Brahmins like Madhusudana Sarasvati hailed Tulsidas choosing Awadhi over Sanskrit.

Brahmins like Vinoba Bhave supported (even led) temple-entry of lower castes.

Brahmins like Vishwesha Tirtha say Shastras don’t bar women from entering temples.

Do not spread Brahminphobia.

1/4
आनन्दकानने ह्यस्मिञ्जङ्गमस्तुलसीतरुः।
कवितामञ्जरी भाति रामभ्रमरभूषिता॥

“There is a walkking Tulasi plant in this Anandavana (Kashi). His poetry is the cluster of flowers which is adorned by the bumblebee that is Rama.”

—Madhusudana Sarasvati on Tulsidas’ Ramacharitamanasa

2/4
In 1920s, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, a Brahmin, was chosen by Mahatma Gandhi to lead a temple-entry movement for lower castes in southern India. Acharya Bhave consistently worked on their behalf.

3/4
“In Sabarimala, there is no entry for women in the temple. But women are given entry in other temples [in the country]. However, there is nothing in the ‘shastras’ that bars or restricts the entry of women into temples.”

—Swami Vishwesha Tirtha

thehindu.com/news/national/…

4/4

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More from @MisraNityanand

18 Jul
The word शिवलिङ्ग (śivaliṅga) does NOT mean “genitals of Śiva”. The word लिङ्ग (liṅga) in this context means “a symbol, a mark”.

It started with Böhtlingk and Roth (1855) misleading by citing the Trikāṇḍaśeṣa and Medinī in giving the meaning of the word liṅga as

...
“das göttlich verehrte Geschlechtsglied Çiva's (Rudra’s), Çiva in der Form eines Phallus” (English: “The divinely revered sexual organ of Śiva (Rudra), Śiva in the form of a phallus”). However, both Trikāṇḍaśeṣa and Medinī give many meanings of the word “liṅga” and ...
... give “the male organ” and “Śiva’s murti” as two separate meanings. Without any basis, Böhtlingk and Roth, combined the two different meanings into one.

Monier Williams (1872) simply copied from Böhtlingk and Roth and gave a meaning of the meaning of “liṅga” as ...
Read 6 tweets
6 Jul
कुछ दिन पहले एक व्यक्ति ने टी.वी. पर माँ की गाली दे डाली। इसकी जितनी भर्त्सना की जाए, अल्प है।

भर्तृहरि ने लिखा है—

ददतु ददतु गालीर्गालिमन्तो भवन्तो
वयमपि तदभावाद्गालिदानेसमर्थाः।
जगति विदितमेतद्दीयते विद्यमानं
न हि शशकविषाणं कोऽपि कस्मै ददाति॥
(वैराग्यशतक, संकीर्णश्लोक २५)
“गालियाँ दीजिए, दीजिए। आप [तो] ‘गालिमान्’ (गालीवाले अथवा गाली-संपन्न) हैं। उसके अभाव से (गाली-संपन्न न होने से) हम भी [प्रत्युत्तर में गाली] देने में असमर्थ हैं। संसार में यह विदित है, जो विद्यमान हो वही दिया जाता है। निश्चय ही, कोई किसी को ससे (ख़रगोश) का सींग देता है?”
भर्तृहरि के लिए गाली देना उतना ही असंभव था जितना ससे का सींग होना। ‘गालिमत्’ में व्याजनिन्दा है (ऊपर से देखने में प्रशंसा है, पर है निन्दा)। ‘मतुप्’ प्रशंसा में भी होता है निन्दा में भी।

कोई गाली दे तो भर्तृहरि के समान उत्तर में “गालिमन्तो भवन्तः”/“आप तो गालीवाले हैं” कह दीजिए।
Read 4 tweets
9 Jun
Names/epithets (#sunāma-s) of Arjuna in Mahābhārata—

1) Arjuna
2) Indrarūpa
3) Indrātmaja
4) Aindri
5) Kapiketana
6) Kapidhvaja
7) Kapipravara
8) Kapivaradhvaja
9) Kirīṭabhṛt
10) Kirīṭamālin
11) Kirīṭavat
12) Kirīṭin
13) Kuntīputra
14) Kṛṣṇa
15) Kṛṣṇasārathi

1/4
16) Kaunteya
17) Kaurava
18) Kauravaśreṣṭha
19) Kauraveya
20) Kauravya
21) Gāṇḍīvadhanvan
22) Gāṇḍīvadhārin
23) Gāṇḍīvin
24) Guḍākeśa
25) Jaya
26) Jiṣṇu
27) Tāpatya
28) Tridaśavarātmaja
29) Devendratanaya
30) Dhanañjaya
31) Nara
32) Pākaśāsani
33) Pāṇḍava

2/4
34) Pāṇḍaveya
35) Pāṇḍunandana
36) Pārtha
37) Paurava
38) Prabhañjanasutānuja
39) Phālguna
40) Bībhatsu
41) Bṛhannalā
42) Bhārata
43) Bhīmasenānuja
44) Bhīmānuja
45) Mahendrasūnu
46) Mahendrātmaja
47) Vānaraketu
48) Vānaradhvaja
49) Vānaravaryaketana
50) Vāsavaja

3/4
Read 5 tweets
8 Jun
The verses (in Kumbakonam edition) describe Karṇa’s failure at Draupadī’s svayaṃvara

ततो वैकर्तनः कर्णो वृषा वै सूतनन्दनः।
धनुरभ्याशमागम्य तोलयामास तद्धनुः॥

“Then, Vṛṣā (Karṇa), the son of Vikartana (Sūrya) and the delight of Sūta, approached the bow and lifted that bow.”
तं चाप्यारोप्यमाणं तद्रोममात्रेऽभ्यताडयत्।
त्रैलोक्यविजयी कर्णः सत्त्वे त्रैलोक्यविश्रुतः॥

“And, while stringing it (the bow), it hurt him on [being moved by] just [the width of] a hair. Karṇa, the conqueror of three worlds [was] well-known in the three worlds for prowess.”
धनुषा सोऽपि निर्धूत इति सर्वे भयाकुलाः।
एवं कर्णे विनिर्धूते धनुषा च नृपोत्तमाः॥

“Even he was defeated (निर्धूत, literally ‘discarded’) by the bow. [Seeing] thus, everybody was overcome by fear. And when Karṇa was thus defeated (विनिर्धूत) by the bow, the best of kings, ...”
Read 5 tweets
7 Jun
This is complete distortion without context.

1) This was trickery (‘māyā’), not ‘rape’. Neither Skanda-purāṇa (SkaPu) nor Śiva-purāṇa (ŚiPu) use any word (e.g. ‘balātkāra’, ‘dharṣaṇa’ etc.) which can be even remotely translated as ‘rape’ . Both use the word ‘māyā’.

1/n
2) Jalandhara first ‘deceived’ Pārvatī using his ‘māyā’. He assumed the form of Śiva and then spilled his seed in her presence (SkaPu 2.4.20.22–24, ŚiPu 2.5.22.39–41).

3) When Pārvatī knew Jalandhara deceived her, she requested Viṣṇu to retaliate in the same manner ...

2/n
... following “the path [of trickery/deception] shown by him (Jalandhara) alone” (“tenaiva darśitaḥ panthāḥ”). The reason was that Jalandhara, protected by Vṛṇdā’s ‘pātivratya’, could not be killed otherwise (ŚiPu 2.5.22.50–51, also see SkaPu 2.4.20.28–29).

3/n
Read 5 tweets
28 Dec 19
This image claiming to explain Sanskrit words for teachers is doing the rounds lately. It has many mistakes.

This thread is to clarify the terms.

Adhyāpaka (literally “one who teaches”) means a teacher in general, and especially means a teacher of the Vedas.

1/n
An Adhyāpaka is either an Ācārya or an Upādhyāya (Viṣṇusmṛti 29.1–2, Manusmṛti 2.140–141)

An Ācārya (literally “one who is served by the disciples”) initiates a śiṣya (performs ‘upanayana’) and teaches Veda with rituals and esoteric treatise

quora.com/What-is-the-et…

2/n
An Upādhyāya (literally “sub-teacher” or “he near whom one studies” as ‘upa’ = sub/near) is one who teaches a part (ekadeśa) of the Veda or Vedāṅga for money.

यस्त्वेनं मूल्येनाध्यापयेत्तमुपाध्यायमेकदेशं वा (VS 29.2)
योऽध्यापयति वृत्त्यर्थमुपाध्यायः स उच्यते (MS 2.141)

3/n
Read 6 tweets

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