big temples, while the sivachariyars perform the pooja in the garbhagraha, the smarta brahmins will chant vedic mantras in front of artha mantapa. And the othuvars sing thevaram and thiruvasagam along with him.

Again, the only connecting factor among different brahmin ethnic groups is the knowledge of vedas. But still they are not single homogenous group as you may claim.
senthil
October 31, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

Regarding the gayathri mantra, it is a mantra chanted to invoke the Savitri bagawan. In the construct of modern fake hinduism, this gayatri mantra has been made as supreme deity, to create a abrahamic style of worship.

But if you look at the broader perspective, there are numerous devatas living in this land of bharath, and each devata was worshipped by specific people group.

We the vellalas, worship Sellandiyamman, Bhagawathi amman as primary deities. Every vellala village will have either mariyamman or bhagawathi amman as grama devata. In some villages, the kaali devi is also worshipped.

There is no connection between these gods and the vedic gods. We have to look in the way that brahmins worship their gods, while other people groups worship their respective gods and goddesses.

But the artificial narrative of Hinduism has established vedic gods as supreme, suppressing the numerous other gods being worshipped by various people. This is the reason, i am opposing the narrative of hinduism vehemantly. Sanatana Dharma is just another name used for this artificial religious construct.

The major differences between brahmins homa and the temples structure is that brahmins invoke the gods and goddesses through fire, whereas in temples, the deity is installed at a specific place and pooja done to it.

The concept is same. All the deities seeks the aahuthi given by the humans. The brahmins give aahuthi, through fire worship. Whereas other communities perform specifi pooja for their deity as a way of giving sacrifices.

In some of the villages, a form of Vanabadra kaali would seek animal sacrifices directly. These are tantric forms of worship, where the blood of the goat will be drunk by the priests doing the pooja. The deity will possess the priest and drink the blood.

In one of the temple in my region, the goats liver will be taken out while it is alive, and offered to the kaali devi at the garbhagraha, and after the pooja, the goat will be sacrificed.

These forms of rituals and poojas are completely different from the homa fire rituals performed by the brahmins.

Even among brahmins, there are specific groups, who would perform animal sacrifices in the fire rituals. Puri Sankaracharya has explained about this in detail in one of his videos. Vajpayee Yaagam is one such i think. These powerful yagams are performed by the kings in times of war to defeat the enemy.

When there is so much diversities in the pooja rituals, it is completely illogical and absurd to brand everything in to a common name called Hinduism.

Also, the artificial narrative of hinduims has corrupted every pooja rituals practiced in this land.

In the original form, there are strict rules laid down for performing the poojas, including the qualty and eligibiity of the people who performs. The quality of material used in the fire rituals (or say pooja rituals) were also very strict. Today, all these stringent criterias were thrown away, which has caused extreme damage to the deties being worshipped.

To quote an example, today dalda (prepared from the fat of cows from slaughter house) is being used as ghee offering, and no one have ever questioned this.

And by branding everyone as Hindus, the ideologies of equality creeps in and the self destructive argument of dalits as temple priests is propogated by the right wing elements, destroying the sanctity of the temples. And then the argument of all hindus as equal, leads to destruction of caste, which the right wing organisations cunningly implement among unsuspecting population.

I can clearly see a destructive web of strings laid around to trap people in to ideological and identifical confusion. Thats why i vehemantly oppose this fake narrative of Hinduism. People are so brainwashed with hindutva, that they are not ready for open and factful debate.

senthil
October 31, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

/* No one is forcing an ezhava or a thiya to follow Brahmin rituals, and yet for every important occasion they often call Brahmin priests to officiate. Why ?
*/

because, the false narrative of Hinduism has been propogated for the past 100 years, that ezhavas and other communities think that brahmins rituals are supreme.

/** It is not clear that ethnic groups do not actually have that freedom, as you claim. No one is preventing them from practising what they believe is their faith.
**/

This is a technical argument. The Indian state, both central and state has unleashed war on all the ethnic groups in the name of equality, and caste abolition. The Indian state has taken away various rights enjoyed by these ethnic groups, and left them as orphans.

For eg, each village was owned by specific ethnic groups. In the north, there were rajput villates, jat villages, gujjar villages etc. In the south, there were thevar villages, vanniyar villages, vellala villages, naidu villages, etc. The Indian state has destroyed the ownership of these villages to the ethnic groups.

By stripping away all the resources, from these ethnic groups, the rights of these ethnic groups to practice their culture, to live as a commune has been taken away.

Its like destroying your house, leaving all your family members under the sun, and claiming that no one prevents you from living your life..

senthil
October 31, 2023
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There is another aspect that is being overlooked.

When a person starts doing pooja to a devata, he has to ensure that the continuity of the pooja at all costs. Because once the deity starts accepting the offerings, it will need it daily. The stopping of the pooja, will bring the wrath of the deity, and all bad things will start happening to the person.

Thats why it is very essential that poojas has to be done consistently in all temples. The hereditary kartha of tthe temple would be responsible for this. They will incur the sin of any wrongs committed in the temple poojas.

Similarly, the brahmins who used to worship the gayatri or any other devata, has to do it consistently and has to be carried over in the successive generations. Stopping it will cause decline / damage to their lineage.

This applies to all deities in all forms. IN villages, the regular pooja / annual festival has to be conducted to the grama devata, and the ellai devata for the welfare of the villages. Otherwise, it will incur the wrath of those deities.

This eternality of the worship is what can be called as sanatana dharma. But what happens is that this word is used to create an abrahamic narrative of homogenity which is why i am vehemantly opposing the construct.
senthil
October 31, 2023
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Beginning on a lighter note:

The well known American economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said : India is a functioning anarchy !

He was responding to the immense diversity that characterises Bharat.
Yet, in the midst of this diversity there is unity. The civilisation continues, whereas other ancient civilisations have ceased to exist.

And this in the context of modernity. India has a modern constitution that guarantees rights to all citizens, and that is freedom of worship.

Your argument seems to be that the Indian state is intruding on this diversity. Fair enough. For instance, while other religious communities are exempt from certain laws, the state interferes with the Hindu community. Temples have to submit some of their proceeds to the state etc.

You seem troubled by the word 'homogenous'. Homo as uniform is of Greek origin, homos. Heterogenous, also from Greek hetero, means not uniform. You are arguing for the latter.

No problems there, except some of the practices are not acceptable today. For instance, slaying an animal and offering it to the deity.
Or drinking its blood etc.

Do you seriously condone such practices ?

Regarding mantras. Why not Savitur as an expression of the Immanent divine ? Savita means that from which all is born.

You mention Kali as a goddess. Fine. How about Durga or Sarasvati?

One mantra for Sarasvati : Om hrim, aim hrim sarasvatai namaha.

Your concluding observation above that sanatana dharma is fine if it just stands for the diversity, is accurate.

Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 31, 2023
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/** No problems there, except some of the practices are not acceptable today. For instance, slaying an animal and offering it to the deity.
Or drinking its blood etc.

Do you seriously condone such practices ?
**/

NOT acceptable to whom ? Why should those people impose their likes and dislikes on us ?

On animal sacrifice, its widely prevalent through out india. In our kula temple, goats and hens are sacrificed on atleat 100 days in a year.

And the drinking of blood is also still occurs in the annual festival of the kaali devi.

SInce these are all not acceptable to the artificial construct of Hinduism, I am placing the demand to be excluded from the Hindu Identity that is imposed on us without our consent.


/** Regarding mantras. Why not Savitur as an expression of the Immanent divine ? Savita means that from which all is born.
**/

This is corruption of the gayatri mantra. Savitr is a devata, but look at how you are making a pseudo reasoning out of it.

/** He was responding to the immense diversity that characterises Bharat.
Yet, in the midst of this diversity there is unity. The civilisation continues, whereas other ancient civilisations have ceased to exist.
**/

The bharathiya civilization is brutally killed by the Indian state.

/** And this in the context of modernity. India has a modern constitution that guarantees rights to all citizens, and that is freedom of worship.
*/

The so called Indian constitution is colonial creation, which has no relation to any of the ethos of bharath. It is a SLAVE code, imposed on us by the colonial britishers. We never had the concept of such canonical constitution at any point of our history.

Its a great irony that many of the right wing people, consider it as our constitution.

senthil
October 31, 2023
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Re: the slaying of animals and drinking their blood etc.

Have you actually witnessed this ?
Have you participated in this ?

Or are you simply referring to it as an example of diverse practices.

Secondly, is the slain animal offered to the deity and then after that, consumed by the people ? If so, it serves a practical purpose.

Hopefully, the slaying is done using correct methods, inflicting the least discomfort and pain to the animal.

Do actually pray in any of those kula temples that you refer to ?
Or again are you simply referring to them ?

Re: Savitur being a devata, it does not contradict it being worshipped as an expression of the Immanent Divine, and hence as being the origin of life.

The Rig Veda speaks about 30 crore devatas in the universe.

Re: the Indian Constitution, it is not a British product. It was put together from a study of a variety of constitutions. People like Dr.Ambedkar spent an enormous of time and effort in framing the Constitution.

Going back to the days of kingdoms and rulers etc. is not practical.

A modern constitution, parliamentary democracy, a strong central government and a strong defence force will prevent the country from being over run by invaders, conquerors, colonisers etc.


Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
October 31, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

1. Yes.. i has witnessed it.. there will be specific person who would cut down the animal.. the goat will be washed, and brought before the deity.. pooja water will be sprinkled on the goat and if it shakes its body, only then it will be sacrificed.. This is taken as acceptance of the goat by the deity. Animal sacrifice is not done like in butcher shop.. there is certain rituals and procedures..

2. After the animal is sacrified, the different parts will be distribute to different stake holders in the temples.. like dhobi, barber, etc...

3. Slaying is always done from top down, severing the head in one blow.. This is in stark contrast to the islamic method of slitting the throat and allowing the blood to spill over causing slow death to the animal...

4. Animal sacrifice is very powerful and should be done compulsorily.. it is the demanded by the deities and is an offerning just like we offer pongal and other neyvathyam to the shiva and vishnu temple.. The kings used to offer sacrifice to their kula deity, before going to war..

5.
/** Savitur being a devata, it does not contradict it being worshipped as an expression of the Immanent Divine, and hence as being the origin of life.
**/

No.. when you change the context of a devata to an abstract philosophy, the essence of that worship itself is corrupted.. This trend of pseudo reasoning was promoted by the colonialists and english educated brown sahibs has imbibed that mindset.. I am opposing that to the core.. Look at our traditions as it is, without subjecting it to colonial reasoning..

Savitr is a devata.. thats it.. no more and no less..

6.
/* The Rig Veda speaks about 30 crore devatas in the universe. */

Yes.. and all those devata are not same.. the brahmins worship a set of devatas.. we the vellalas worship different set of devatas.. so as every other ethnic group of every region.. The problem occurs when the aritificial narrative of non-existing hinduism is imposed on everyone, creating a kind of homogenity..

7.
/** Re: the Indian Constitution, it is not a British product. It was put together from a study of a variety of constitutions. People like Dr.Ambedkar spent an enormous of time and effort in framing the Constitution.
**/

NO.. Indian constitution was written by B.N.Rau, and the constitutent assembly was formed for name sake. Ambedkar was chosen as head very late after B.N.Rau died.. he has no role in this constitution and he opposed it very much..

But since the power was held by colonial britishers, they pushed this constitution forcefully upon the entire population without their consent..

In short, the Indian constitution was NEVER ratified by the people. It is illegitimate in all sense. It does not represent any of the native systems.


8.

/* A modern constitution, parliamentary democracy, a strong central government and a strong defence force will prevent the country from being over run by invaders, conquerors, colonisers etc.
*/

All these are colonial constructs.. and english educated urban settlers, who lost every connectivity to bharat cling on to these systems.. The natives like us, are seeing brutal destruction of our systems and society by this colonial indian state..

This land of bharath was populated by various ethnic groups before the Indian state was formed in 1947.. its not an empty land for you to colonise with so called modern systems.. there is a set of rights that people held over for thousands of years.. and none of these rights are legally recognised by this colonial constitution..

I am demanding review of the history and evaluate things based on it..

Unfortunately, the right wing elements indulge in distortion of history far worse than the left wing..

senthil
November 03, 2023
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Coming back to the topic of this article, the primary question to be asked is why and for what purpose , the homa is done continuously for the deities.. This question will pave way for understanding of. many other things...

The homas and yagnas are means of offerings to the deities in the alter world, who would return the favor to the people offering homa. It is done to seek the protection of those deties from evil spirits and also for creating a divine and conducive atmosphere in the place we are living..

at the kingdom level, the yagnas are done by the kings to seek the protection of deity for his kingdom..

This reality is not understood by the so called modern urban indians, who blindly repeat the colonial distorted version of god, and form some stupid opinions about the divinity.. we can see people asking weird questions like How can God do harm to humans, and whether god asks for any offerings from humans etc..

I specifically either avoid these ignoramasus or just debunk them in the way they look down upon the traditions.. i always look at what our ancestorys practiced for generations and strive to continue that as much as possible..

So when the question of Homa comes, we have to realise that it is done as means of offering to the deity that we pray..

senthil
November 03, 2023
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So you have witnessed the slaying of the animal. I concede that the method is better than the halal one. Also, whether one believes in the attendant rituals or not, it is no worse than simply slaying the animal.
And also the meat is distributed for consumption, which is okay too, if one is not a committed vegan.

In today's world the former idyllic defence of the maharajah system is not practical. In fact, it did not even work then, which is why Bharat was invaded by brute force. Try that system again with the Chinese or the Pakistanis !

As for this question of homogeneity, whether you like it or not, there is a sort of homogeneity, with all the different ethnic groups, different traditions of worship etc. I don't think Bharat has succumbed to some colonial style 'uniformity.'

If you insist beyond a point on your version of heterogeneity, you may actually be defeating your own purpose, and putting Bharat in danger both from external forces, and those operating internally, for that same purpose.

I don't doubt your own sincerity, but think of the consequences of your rejecting the homogeneity which exists willynilly in Bharat.
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
November 03, 2023
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@Vijaya Rajiva,

1. When you say , animal sacrifice is OK because of some reasons, you are subjecting that tradition to the morality you believe, which amounts to gross interference of the rights and traditions of the people group who practices it. I strongly oppose that as a person practicing this tradition.

2. India as a country was created only in 1947, by brute force of British Indian army, threatening and luring the 565 princely states to merge with the Colonial British Indian state. Before that, Bharath was never a single country. Historically, ancient bharath was the land of 56 independant dhesams.

The Indian history has to be seen with this historical background. I have written an article on telangana long back, which may be relevant here.

< a href="https://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=2912">
https://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=2912


India is not like america. Its land of various ethnic groups living in their historical land. Does the current Indian state recognise this history or diversity?

3. There is no homogenity here. You feel homogenity, just because there is similarities in vedic life of brahmins across India. That's an apparent illusion. Simply believing on to make belief ideology, will never going to help.

4. When you are so afraid of Heterogenity , it only indicates the abrahamisation of your thought process. And the refusal to face the truth and facts as it is. We cannot suppress these truths just by fear mongering of islamic invasion. The current Indian state is causing destruction and slavery, far more brutal than what happened during the islamic invasion.

5. Lastly, if at all we should exist as a big modern country, it should be encompassing of all existing native political, administrative, cultural and ethnic identities, and NOT on the alien totalatarian canonical system of total slavery. You have to rewind history back to 1947, and should imagine how we could have formed this nation in a different way. But the right wing intellectuals dont have the capacity to reimagine / rethink history.







senthil
November 03, 2023
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The very fact that all these different ethnicities, customs and traditions continue to exist, itself shows there is a homogeneity in Bharat.

Heterogeneity in homogeneity is simply another way of saying unity in diversity.

I hope you are not serious in comparing the Muslim invasions to Bharat's ongoing civilisation !
Dr. Vijaya Rajiva
November 03, 2023
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