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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

Sep 25, 2021 • 26 tweets • 12 min read • Read on X

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Manyavar’s recent ad featuring Alia Bhatt demeans the Hindu marriage ritual of Kanyadan by claiming it objectifies women. In reality, no other marriage ceremony in the world honors & reveres the bride as completely as the Hindu Vivah (marriage) ceremony.

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Apparently Manyavar never bothered to research the tradition of Kanyadan before labelling it regressive. Hindu literature is full of references showing that rituals in the Vivah Samskara are designed to empower both bride & groom as equal partners in a life of spiritual growth.

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Undoubtedly, patriarchal distortions crept into Hindu marriages, due to the dark age of Islamic rule when women were raped, molested & killed relentlessly. Social evils like child marriage & dowry arose due to the desperation of Hindus to marry their daughters & protect them.

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Authoritative Hindu texts however specifically forbid treating the bride as a material object to be exchanged. The Manu Smriti clearly warns that anyone selling their daughter for any price & treating her like property is assured a place in Hell.

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None of these later patriarchal distortions in the Vivah rituals were sanctioned by original Hindu sacred texts. The Hindu Vivah has always based its essential rituals on the famous cosmic marriage described in the most ancient Rig Veda (Mandala 10, Sukta 85)

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The Rig Vedic verses describe the cosmic union of the Sun with the Moon. Surya Savitri is the sun bride & Soma, the moon groom. The Vivah honors this celestial marriage by reciting the same Rig Vedic Mantras as a reminder of the sanctity & cosmic significance of Vivah.

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Surya & Soma are the prototype for all Hindu couples as human marriages follow the pattern of the celestial union. The bride & groom re-enact it to unify & elevate their lives & walk together on the path to Moksha, as Hindus believe humanity is a refection of divine life.

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The Nirukta provides the etymological basis of Vedic terms. It defines Kanya as derived from the root “Kan” which means to illuminate. So the bride/Kanya symbolizes the illumined sun who fulfills creation & the groom symbolizes the moon who receives & reflects her light.

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This deliberate usage of the word “Kanya” reveals the real intent of Kanyadaan. If it was about giving away a daughter, Putri or Duhita would suffice. The specific usage of Kanya emphasizes the Rig Vedic view of the bride as the illuminating sun, Surya Savitri.

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Vedic rituals were later elaborated in many Grihya Sutras such as Apastambha, Bharadwaja, Baudhayana, etc. to understand the ceremony, rituals & local customs according to Gotra. These rites demonstrate how the Hindu bride is revered & respected in every part of the Vivah.

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From the initial betrothal ceremony (Kanyavarana) itself, tradition requires the groom to appear in his best clothes to ask for the guardian’s consent to the marriage. Once consent is given, he must first worship the bride & pray to her for good luck, health & children.

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Next the Madhuparka ceremony takes place to exchange auspicious gifts between families & ends with the father-in-law worshipping the bride. The bride is presented with the best garments & jewelry by the groom’s family & blessed with Mantras for health, prosperity & vitality.

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The bride’s guardians perform Kanyadana to bestow the luminous Surya (the sun bride) to be received by Soma (the moon groom). Ignorant people understood this to mean donation (dana) of an object, when it actually refers to receiving her energy as Kanya-adana

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During the Kanyadana, the guardians recite Mantras bestowing the bride as Lakshmi who unites with the groom representing Vishnu. This is a symbolic transformation of the cosmic Surya & Soma manifested in earthly forms to mimic the ideal divine pair Lakshmi & Vishnu.

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Kanyadana thus treats the bride as a divine energy. It shows both mana (respect) & parigraha (reverence) for the bride, so for Manyavar to coin a new term “Kanyamana” is ridiculous. It indicates they know nothing about Hindu marriage & even less about Sanskrit language.

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After Kanyadana the groom asks the guardian, “Who gives this bride to me?” And the answer is “Kama” (The god of love). This clearly shows that the Kanya was not given away as an object but symbolically bestowed by the God of love, when she is ready to share her life energy.

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It is only after this that the Pani Grahana (holding hands) shown in the ad follows. The groom clasps the bride’s hand to receive prosperity & divine energy. In the Ramayana, Janaka tells Rama that he is accepting prosperity by grasping Sita’s hand during this ceremony.

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After essential ceremonies such as Agniparanayana, Lajahoma, Asmarohana, Saptapadi are all performed, the couple is blessed by everyone. Then the couple does Suryadikshana (homage to the sun) if it is during day or Arundhati darshanam at night.

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Viewing Arundhati-Vasishta (Alcor-Mizar) indicates Hinduism's profound knowledge. Most binary star systems have one star stationary as the other rotates around it, but here both stars rotate around each other. Neither dominates, both support & travel, in an ideal partnership.

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Post wedding during the Grihya Pravesh the bride is worshipped as Lakshmi. She tips over a pot of rice at the threshold to symbolize prosperity entering her new home. With feet dipped in red lac, she walks through the home to leave auspicious footprints & bless her new family.

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Dressed in the best garments & jewelry she worships the family deities & temples. In her role as Lakshmi, she also gives charity to Brahmanas & poor people, on behalf of her new family. The Ramayana recounts how Sita & her sisters performed these rituals on reaching Ayodhya.

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To Hindus, Vivaha is not a contract unlike Islam or Christianity, It is a sacred process to endow the couple with abilities to refine their moral & spiritual traits as householders (Grihastha). It transforms lower desires into higher spiritual goals to attain Moksha together.

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An analysis of the rituals practiced in a traditional Hindu Vivah demonstrate that the bride is not just respected but worshipped as sacred illumined energy throughout the entire ceremony. No other tradition comes close to giving women such prominence & reverence.

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Can Manyavar refute that Hindu texts prove Kanyadana & other rituals of Vivaha ceremony are not patriarchal but instead show immense reverence & Mana for the bride? If not, they must apologize & withdraw this highly offensive ad & stop demeaning & demonizing Hindu customs.

25.
Sources:
Hindu Samskaras: A socio religious study of the Hindu sacraments by Raj Bali Pandey
A Socio-Political study of the Valmiki Ramayana by Ramashraya Sharma
The Hindu Sacrament of Marriage by Pandit Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari
valmiki.iitk.ac.in

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More from @MumukshuSavitri

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Mar 5

Hey @asadowaisi why are you resorting to quoting Richard M. Eaton - when Aurangzeb’s own official Islamic biography Maāsir-I-Ālamgiri itself lists him proudly destroying 300+ Hindu temples in Mewar in just one year alone (1680)! In his hateful quest to forcibly convert India into Dar-al-Islam, nothing was sacred. He desecrated innumerable Hindu gods, destroyed 500+ temples including Hinduism's holiest shrines, and built ugly mosques on top of them. Being a famous lawyer you should at least have looked up documented Islamic sources and respected Indian translators like Jadunath Sarkar who reference Aurangzeb’s destruction in great detail first.

As for the rest of your nonsensical lies about Pushyamitra Śunga and Raja Śaśanka destroying Buddhist sites - I will give you a history lesson on each one of these claims in next couple of days and debunk all your lies on them with meticulous references too. Hope you will read them just like this thread and apologize for falsifying history.

If you have the guts then go through this entire thread detailing all of Aurangzeb’s evil & horrific destruction of 500+ Hindu temples - entirely based on Islamic sources. After that If you have any shame left, apologize or else I challenge you to disprove a single incidence.

Read entire Thread ...🧵

2/10
Aurangzeb hated Hindus so much that he destroyed Mandirs even BEFORE becoming king! At the young age of 27, Aurangzeb destroyed the beautiful Chintaman temple, then forcibly converted it into a mosque & slaughtered a cow there. He then destroyed the temple of Khande Rai in Satara & proudly declared that he had gotten many temples in Gujarat demolished.

3/10
Aurangzeb was practically salivating to destroy the sacred Somnath Mandir, which he did early in his reign & when Hindus tried to rebuild it, the vitriolic monster ordered it to be completely annihilated. In 1661, he ordered all Hindu temples in Cooch Bihar to be destroyed & mosques built on top of them. His general Mir Jumla himself broke Bhagwan Narayan's image with an axe.

Read 10 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Feb 8

Madanamahotsava: Bharat’s Ancient Festival of Love and Spring
Centuries before St. Valentine or even Christ, Hindus celebrated love - not for a single day, but for nine joyous days of devotion, romance, and revelry in spring’s embrace. This grand festival called Madanamahotsava, also known as Vasantotsava, honored Kamadeva (Madana), the god of love, alongside his consort Rati and Vasanta, the spirit of spring. Referenced in Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra (400 BCE) and called Suvasantaka, it was a grand celebration of music, dance, playful festivity, and sacred rites dedicated to the spirit of love, beginning on Vasanta Panchami and culminating in the Vasantanavratras.

Let's explore the history of Bharat's festival of love 🧵

One of the earliest mentions of Madanmahotsava is found in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra (400 BCE). Clad in resplendent attire, men and women gathered in temples and royal courts at the advent of spring, seeking the blessings of divine couples for love and prosperity. Hemadri’s Vratakhanda (13th c.) recounts in detail the legendary tale of Kamadeva awakening Shiva from deep meditation to tempt him into union with Gauri. Furious at his Tapasya being disturbed, Shiva reduced him to ashes with a single fiery glance. Kamadeva's distraught wife, Rati begged and pleaded with Lord Shiva for his revival. Moved by Rati’s unwavering devotion and Gauri's persuasion, Shiva, in his boundless compassion, granted that Kamadeva would once again regain his physical form every year on the 13th day of the bright half of the spring month. Thus, the annual festival of Madanamahotsava was born - enshrining the triumph of love and renewal.

Rituals described by Hemadri included intricate kolam paintings, worship of the Ashoka tree, and offerings of sandalwood, incense, and flowers to Kamadeva, Shiva, Vasanta, and Vighnesvara. The king and his court led grand ceremonies, distributing sweets, delicacies, and paan as dakshina. Couples exchanged fine garments, jewelry, and floral gifts, culminating in the Rasa-mahotsava, a divine dance in honor of Krishna and Radha.

Read 6 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Jan 23

1/10
Indeed, Aurangzeb was not just any ordinary evil king - he epitomized the demonic savagery of Islamic fanaticism powered by hatred against infidel Hindu Kafirs. Aurangzeb was obsessed with such virulent hatred against Hindus that his official biography Maāsir-I-Ālamgiri itself lists him proudly destroying 300+ Hindu temples in Mewar in just one year alone (1680)! In his hateful quest to forcibly convert India into Dar-al-Islam, nothing was sacred. He desecrated innumerable Hindu gods, destroyed 1000s of temples including Hinduism's holiest shrines, and built ugly mosques on top of them. If you have the guts then read this entire thread detailing all his evil - entirely based on Islamic sources, and then do some soul searching for calling such a barbaric monster "Great".

Read entire Thread ...🧵

Read 10 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Jan 22

1/7
The insidious agenda and lack of academic integrity of Ruchika Sharma, PhD in history from JNU & self-proclaimed academic expert, stands thoroughly exposed when we analyze her peer-reviewed paper (bit.ly/4h1tcSv) in the Journal of Archaeological Studies in India. Let's deconstruct her paper claim by fallacious claim and scrutinize it against factual evidence. I have created a summary table for easy reference. Please read entire thread for full details.🧵

False Assertion 1: Ruchika's primary claim in her paper is that Malwa Sultan Mahmud Khalji built a grand Islamic general hospital (Dar-us-Shifa) at Mandu, MP in 1443 CE which she identifies with an existing monument called “Gada Shah’s Shop” in Mandu. (Img 2)

Reality: Shockingly, Ruchika deliberately leaves out contradictory evidence from her OWN cited source (Ghulam, Yazdani (1929), Mandu: The City of Joy) which states that the structure Ruchika tries to misappropriate as an Islamic hospital was actually the royal Durbar/audience hall of Hindu Rajput King Medini Rai. (Img 3: Yazdani, p. 28, 79) Gada Shah is none other than Medini Rai. Medini Rai’s Durbar Hall was later called Gada Shah’s Shop by the Muslims. Rajput Medini Rai overthrew Mahmud Khalji’s son Mahmud 2 and ruled Mandu as a vassal of Rana Sangha from 1519 - 1528 CE. Ruchika’s source Yazdani also points out that both Gada Shah’s Shop (which she claims is Khalji’s hospital) and Gada Shah’s House (Palace) were built AFTER Khalji’s death by Medini Rai in the same architectural style. Two huge mural paintings of Medini Rai and his queen are still to be seen in Gada Shah’s House. The world-famous German art historian Dr. Hermann Goetz, an expert on Indo-Persian architecture, also clearly identified Gada Shah’s Shop and Gada Shah’s Palace as Rajput Medini Rai’s Durbar/Audience hall and palace residence in Mandu. (Img 4: Goetz)

Thread Continues....🧵

2/7
False Assertion 2: Ruchika’s entire identification of Medini Rai’s Durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) with Khalji’s Islamic hospital is based on her personal architectural observations that the building is divided into two chambers which she assumes represent separate male and female patient chambers. She also cites that the “existence of small rooms but also big halls” matches Khalji’s Islamic hospital. (Img 5)

Reality: Ruchika’s own Islamic sources don’t even specify whether the hospital was located in Mandu. Her unsupported conjectural claim again completely ignores her own source Yazdani who points out that Medini Rai’s Durbar (now known as Gada Shah’s Shop) was built for the purpose of serving as a grand audience hall (durbar). In fact her source Yazdani even specifies that it was a Durbar-i-aam built for granting audience to the public while the nearby Hindōl Mahal served the purpose of a Durbar-i-Khas (Audience hall for select assemblies). (Img 7) This explains exactly why the architecture has such grand arches and separate small rooms because they were often built as showpieces of royal prestige. The usage of such grand arches makes no sense for the purpose of a building built as a hospital. Like Yazdani, Dr. Goetz also clearly states that Gada Shah’s Shop (Medini Rai’s Durbar) has “massive sloping buttresses because of the lateral pressure of the huge arches supporting the roof of the Audience Room”. (Img 8) Even the ASI website clearly labels the structure as an audience hall. Yet Ruchika ignores all this insurmountable proof, and makes the bizarre claim that this was Khalji’s Islamic hospital without a shred of objective evidence.

Thread Continues....🧵

3/7
False Assertion # 3: Ruchika’s Islamic source mentions a Hammam (Bath house) adjoining Khalji’s hospital. But since no such structure exists near Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) - Ruchika claims that “scattered remains of a tank exist … which could have been the bath houses (hammam) that Shihab Hakim (1968, p. 64) points to.” She also claims the building is far away from the palace area but in close proximity to Khalji’s other buildings like the Madrasa and the Jama Masjid. (Img 9)

Reality: We can refer directly to Google Maps which clearly demonstrate that the only water tanks/reservoirs near Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) are the Ujala baodi, the Prachin Hindu Baodi and Kapur tank. These were all obviously built as reservoirs for the Durbar halls and palaces and show no evidence of being used as Hammams. (Img 10) Google Maps also busts Ruchika’s false claim that her so-called “hospital” is located near Khalji’s Masjid & Madrasa. As can be clearly seen on the map, Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) is a good distance away from the cluster of Khalji’s buildings which are further South. (Img 11) Clearly there is no evidence of any Hammam near Medini Rai’s durbar, but there are Hindus Baodis (wells) and Water tanks (Kapur tank). Thus Ruchika’s desperate attempt to retrofit her utterly flawed claim by misrepresenting geographical facts falls flat on its face.

Thread Continues....🧵

Read 7 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Nov 15, 2024

Talk about a nasty bag full of distortions and outright lies. That Shree Rama existed centuries before Buddha was even born is attested directly by authentic Buddhist sources themselves. I will methodically dissect and disprove every deceptive claim by fact checking it against authoritative and authentic sources. Please read all parts of the entire thread to the end including the screenshots which provide crucial evidence. 🧵

Claim # 1:
Ram is a mythological character, whereas Buddha was a real historical figure—there’s simply no comparison.

Fact: False. This claim is disproven by the oldest & most authoritative Buddhist biography of Buddha’s life itself - Aśvaghoṣa’s (2nd c.) Buddhacharita. The Buddhacharita documents that Buddha belonged to the same Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty as Rama; it pays homage to Valmiki as the Adikavi and mentions Janaka too. After he renounces his family, Buddha’s father sends a wise advisor to the forest to try & convince him to return back home. The advisor tries to persuade him to return by mentioning Rama as an example - as someone from older times, who returned after penance in forests to protect his kingdom against evil. In response Buddha himself says he cannot do what Rama did & refuses to return. This clearly proves that Rama was already revered as an ancient historical personality to be emulated in Buddha’s times.

Claim # 2: Buddha was not a descendant of Ram because Ram never existed in reality.

Fact: False. Disproved by the very first chapter on Buddha’s Birth in the authoritative biography Buddhacharita which records that Buddha was a descendant of the Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty - from the same lineage to which Rama belonged millennia before him. An even older account of Buddha’s ancestral family tree is found in the Buddhist text Mahāvastu, a composite multi-life hagiography of the Buddha (2nd c. BCE) which details how the sons of Ikshvaku built Kapilavastu and were the forefathers of the Shakyas - the clan of the Buddha.

Claim #3: In fact, Buddha lived long before the Valmiki Ramayana was compiled.

Fact: False. We already know that Rama lived many millennia before Buddha from irrefutable evidence in the Ramayana itself & many other Hindu texts.Authoritative Buddhist texts like Mahavamsa also clearly record the Shakya clan as part of Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty with the line of succession from Rishi Sagara to Dasharatha & Rama who lived many generations before Suddhodana (Buddha’s father). Moreover Princeton historian, Robert Goldman's comprehensive comparative analysis of the Ramayana proves that the descriptions of history & geography of Kosala in the Ramayana clearly reflect an era BEFORE the Buddha thus dating it prior to 5th c. BCE (time of Buddha) even by Western standards. His work is considered the most comprehensive & authoritative Western analysis of Ramayana’s historicity. As mentioned before the Buddhacharita also testifies to Valmiki already being revered as the ancient Adi Kavi during Buddha's era.

Read 6 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Nov 11, 2024

Kamal Khan explaining Mughal history is like a chihuahua barking - ear-splittingly irritating, wildly off-key, but you can’t help but watch the spectacle.
Of course the Mughals didn't "harm any community", they just built Minars out of Kafir skulls to show how much they cared for all communities and considered all Indians equal.

These "loving community building" exercises started with Timur's first entry into Hindustan, when he attacked the Hindu kingdom of Kator extending from Kashmir to Kabul. In his autobiography “Tuzak-I-Timuri” Timur describes building tall towers of skulls of “obstinate unbelievers” after raping & enslaving women & kids & plundering towns to dust (May, 1398 CE). The Zafarnama of Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi (Iran, 1425 CE) has a painting which shows how Timur took tribute from soldiers, while an Islamic Minar built out of dead Kafir’s heads looms behind him.

His Mughal descendants like Babur, Akbar, Shah Jahan kept up this grand tradition and built their own towers of Kafir skulls to show their caring loving hearts.

Read the full thread to know more.🧵

The next Mughal, Babur, practically salivated with delight at the prospect of killing Hindus & scattering them like “teased wool & broken bubbles on wine”. He built several Minars out of Hindu heads, during battles in the Doab, near Agra & Chanderi to name a few. So overjoyed was Babur with his bloody crimes that he waxed eloquent poetry about killing Kafirs in praise of God. After creating Minars out of their heads, he proudly declared himself a “Ghazi” as his official imperial title - a term which means “Victorious over the enemies of Islam”

You mention Birbal from the court of the Great “secular” Akbar, who occupied Delhi & Agra in true Mughal tradition by building towers of Hindu heads. He did the same in his conquest of Ahmedabad. He rewarded his commander Khan-i-Khanan (Bairam Khan), for building “8 sky high Minarets of Hindu heads” in Bengal. A painting in the illustrated Akbarnama shows Akbar at the 2nd battle of Panipat, in 1556 CE, where Bairam Khan & Akbar colluded to treacherously behead Hemu. It depicts “Ghazi” Akbar & his army stacking up heads of Hemu's soldiers into a tower/Minar of victory over Islam’s enemies.

Read 6 tweets

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