āṅgīrasaśreṣṭha Profile picture
May 24, 2018 28 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Something many Hindus fail to get again & again: Xtianity & Islam are both attempts at universalization of a particular ethnic group's racial history, sacred geography, language, eating/dressing habits & festivals. Ok, what does this mean? See next tweet.
This means that a particular ethnic group's racial history, sacred geography, language, eating/dressing habits & festivals are presented as the racial history, sacred geography, language, eating/dressing habits & festivals of ALL peoples, ALL ethnic groups in the world.
And this universalization is achieved all the while retaining the special status of that particular ethnic group which is the founder-group that founded this belief system.
So, imagine. You have a neat pyramid scheme here, where the founder-group, that obtained access to this divine knowledge/providence for the very first time in history in its own language, gets the "first-mover" advantage.
So, in order to make this a bit more comprehensible, let us take a concrete example. In the case of the third abrahamism, what can we observe among Indian Muslims or those from Malaysia, Indonesia or even Singapore? You note a trend of arabization. What does this mean??
And these non-Arab muslims accept these priors: 1 That the final & infallible divine revelation in all of history happened in the Arabian Peninsula, 2 that the last recipient of this revelation was an Arab & 3 the first human/prophet was Adam who communicated with "God" in Arabic
The Indians ones had Hindu ancestors & the Malays had ancestors who practiced an indigenous Malay polytheism with influences from Hinduism & Buddhism. Their sacred geography, sacred language, eating habits, etc were precisely what one would expect from their respective homelands
But today, they see Saudi Arabia as "sacred geography" & prefer to dress like Arabs. Among Malay preachers, the one with a superior knowledge of the language is considered more esteemed. On top of this, they deem their own ancestral heritage as filth as explained here: Image
Now, some may be wondering as to why I would take so much time to explain a rather simple phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is the case of the Hindu that he does not pay attention to even simple & obvious things if they are of no immediate material concern to him...
In the examples demonstrated, one sees that the "Indian-ness" or "Malay-ness" of the Indian or Malay muslim has been reduced to a mere bodily/genetic identity, a mere host for a parasitic & utterly alien system of belief/thought that has completely taken over the host.
And this is from a Hermetic text (A text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a Greco-Egyptian syncretic deity from Greek Hermes & Egyptian Thoth) which gives a prophecy of the horror to fall upon Polytheist Egypt:
Note highlighted line: This is indeed what happened to the Egyptians at the hands of the Christians. And when Islam descended upon Egypt, even the Coptic Christians' distortion of the Egyptian tongue utterly perished and was replaced by Arabic. Image
The pratIcya mahAmaNDala which offered itself up to the preta & the pretamata & aimed to "universalize" the preta throughout Asia , Africa & South America was itself a victim of the same parasitical trick. How? Read here: patriot.dk/ravage.html
This is not a difficult subject to understand but even among educated Hindus, most do not appreciate the full significance of these issues. So, they tend to repeat worthless cliche such as, "All religions lead to God" or "sarva dharma samAbhava".
There is always this unsophisticated urge among Hindus to take refuge in very comforting notions of a fictitious harmony between religions and hardly a desire to actually study the subject at hand and understand the nuances.
So, let us retrace a few steps & go back to the concept. We saw examples of Indian & Malay Muslims attempting to look, speak, eat & dress like Arabs, apart from the obvious adoption of an Arab religion itself. Wait. What does this all have to do with the alleged pyramid scheme?
So, what happens here? He distinguishes himself from the surrounding polytheist society by means of distinct attire/appearance (down to tiny details like the trademark free-flowing beard with trimmed mustaches), differing personal laws/values culinary regulations (halal), etc.
He recognizes a "one true God" & sees the larger Hindu society around him as misguided polytheists. So, he sees himself as part of a distinct group living in a society whose majority is in opposition to the core principles, values, rules and habits imposed by his faith.
His notions of sacred, ideas of personal laws & jurisprudence, his understanding of theology, his calendar of festivals & observances, his rites of passage come from a foreign, alien land which he sees as sacred.
So, he sees himself as distinct from the larger society of the nation he resides in & everything that contributes to this sense of distinction is supplied by this foreign, "sacred land" (The Arab world or more particularly, Saudi Arabia). Where will his loyalty be then?
This is how abrahamic religions further extra-territorial loyalties. And who benefits from the loyalties of these Indian or Malay muslims? A small example: rt.com/business/33713…
Or this: See the pyramid scheme at work?oneindia.com/india/no-matte…
Now, I do not care one bit about Indian or Malay Muslims becoming tools at the hands of the Saudis or others, to be exploited solely for their financial & political benefits, while themselves getting nothing in return, or worse, getting humiliated. But what is the lesson here??
Hopefully, the dhimmi Hindu gets a perspective of how the abrahamic religions work, their modus operandi that is, & what will be our own eventual destiny if we fail to learn the all-too-available lessons & allow abrahamisms to take over a Hindu-majority country.
Another article highlighting the beauty of this pyramid scheme: bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…
This thread is not yet complete. I originally planned to discuss how Hinduism is distinct from abrahamic religions in this respect but it was rather late yesterday night and I had to stop. Will continue when I get the time....
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More from @GhorAngirasa

Oct 24
A thread on Purāṇa-s and the answers they give for commonly held questions--I intend for this thread to be a long-continuing series--To save time, I will share screenshots of the original and translation:

A burning question that many of us have: Why do devotees of the Gods suffer?

Nārada relates to Arjuna in the Skāndapurāṇa (here, we will see the version of the text with seven khaṇḍa-s) the story of a pious trader, Nandabhadra, who has the same question. Nandabhadra was not just an external worshiper but one who was righteous within and theDevas themselves were pleased with his character. Nandabhadra had recently lost his son and wife. He had a neighbour--an atheist who found delight in causing the pious to deviate from their belief in Dharma, but called himself Satyavrata (one who has taken a vow to speak only the truth).

Given Nandabhadra's devastating personal losses, Satyavrata, using sympathy as pretext, uttered the following words to break Nandabhadra.

This consists of the usual tripe from atheists that we hear even today.

Where are the Devas? This is false; they would be visible if they existed - kva devāḥ saṃti mithyaitaddṛśyaṃte cedbhavaṃtyapi |

All these are the imagination of untruthful Vipras (Brāhmaṇa-s) for the sake of wealth/goodies - sarvā ca kūṭaviprāṇāṃ dravyāyaiṣā vikalpanā

There is nothing worse than human birth. It is full of miseries. Human birth is a tax. It is better to be born as animals.

Nandabhadra is not swayed by Satyavrata's atheistic speech and rebukes him. He then goes to worship the Kapileśvara Liṅga on the banks of Bahūdaka Kuṇḍa.Image
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However, he does feel miserable with all that has been going on his life and recited the following verses to Sadāśiva, expressing his deep grievance with the nature of existence.

On the 4th day, a young boy, looking extremely ill with leprosy, appears before him and starts conversation with Nandabhadra. The young boy chides Nandabhadra for wishing to die and starts his discourse on the nature of suffering and the importance of being freed from greed.

Nandabhadra then takes up the four things which are reproached: kāma (desire), krodha (anger), ahaṃkāra (egoism/sense of I-ness) and indriya-s (sensory faculties). He makes an opt observation. Kāma is needed for even the pursuit of svarga and mokṣa.

Without krodha (anger), one is regarded by enemies, external and internal, as a blade of grass. Without ahaṃkāra (sense of I-ness), one will be regarded as mad. If one causes his Indriyas to withdraw from everything, how can one hear the Dharma (such as the Boy's discourses) and, as a matter of fact, even live?

The Boy then refers to the tattvas immediately higher than ahaṃkāra and the Indriyas: the Guṇas (sattvaguṇa, rajoguṇa & tamoguṇa) and buddhi (Intellect) and explains how to regulate the earlier 4 by means of sattvaguṇa. He ends that part of the discourse with a statement:

mānuṣyamāhustattvajñāḥ śivabhāvena bhāvitam || 76

The human condition, the knowers of Tattvas say, is imbued with Śiva-nature.

Contrast this with the atheist Satyavrata's statement that human existence is cursed. It is at this point Nandabhadra asks the question, "Why do the pious suffer?"Image
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All you say may be true but the Īśvara-s, who are givers of everything, the Devas worshiped by all--why do they not protect their own devotees from sorrows? Particularly, some of these devoted ones are sunk in misery. My intellect is deluded because of this, boy! What do you think?

The Boy divides the devotees into two types--pure and impure--and warns about the consequences of worshiping Devas when 'impure'. When an 'impure' man worships Devas, the Bhūta-s take over him and make him resort to improper acts, causing him to perish quickly--adā bhūtānyā viśaṃti sa ca muhyati tatkṣaṇāt || vimūḍhaścāpyakāryāṇi tāni tāni niṣevate|--akārya here means an improper/unbefitting act.

What does impure mean here? Here, it means a spiritually impure person who does not do the duties placed upon him by Īśvara.

Now, what about the pure bhaktas, the real ones who perform their obligations faithfully and then worship? Why do bad things happen to them?

The Boy answers that a huge amount of previous karma-s, which may take several painful lifetimes, are rapidly consumed in the course of a single life--tasya pūrvakṛtaṃ vyaktaṃ karmaṇāṃ koṭi mucyate|--bahubhirjanmabhirbhojyaṃ bhujyetaikena janmanā

When such a huge amount of karmas is burnt off, the soul can proceed to realize its true objectives (happiness here and hereafter) without obstacles.Image
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Read 6 tweets
Jul 28
Sadly, there is no link between “constructive activities” and “sticking with the right path” in terms of values,

Carnatic music, etc are purely performative for many of these kids—something to master & carve out a niche place for oneself in terms of skill and something to serve as a source of fame.

If you define right path in terms of religious & moral values, Carnatic music or traditional dance have hardly an impact. Chess, etc-abysmally less significant.

Parents’ upbringing is the one *external* thing that comes closest in terms of having an impact and even that is not at all determinative. At best, it acts as a dam against bad, innate vāsanas or a force multiplier for good, innate vāsanas. That’s all.
We see many cases where a child is brought up in a very wholesome, traditional environment (traditional but not autistically absurd/harsh; firm but loving) and yet goes astray.

Problems which arise at the level of Svābhāvika machinery cannot be combatted by a purely empirical/pragmatic approach: parental upbringing, good schools, etc.

A truly potent & “awakened” temple, cleaning up the corrupt practices at temples, ensuring a competent & honest priesthood at every temple. reviving Tīrthakșetras in every nook & corner of the country, revival of Utsavas, mass sponsoring of anāthapreta-samskāras so that no Hindu body ever gets left behind, frequent recitation of Vedas, purāņas & āgamas at every corner of Bhārata, frequent pravacanas by truly learned Vidvāns, dīkșā-s & imparting of ntiyapūjās for eligible ones of all backgrounds—all these will do far more to suppress evil Vāsanas.

It won’t be immediate. May take 2-3 generations to see a truly tangible effect. But this is what I personally feel.
You can partake in zero “constructive” or cultural things and instead play sports or read books or watch anime as a child and still turn out alright. The sauce is not in these “constructive hobbies”. You want your kids to do it because you consider them as domains to manifest one’s excellence—that’s fine. But it has zero to do with one’s moral/religious quality.
Read 6 tweets
Jun 9
This goes well with the Saiddhāntika conception of Ātmā (Self/Soul) & its inseparable Cicchakti (which is the Ātmā’s individuality). Every Ātmā, when divested of all non-innate, insentient characteristics (form, name, māyā which supplies it with the stream of bodies/faculties through births, karmic baggage, etc), is a unique sentient, whose fundamental nature cannot be further simplified.
I was also trying to formulate, yesterday night, the “categorical”/“univeraal” Śivatvam as an analog of the One before I decided to write this morning:

1. Every sentient is *a* Śiva (*a* Cidghana, a unique unit of consciousness) and therefore has an inseparable Cicchakti (individuality), which is but its Śivatvam/Śiva-ness.

2. Imagine a set consisting of every sentient’s Śivatvam. One may therefore speak of a universal Śivatvam, for discussion’s sake.

3. In the Siddhānta, universals are denied—there is no universal separate from the individuals which partake in it.

4. “The One/Śivatvam neither is”—Śivatvam as universal does not exist, separate from individual instances or Śivatvam.

5. “Nor is Śivatvam one”—There is no universal Śivatvam that is ‘one’—i.e. a unique entity—as it cannot partake in itself.

6. Therefore, Śivatvam is an infinite class of members, one for each sentient.

Hope this made some sense: @premavardhanam @EPButler

x.com/premavardhanam…
Or one may change the set of Śivatvam-s to a set of Śiva-s and the result will be the same because Śiva and Śivatvam are considered different-yet-non-different. It may be, in fact, more cogent.

CC: @premavardhanam @EPButler

//End
Read 4 tweets
May 23
Typical understanding of Āgama/Tantra that is present in those who have no idea of it.
Fact is, it is the Āgamika-Tāntrika religion that saved the Vaidika-Paurāņika religion. Firstly, it supplemented the latter in the form of material incorporated into the Purāņas.

Secondly, the developed methods in Tantrāgama have been incorporated into vaidika praxis (nyāsa, mudras, etc).

Thirdly, when the Aupanișada Vidyās and Upāsanas had mostly died off due to broken transmission, it is the Upāsanakrama of the Tantrāgama that was adopted by the Yatis of the different schools of Vedānta: Śrīvidyā by the Advaitīs, Pāñcarātra by the Vaișņavas.

Tantrāgama massively built on Sāńkhyā and its Tattvajñāna has proven to be an invaluable supplement to the Dharma as a whole.

Those who think Tantrāgama is about worship or Kșūdradevatas have zero idea of what they are discussing.
Even outside the realm of theology, Tantrāgama has helped the Vaidika-Paurāņika religion. For example, Kāmikāgama has a whole chapter dedicated to gifting qualified Vipras for their Vedic learning.

It is to the credit of Siddhānta (which falls under Tantrāgama) that Vedic institutions were supported in TN by groups across the board and a large group of non-Brāhmaņas became teetotalers and took up an Ācāra that was compatible with Vaidikācāra.

Who do you think made large swathes of people adopt such an Ācāra? Vaidikas?

No. It’s the Ācāryas of the Siddhānta who drew upon the power of Śiva to impress Vaidikācāra and its associated norms and habits on large groups of families, which were otherwise untouched by Vaidikācāra. The Pāñcarātra too made similar contributions.
Read 4 tweets
May 13, 2024
Anyone who ignores the Brāhmaṇa texts of the Veda & the Karmakāṇḍa, and treats them as if they are non-existent, in their overall narrative on the meaning of the Veda, no matter how eloquent they are or sagacious they sound, cannot be authoritative, let alone a Ṛṣi.
Problem is even those who affirm the Vedatvam of the Brāhmaṇa texts ignore their importance & their overall interpretative framework makes Śrauta rituals & Karmakāṇḍa redundant & meaningless.
How good is your system if it does not, for example, have a stimulating explanation for why the Hautra Brāhmaṇa give 100s of correspondences (bandhas) between a particular Śastra (not Śāstra, but Śastra which is a particular combination of Ṛk-mantras) & the day/time of a particular sacrifice (To give a generalised form: “Let Hotṛs recite X-Śastra for Nth day of Y ritual as X contains word A & A is related to N”).

Where does this tie in with soteriology & metaphysics? Does this have a meaning beyond fulfilling desires? What was & is the point of all this? Are these rites still relevant given the advent of later rites & paths? What is the relationship between the old rites & new rites/knowledge?
Read 6 tweets
May 11, 2024
What is the significance of Duryodhana being equated with the Yajamāna (the sacrificer for whose benefit the priests perform the Yajña) in Karṇa’s rich, allegorical description of the Raṇayajña (War-Sacrifice)?

What is the significance of Draupadī’s brother, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, being equated with the Dakṣiṇā (fees paid to the priests at the end of a sacrifice)? The priests are Kṛṣṇa & the three Kaunteyas among the Pāṇḍavas.

These identifications are not arbitrary & come to bear deep significance.
Duryodhana: 👉🏾

The war ends with a curse on Kṛṣṇa & the Yādavas & culminates in Kṛṣṇa’s giving up of his physical body & the advent of Kaliyuga (Duryodhana is him). In other words, the Yajamāna (Kaliyuga) attained full reign of the earth & prosperity through the war-sacrifice.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna:👉🏾 x.com/ghorangirasa/s…

Being the Dakṣiṇā, Dhṛṣṭadyumna should have been given to the Ṛtvik-s (priests) of the war-sacrifice at the successful end of the sacrifice. i.e. He should have followed Kṛṣṇa, Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma & Arjuna.

Instead, on the 18th & last night, Kṛṣṇa asks the Pāṇḍavas to not sleep at the campsite as it would not be “auspicious” (presumably, not auspicious to return to the camp where warriors rest before the war resumes on the next day, as the war has now ended). But Dhṛṣṭadyumna (the Dakṣiṇā) is left behind at the camp.

Now, we have from the Veda a story where Manu, having divided all his wealth among all his sons but one, asks the remaining son to secure his wealth by assisting the Āṅgirasas at a sacrifice. At the successful completion of the ritual, the Āṅgirasas ask him to take the cows as Dakṣiṇā, which were left at the sacrificial site.

When Nābhānediṣṭha proceeds to collect the cows, Rudra comes from the northern quarter & tells him that whatever is left behind at the sacrificial site belongs to him. Nābhānediṣṭha goes to his father, Manu, & tells him all this & Manu confirms that is indeed the case. Now, this story has a happy ending where Rudra blesses the boy with the cows. Let that be.

Coming back to the Mahābhārata, the “Dakṣiṇā” (Dhṛṣṭadyumna) is left behind at the campsite. So, who comes to “collect” the Dakṣiṇā as his portion? It should be Rudra.

And Rudra indeed collects what is due to him. He enters Aśvatthāman’s body & then carries out a brutal raid of the camp site, killing Dhṛṣṭadyumna in a gruesome way.
Read 4 tweets

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