u/GlobalImportance5295

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> mlecchā hi yavanās teṣu samyak śāstram idaṃ sthitam |

> ṛṣivat te 'pi pūjyante kiṃ punar daivavid dvijaḥ ||

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> 2.14 For although the Yavanas (Greeks) are indeed barbarians, this science is well established among them, and so even they are to be honored like seers; how further, then, is a Cosmos-Knower who is a Twice-Born!?

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> -- Varahamihira, Bṛhat Saṃhitā

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> Now we shall take the example given by you of the thief to be driven out. I do not agree with you that the thief may be driven out by any means. If it is my father who has come to steal I shall use one kind of means. If it is an acquaintance I shall use another; and in the case of a perfect stranger I shall use a third. If it is a white man, you will perhaps say you will use means different from those you will adopt with an Indian thief. If it is a weakling, the means will be different from those to be adopted for dealing with an equal in physical strength; and if the thief is armed from top to toe, I shall simply remain quiet. Thus we have a variety of means between the father and the armed man. Again, I fancy that I should pretend to be sleeping whether the thief was my father or that strong armed man. The reason for this is that my father would also be armed and I should succumb to the strength possessed by either and allow my things to be stolen. The strength of my father would make me weep with pity; the strength of the armed man would rouse in me anger and we should become enemies. Such is the curious situation. From these examples we may not be able to agree as to the means to be adopted in each ease. I myself seem clearly to see what should be done in all these cases, but the remedy may frighten you. I therefore hesitate to place it before you. For the time being I will leave you to guess it, and if you cannot, it is clear you will have to adopt different means in each case. You will also have seen that any means will not avail to drive away the thief. You will have to adopt means to fit each case. Hence it follows that your duty is not to drive away the thief by any means you like.

> Let us proceed a little further. That well-armed man has stolen your property; you have harboured the thought of his act; you are filled with anger; you argue that you want to punish that rogue, not for your own sake, but for the good of your neighbours; you have collected a number of armed men, you want to take his house by assault; he is duly informed of it, he runs away; he too is incensed. He collects his brother-robbers, and sends you a defiant message that he will commit robbery in broad daylight. You are strong, you do not fear him, you are prepared to receive him. Meanwhile, the robber pesters your neighbours. They complain before you. You reply that you are doing all for their sake; you do not mind that your own goods have been stolen. Your neighbours reply that the robber never pestered them before, and that he commenced his depredations only after you declared hostilities against him. You are between Scylla and Charybdis. You are full of pity for the poor men. What they say is true. What are you to do? You will be disgraced if you now leave the robber alone. You, therefore, tell the poor men: "Never mind. Come, my wealth is yours, I will give you arms, I will teach you how to use them; you should belabour the rogue; don't you leave him alone." And so the battle grows; the robbers increase in numbers; your neighbours have deliberately put themselves to inconvenience. Thus the result of wanting to take revenge upon the robber is that you have disturbed your own peace; you are in perpetual fear of being robbed and assaulted; your courage has given place to cowardice. If you will patiently examine the argument, you will see that I have not overdrawn the picture. This is one of the means.

> Now let us examine the other. You set this armed robber down as an ignorant brother; you intend to reason with him at a suitable opportunity; you argue that he is, after all, a fellow-man; you do not know what prompted him to steal. You, therefore, decide that, when you can, you will destroy the man's motive for stealing. Whilst you are thus reasoning with yourself, the man comes again to steal. Instead of being angry with him, you take pity on him. You think that this stealing habit must be a disease with him. Henceforth, you, therefore, keep your doors and windows open, you change your sleeping-place, and you keep your things in a manner most accessible to him. The robber comes again and is confused as all this is new to him; nevertheless, he takes away your things. But his mind is agitated. He inquires about you in the village, he comes to learn about your broad and loving heart, he repents, he begs your pardon, returns you your things, and leaves off the stealing habit. He becomes your servant, and you find for him honourable employment. This is the second method. Thus, you see, different means have brought about totally different results.

> Ancient historical layers of Hindu astronomy are explored in this paper with the help of the Puranas and the Vedic texts. It is found that Dhruva as described in the Brahmanda and the Visnu purāna was a star located at the tail of a celestial animal figure known as the Śiśumãra or the Dolphin. This constellation, which can be easily recognized as the modern Draco, is described vividly and accurately in the ancient texts. The body parts of the animal figure are made of fourteen stars, the last four of which including Dhruva on the tail are said to never set. The Taittirīya Āranyaka text of the Krsna-yajurveda school which is more ancient than the above Purānas describes this constellation by the same name and lists fourteen stars the last among them being named Abhaya, equated with Dhruva, at the tail end of the figure. The accented Vedic text Ekāgni-kānda of the same school recommends observation of Dhruva the fixed Pole Star during marriages. The above Vedic texts are more ancient than the Grhya-sūtra literature which was the basis for indologists to deny the existence of a fixed North Star during the Vedic period. However the various Purānic and Vedic textual evidence studied here for the first time, leads to the conclusion that in India for the Yajurvedic people Thuban (a-Draconis) was Dhruva the Pole Star c 2800 BC. [Indian Journal of History of Science, 46.1 (2011) 23-39]

https://cahc.jainuniversity.ac.in/assets/cached_papers/rni/Vol46_1_2_RNIyenger.pdf

> Nārāyaṇa/Krishna: "All the worlds, from the realm of Brahma included in the Brahmanda (cosmic sphere), are spheres in which experiences conferring Aisvarya (wealth / prosperity / power / heaven / passage to the afterlife) can be obtained. But they are destructible and those who[se soul's] attain them are subject to return. Therefore destruction and return is unavoidable for the [the souls] of aspirants for Aisvarya, as the regions where it is attained perish. On the contrary there is no birth to those who attain Me, the Omniscient, who has true resolves, whose sport is creation, sustentation and dissolution of the entire universe, who is supremely compassionate and who is always of the same form. For these reasons there is no destruction in the case of those who attain Me. One now elucidates the time-period settled by the Supreme Person's Will in regard to the evolution and dissolution of the worlds up to the cosmic sphere of Brahma and of those who are within them."

> -- Sri Ramanujacharya, Gita Bhasya, commentary on Bhagavad Gita 8.16

> (iii) Finding the great Dandamis, he (Onesicritus) spoke these words: "Hail, O teacher of the Brahmans! King Alexander the son of the god Zeus summons you and when you have come will offer you many beautiful gifts, but if you do not come he will cut off your head." Dandamis on hearing [this] ... " ... souls of man which he receives when fate releases them. ... [He is] my god and only king ... to die. How can Alexander be king of all, since he has not yet drunk the river ... Tiberoboan nor Kosoanos nor set his throne in Palimbothra ... but Zenannades ... he has not yet passed by . . . Sousareni... among the Methorians and Kariso-borians. Scythia does not yet recognize his name ... "

> (i) " ...to annul desire of the appetite and rather to win the internal wars. ... "

> (ii) "... in such a way we Brahmans live. But you speak what you ought to do, and you do what you ought not. You know no one as philosopher unless he talks, for your mind is your tongue; on your lips are your wits. ... You collect gold and silver, you have need of many slaves and big houses . . you revile yourselves ... The best of you are those who keep silent; they do not confute themselves. From sheep, you take wool ... When thirsty we drink water. ... Gold does not stop thirst . .. Gold does not treat a wound ... nor heal disease. But desire among men to acquire gold is aroused in a more unnatural manner. Thirst by nature seeks water, getting which it subsides. Hunger by nature seeks sustenance, getting which it is checked. If man sought gold by nature, getting it he would have desisted; but he desires it further because the love of gold is not in accord with nature. ... "

> (iv) ".. those fearing death. As regards us, [his] weapons have fallen." When he had heard this [report] from Onesicritus, he desired the more to see the Indian sage because a single naked old man had defeated him who had taken many peoples. He proceeded therefore with five friends to the forest of Dandamis, whom on drawing near he saw sitting . ..

> Alexander dismounting from his horse set down his diadem ... in that hour he saw earth free from blood. "I come to you," he said, "because I want to hear your words of profit ... for they say that you consort with the gods themselves. Teach me what you contemplate [that is] superior to [the thought of] the Greeks." Dandamis answers him thus: "I want to implant in you a mind from the gods, but you have not left me room in your heart. Insatiable desires fill your soul which battle with me because I detain you and you are not slaughtering peoples of many nations, pouring out [their] blood. And those with you are aggrieved with me because they see a city standing and [its] men still safe. But you want to go even to the Ocean and after it to another inhabited world ..."

WILLIAM H. WILLIS – KLAUS MARESCH

THE ENCOUNTER OF ALEXANDER WITH THE BRAHMANS: NEW FRAGMENTS OF THE CYNIC DIATRIBE P. GENEV. INV. 271

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> āsīd idaṁ tamobhūtam aprajñātam alakṣaṇam, apratarkyam avijñeyaṁ prasuptam iva sarvataḥ. 5

> This was become darkness, unmanifest to cognition, without distinguishing marks, beyond reasoning, unknowable, as though asleep on every side.

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> tataḥ svayaṁbhūr bhagavān avyakto vyañjayan idam, mahābhūtādi-vṛtta-ojāḥ prādurāsīt tamonudaḥ. 6

> Then the Self-existent Blessed One, unmanifest, making this manifest, endowed with the power of the great elements and their evolutes, appeared, the dispeller of darkness.

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> yo'sāv atīndriyagrāhyaḥ sūkṣmo'vyaktaḥ sanātanaḥ, sarvabhūtamayo'cintyaḥ sa eva svayam udbabhau. 7

> He who is beyond the grasp of the senses, subtle, unmanifest, eternal, consisting of all beings, inconceivable—he himself arose forth.

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> so'bhidhyāya śarīrāt svāt sisṛkṣur vividhāḥ prajāḥ, apa eva sasarjādau tāsu vīryam avāsṛjat. 8

> He, contemplating from his own body, desiring to create various creatures, first created the waters alone and deposited seed-power within them.

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> tad aṇḍam abhavad dhaimaṁ sahasrāṁśu-samaprabham, tasmiñ jajñe svayaṁ brahmā sarvaloka-pitāmahaḥ. 9

> That became a golden egg, equal in radiance to a thousand-rayed sun; within it was born Brahmā himself, grandsire of all worlds.

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> āpo nārā iti proktā āpo vai narasūnavaḥ, tā yad asyāyanaṁ pūrvaṁ tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ. 10

> The waters are called nārāḥ, for the waters indeed are the offspring of Nara; because they were formerly his resting-place, therefore he is remembered as Nārāyaṇa.

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> yat tat kāraṇam avyaktaṁ nityaṁ sad-asad-ātmakam, tad-visṛṣṭaḥ sa puruṣo loke brahmeti kīrtyate. 11

> That cause which is unmanifest, eternal, having the nature of being and non-being—from it issued forth that Person who in the world is called Brahmā.

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> tasminn aṇḍe sa bhagavān uṣitvā parivatsaram, svayam evātmano dhyānāt tad aṇḍam akarod dvidhā. 12

> Abiding in that egg for a year, the Blessed One by meditation upon himself split that egg in two.

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> tābhyāṁ sa śakalābhyāṁ ca divaṁ bhūmiṁ ca nirmame, madhye vyoma diśaś cāṣṭāv apāṁ sthānaṁ ca śāśvatam. 13

> From those two halves he fashioned heaven and earth, between them the sky, the eight directions, and the eternal abode of the waters.

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> udbabarhātmanaś caiva manaḥ sad-asad-ātmakam, manasaś cāpy ahaṅkāram abhimantāram īśvaram. 14

> From himself he brought forth mind, having the nature of being and non-being; and from mind, egoity, the self-conceiving lord.

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> mahāntam eva cātmānaṁ sarvāṇi triguṇāni ca, viṣayāṇāṁ grahītṝṇi śanaiḥ pañcendriyāṇi ca. 15

> Also the Great Self, all three qualities, and gradually the five senses, the graspers of objects.

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> teṣāṁ tv avayavān sūkṣmān ṣaṇṇām apy amitaujasām, saṁniveśyātmamātrāsu sarvabhūtāni nirmame. 16

> Placing the subtle components of those six mighty powers into the elemental essences, he fashioned all beings.

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> yan mūrty-avayavāḥ sūkṣmās tān imāny āśrayanti ṣaṭ, tasmāc charīram ity āhus tasya mūrtiṁ manīṣiṇaḥ. 17

> Because these six subtle constituents of form rest therein, therefore the wise call that form a body.

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> tad āviśanti bhūtāni mahānti saha karmabhiḥ, manaś cāvayavaiḥ sūkṣmaiḥ sarvabhūtakṛd avyayam. 18

> Into it enter the great elements together with their functions, and mind with its subtle components—the imperishable maker of all beings.

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> teṣām idaṁ tu saptānāṁ puruṣāṇāṁ mahaujasām, sūkṣmābhyo mūrtimātrābhyaḥ saṁbhavaty avyayād vyayam. 19

> From these seven mighty principles, from subtle form-elements, this perishable world arises from the imperishable.

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> ādyādyasya guṇaṁ tv eṣām avāpnoti paraḥ paraḥ, yo yo yāvatithaś caiṣāṁ sa sa tāvad guṇaḥ smṛtaḥ. 20

> Each succeeding one acquires the quality of the preceding one; whatever position each occupies, so many qualities it is said to possess.

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> sarveṣāṁ tu sa nāmāni karmāṇi ca pṛthak pṛthak, vedaśabdebhya evādau pṛthak saṁsthāś ca nirmame. 21

> For all of them he fashioned separately names and functions, and separately their stations, from the words of the Veda from the beginning.

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> karmātmanāṁ ca devānāṁ so'sṛjat prāṇināṁ prabhuḥ, sādhyānāṁ ca gaṇaṁ sūkṣmaṁ yajñaṁ caiva sanātanam. 22

> The lord of creatures created the gods whose essence is action, the subtle host of the Sādhyas, and the eternal sacrifice.

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> agnivāyuravibhyas tu trayaṁ brahma sanātanam, dudoha yajñasiddhyarthaṁ ṛc... 23

> From fire, wind, and sun he milked forth the threefold eternal Veda for the accomplishment of sacrifice.

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> kālaṁ kālavibhaktīś ca nakṣatrāṇi grahāṁs tathā, saritaḥ sāgarān śailān samāni viṣamāni ca. 24

> Time, divisions of time, constellations, planets, rivers, oceans, mountains, level places and uneven places.

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> tapo vācaṁ ratiṁ caiva kāmaṁ ca krodham eva ca, sṛṣṭiṁ sasarja caivāṁ sraṣṭum icchann imāḥ prajāḥ. 25

> Austerity, speech, delight, desire, and anger he created, wishing to create these creatures.

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> karmaṇāṁ ca vivekārthaṁ dharmādharmau vyavecayat, dvandvair ayojayac caitāḥ sukhaduḥkhādibhiḥ prajāḥ. 26

> For the discrimination of actions he distinguished righteousness and unrighteousness, and joined these creatures with dualities such as pleasure and pain.

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> aṇvyo mātrā vināśinyo daśārdhānāṁ tu yāḥ smṛtāḥ, tābhiḥ sārdham idaṁ sarvaṁ saṁbhavaty anupūrvaśaḥ. 27

> Together with the minute perishable measures known as the halves of tenfold divisions, all this comes forth in sequence.

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> yaṁ tu karmaṇi yasmin sa nyayuṅkta prathamaṁ prabhuḥ, sa tad eva svayaṁ bheje sṛjyamānaḥ punaḥ punaḥ. 28

> Whatever being the Lord first assigned to whatever action, that very action it assumed again and again when created.

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> hiṁsrāhiṁsre mṛdukrūre dharmādharmāvṛtānṛte, yad yasya so'dadhāt sarge tat tasya svayam āviśat. 29

> Violence and nonviolence, gentleness and cruelty, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and falsehood—whatever he assigned to each in creation, that entered it of itself.

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> yathā rtuliṅgāny ṛtavaḥ svayam evartuparyaye, svāni svāny abhipadyante tathā karmāṇi dehinaḥ. 30

> As the seasons in their cycle naturally assume their own marks, so embodied beings assume their own actions.

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> lokānāṁ tu vivṛddhyarthaṁ mukhabāhūrupādataḥ, brāhmaṇaṁ kṣatriyaṁ vaiśyaṁ śūdraṁ ca niravartayat. 31

> For the increase of the worlds, from mouth, arms, thighs, and feet he brought forth the Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra.

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> dvidhā kṛtvātmano deham ardhena puruṣo'bhavat, ardhena nārī tasyāṁ sa virājam asṛjat prabhuḥ. 32

> Dividing his body in two, with one half he became male, with the other female; in her the Lord created Virāj.

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> tapastaptvā'sṛjad yaṁ tu sa svayaṁ puruṣo virāṭ, taṁ māṁ vittāsya sarvasya sraṣṭāraṁ dvijasattamāḥ. 33

> That Virāj-Person, having performed austerity, created Me (Manu Svayambhuva); know Me , O best of twice-borns, as the creator of all this.

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> ahaṁ prajāḥ sisṛkṣustu tapastaptvā suduścaram, patīn prajānāmasṛjaṁ maharṣīnādito daśa. marīcimatryaṅgirasau pulastyaṁ pulahaṁ kratum, pracetasaṁ vasiṣṭhaṁ ca bhṛguṁ nāradameva ca. ete manūṁstu saptān yānasṛjan bhūritejasaḥ, devān devanikāyāṁśca maharṣīṁścāmitojasaḥ. yakṣarakṣaḥ piśācāṁśca gandharvāpsaraso'surān , nāgān sarpān suparṇāṁśca pitṝṇāṁśca pṛthaggaṇam. vidyuto'śanimeghāṁśca rohitaindradhanūṁṣi ca, ulkānirghātaketūṁśca jyotīṁṣyuccāvacāni ca. kinnarān vānarān matsyān vividhāṁśca vihaṅgamān, paśūn mṛgān manuṣyāṁśca vyālāṁścobhayatodataḥ. kṛmikīṭapataṅgāṁśca yūkāmakṣikamatkuṇam, sarvaṁ ca daṁśamaśakaṁ sthāvaraṁ ca pṛthagvidham. 34–40

> After severe austerity I, desiring creatures, created first the ten great seers as lords of beings: Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Pracetas, Vasiṣṭha, Bhṛgu, and Nārada. From them came the Manus, gods, hosts of gods, mighty sages, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Gandharvas, Apsarases, Asuras, Nāgas, serpents, Suparṇas, the hosts of the Fathers, lightning, thunderbolts, clouds, rainbows, meteors, portents, heavenly lights of every kind, Kinnaras, monkeys, fishes, birds, beasts, wild animals, human beings, reptiles, worms, insects, moths, lice, flies, bugs, biting creatures, mosquitoes, and every variety of stationary life.

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> evam etair idaṁ sarvaṁ manniyogān mahātmabhiḥ, yathākarma tapoyogāt sṛṣṭaṁ sthāvarajaṅgamam. 41

> Thus by these great beings under my direction, according to action and through the power of austerity, all moving and unmoving beings were created.

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> yeṣāṁ tu yādṛśaṁ karma bhūtānām iha kīrtitam, tat tathā vo'bhidhāsyāmi kramayogaṁ ca janmani. 42

> And whatever actions are declared here for beings, that and the sequence of their births I shall explain to you.

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> paśavaśca mṛgāścaiva vyālāścobhayatodataḥ , rakṣāṁsi ca piśācāśca manuṣyāśca jarāyujāḥ. aṇḍajāḥ pakṣiṇaḥ sarpā nakrā matsyāśca kacchapāḥ , yāni caivaṁ. vedajaṁ daṁśamaśakaṁ yūkāmakṣikamatkuṇam , ūṣmaṇaścopajāyante yaccānyat kiṁ cidīdṛśam. udbhijjāḥ sthāvarāḥ sarve bījakāṇḍaprarohiṇaḥ , oṣadhyaḥ phalapākāntā bahupuṣpaphalopagāḥ. apuṣpāḥ phalavanto ye te vanaspatayaḥ smṛtāḥ , puṣpiṇaḥ phalinaścaiva vṛkṣāstūbhayataḥ smṛtāḥ. gucchagulmaṁ tu vividhaṁ tathaiva tṛṇajātayaḥ , bījakāṇḍaruhāṇyeva pratānā vallya eva ca. tamasā bahurūpeṇa veṣṭitāḥ karmahetunā, antassaṁjñā bhavantyete sukhaduḥkhasamanvitāḥ. 43–49

> Beasts, wild animals, reptiles, demons, Piśācas, and humans are womb-born. Birds, serpents, crocodiles, fishes, and tortoises are egg-born. Mosquitoes, biting insects, lice, flies, bugs, and similar creatures arise from moisture and heat. All plants sprouting from seed, stem, or shoot are earth-splitting growths. Herbs endure until fruit ripens. Those bearing fruit without visible flowers are called forest-lords; those bearing both flowers and fruits are called trees. Bushes, shrubs, grasses, creepers, and vines arise from seed and stem. Enveloped by darkness in many forms through the force of karma, these possess inward awareness and are joined with pleasure and pain.

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> etadantās tu gatayo brahmādyāḥ samudāhṛtāḥ, ghore'smin bhūtasaṁsāre nityaṁ satatayāyini. 50

> These are declared to be the courses of existence from Brahmā downward in this terrible cycle of beings, ever proceeding onward.

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> evaṁ sarvaṁ sa sṛṣṭvaidaṁ māṁ cācintyaparākramaḥ, ātmany antardadhe bhūyaḥ kālaṁ kālena pīḍayan. 51

> Having thus created all this, and me, he of inconceivable power withdrew again into himself, driving time onward by time.

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> yadā sa devo jāgarti tad evaṁ ceṣṭate jagat, yadā svapiti śāntātmā tadā sarvaṁ nimīlati. 52

> When that god awakens, the world thus acts; when he sleeps, serene in self, then all closes down.

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> tasmin svapiti tu svasthe karmātmānaḥ śarīriṇaḥ, svakarmabhyo nivartante manaś ca glānim ṛcchati. 53

> When he sleeps in repose, embodied beings whose nature is action withdraw from their actions, and the mind falls into weariness.

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> yugapat tu pralīyante yadā tasmin mahātmani, tadā'yaṁ sarvabhūtātmā sukhaṁ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ. 54

> When all dissolve at once into that Great-Self, then this Self-of-All-Beings sleeps happily, at peace.

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