Traditional
139-646: Kurma ( Sanskrit : कूर्म , lit. 'Turtle' or 'Tortoise'), is the second avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu . Originating in Vedic literature such as the Yajurveda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kashyapa , Kurma is most commonly associated in post-Vedic literature such as the Puranas . He prominently appears in the legend of the churning of
278-537: A dead language in the most common usage of the term. Pollock's notion of the "death of Sanskrit" remains in this unclear realm between academia and public opinion when he says that "most observers would agree that, in some crucial way, Sanskrit is dead." Yantra Yantra ( यन्त्र ; lit. 'machine'/'contraption' ) is a geometrical diagram, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions . Yantras are used for
417-708: A deity who can be called on at will by the user. They are traditionally consecrated and energized by a priest, including the use of mantras closely associated with the specific deity and yantra. Practitioners believe that a yantra that is not energized with a mantra is lifeless. In Sri Lankan Buddhism , practitioners are required to have the yantra of the deity with them, once the deity has shown acceptance of their prayer. Gudrun Bühnemann classifies three general types of yantras based on their usage: A yantra comprises geometric shapes, images, and written mantra. Triangles and hexagrams are common, as are circles and lotuses of 4 to 1,000 petals. Saiva and Shakti yantras often feature
556-466: A detailed description of various lands of the region and constellations and zodiac stars corresponding to nine parts of the tortoise - mouth, four feet, tail, centre and two sides of its belly. The Bhagavata Purana states Vishnu stays as Kurma in the Himalayan continent ( Hiraṇmaya-varsa ). The Kurma Purana is one of four Puranas that bear the names of Vishnu's avatars. The Purana is narrated by Kurma to
695-447: A firm standing in the sea, viz., this earth. Since that time, the Kalis sit on his back. This Saman is (Equal To) a firm standing. A firm standing gets he who knows thus. The Chandoma(-Day)s are a sea... and Kasyapa (The Tortoise) is able to convey (Them) across the sea. That there is here this Akupara, is for crossing over the sea. The Jaiminiya Brahmana explicitly links Akupara, Kashyapa, and
834-433: A focus on Indian philosophies and Sanskrit. Though written in a number of different scripts, the dominant language of Hindu texts has been Sanskrit. It or a hybrid form of Sanskrit became the preferred language of Mahayana Buddhism scholarship; for example, one of the early and influential Buddhist philosophers, Nagarjuna (~200 CE), used Classical Sanskrit as the language for his texts. According to Renou, Sanskrit had
973-581: A language competed with numerous, less exact vernacular Indian languages called Prakritic languages ( prākṛta - ). The term prakrta literally means "original, natural, normal, artless", states Franklin Southworth . The relationship between Prakrit and Sanskrit is found in Indian texts dated to the 1st millennium CE. Patañjali acknowledged that Prakrit is the first language, one instinctively adopted by every child with all its imperfections and later leads to
1112-643: A limited role in the Theravada tradition (formerly known as the Hinayana) but the Prakrit works that have survived are of doubtful authenticity. Some of the canonical fragments of the early Buddhist traditions, discovered in the 20th century, suggest the early Buddhist traditions used an imperfect and reasonably good Sanskrit, sometimes with a Pali syntax, states Renou. The Mahāsāṃghika and Mahavastu, in their late Hinayana forms, used hybrid Sanskrit for their literature. Sanskrit
1251-454: A natural part of the earliest Vedic language, and that these developed in the centuries after the composition had been completed, and as a gradual unconscious process during the oral transmission by generations of reciters. The primary source for this argument is internal evidence of the text which betrays an instability of the phenomenon of retroflexion, with the same phrases having sandhi-induced retroflexion in some parts but not other. This
1390-479: A negative evidence to Pollock's hypothesis, but it is not positive evidence. A closer look at Sanskrit in the Indian history after the 12th century suggests that Sanskrit survived despite the odds. According to Hanneder, On a more public level the statement that Sanskrit is a dead language is misleading, for Sanskrit is quite obviously not as dead as other dead languages and the fact that it is spoken, written and read will probably convince most people that it cannot be
1529-546: A pan-Indo-Aryan accessibility to information and knowledge in the ancient and medieval times, in contrast to the Prakrit languages which were understood just regionally. It created a cultural bond across the subcontinent. As local languages and dialects evolved and diversified, Sanskrit served as the common language. It connected scholars from distant parts of South Asia such as Tamil Nadu and Kashmir, states Deshpande, as well as those from different fields of studies, though there must have been differences in its pronunciation given
SECTION 10
#17328446143071668-568: A prime tool in certain sadhanas performed by the sadhaka, the spiritual seeker. Yantras hold great importance in Hinduism , Jainism , and Buddhism . Representations of the yantra in India have been considered to date back to 11,000–10,000 BCE. The Baghor stone , found in an upper- Paleolithic context in the Son River Valley, is considered the earliest example by G. R. Sharma, who was involved in
1807-573: A refined and standardized grammatical form that emerged in the mid-1st millennium BCE and was codified in the most comprehensive of ancient grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight chapters') of Pāṇini . The greatest dramatist in Sanskrit, Kālidāsa , wrote in classical Sanskrit, and the foundations of modern arithmetic were first described in classical Sanskrit. The two major Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and
1946-534: A restrained language from which archaisms and unnecessary formal alternatives were excluded". The Classical form of the language simplified the sandhi rules but retained various aspects of the Vedic language, while adding rigor and flexibilities, so that it had sufficient means to express thoughts as well as being "capable of responding to the future increasing demands of an infinitely diversified literature", according to Renou. Pāṇini included numerous "optional rules" beyond
2085-439: A similar phonetic structure to Tamil. Hock et al. quoting George Hart state that there was influence of Old Tamil on Sanskrit. Hart compared Old Tamil and Classical Sanskrit to arrive at a conclusion that there was a common language from which these features both derived – "that both Tamil and Sanskrit derived their shared conventions, metres, and techniques from a common source, for it is clear that neither borrowed directly from
2224-629: A tortoise. In the narrative of the battle between Shiva's manifestation Virabhadra and Vishnu's avatar Narasimha of the Linga Purana and the Shiva Purana , Virabhadra mocks Narasimha-Vishnu stating that Kurma's skull adorns the necklace of Shiva. In a passing reference in the Vishnu Purana and the Markendeya Purana narrative of Varaha , Brahma - identified with Narayana - decides to take
2363-420: A tortoise. The Taittiriya Aranyaka describes a similar practice in a ritual called Arunaketuka-kayana where the tortoise is buried under the altar. Here, Prajapati or his "juice" ( rasa ) the tortoise is called Arunaketu ("one who has red rays"). Prajapati performs austerities ( tapas ). From his rasa springs a tortoise swimming in the water. Prajapati declares to the tortoise to be his creation; in response
2502-464: Is "limited" as Kurma, compared his other avatars. The epics present the earliest known versions of the popular Samudra Manthana narrative. In the Adi Parva Book of the epic Mahabharata , the god Narayana (identified with Vishnu ) suggests the gods ( devas ) and the demons ( asuras ) churn the ocean to obtain amrita (ambrosia) as both of them seek immortality. The gods select Mount Mandara as
2641-692: Is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages . It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age . Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism , the language of classical Hindu philosophy , and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism . It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in
2780-525: Is able to convey (them) across the sea [of material existence]'. P.N. Sinha seems to support this view, adding 'Kurma was a great Avatara as He prepared the way for the spiritual regeneration of the universe, by the Churning of the Ocean Of Milk '. Deity Yajna - Purusha : N. Aiyangar states that as the tortoise was 'used as the very basis of the fire Altar , the hidden invisible tortoise, taken together with
2919-460: Is akin to that of Latin and Ancient Greek in Europe. Sanskrit has significantly influenced most modern languages of the Indian subcontinent , particularly the languages of the northern, western, central and eastern Indian subcontinent. Sanskrit declined starting about and after the 13th century. This coincides with the beginning of Islamic invasions of South Asia to create, and thereafter expand
SECTION 20
#17328446143073058-592: Is considered the Progenitor of all living beings with his thirteen wives, including vegetation, as related by H.R. Zimmer: Ira [meaning 'fluid']... is known as the queen-consort of still another old creator-god and father of creatures, Kashyapa, the Old Tortoise Man, and as such she is the mother of all vegetable life. The legend of the churning of the Ocean of Milk ( Samudra Manthana ) developed in post-Vedic literature
3197-452: Is found in the writing of Bharata Muni , the author of the ancient Natya Shastra text. The early Jain scholar Namisādhu acknowledged the difference, but disagreed that the Prakrit language was a corruption of Sanskrit. Namisādhu stated that the Prakrit language was the pūrvam ('came before, origin') and that it came naturally to children, while Sanskrit was a refinement of Prakrit through "purification by grammar". Sanskrit belongs to
3336-551: Is itself inextricably linked with Kurma (as the base of the churning rod) and involves other sons of Kashyapa: the devas / adityas (born from Aditi ) and the asuras / Danavas / Daityas (born from Danu and Diti ) use one of the Naga (born from Kadru ) as a churning rope to obtain Amrita . Garuda , the king of birds and mount of Vishnu , is another son of Kashyapa (born from Vinata ) often mentioned in this legend. In another, Garuda seeks
3475-524: Is rare in the later version of the language. The Homerian Greek, like Ṛg-vedic Sanskrit, deploys simile extensively, but they are structurally very different. The early Vedic form of the Sanskrit language was far less homogenous compared to the Classical Sanskrit as defined by grammarians by about the mid-1st millennium BCE. According to Richard Gombrich—an Indologist and a scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli and Buddhist Studies—the archaic Vedic Sanskrit found in
3614-491: Is still evident in the medical terminology of Sushruta , where the term refers to blunt surgical instruments such as tweezers or a vice. The meaning of "mystical or occult diagram" arises in the medieval period ( Kathasaritsagara , Pancharatra ). Yantras are usually associated with a particular deity and are used for specific benefits, such as: for meditation; protection from harmful influences; development of particular powers; attraction of wealth or success, etc. For instance,
3753-479: Is taken along with evidence of controversy, for example, in passages of the Aitareya-Āraṇyaka (700 BCE), which features a discussion on whether retroflexion is valid in particular cases. The Ṛg-veda is a collection of books, created by multiple authors. These authors represented different generations, and the mandalas 2 to 7 are the oldest while the mandalas 1 and 10 are relatively the youngest. Yet,
3892-580: Is the predominant language of one of the largest collection of historic manuscripts. The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit are from the 1st century BCE, such as the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana and Ghosundi-Hathibada (Chittorgarh) . Though developed and nurtured by scholars of orthodox schools of Hinduism, Sanskrit has been the language for some of the key literary works and theology of heterodox schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. The structure and capabilities of
4031-526: The Bhagavata Purana , the Panchatantra and many other texts are all in the Sanskrit language. The Classical Sanskrit with its exacting grammar was thus the language of the Indian scholars and the educated classes, while others communicated with approximate or ungrammatical variants of it as well as other natural Indian languages. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside
4170-414: The Amrita produced (eating a warring Elephant And Tortoise in the process) to free his mother and himself from enslavement from Kadru. Kurmasana (Tortoise Posture) is a Yoga posture. ' Panikacchapika' (Sanskrit पाणिकच्छपिका), meaning 'Hand Tortoise', is a special positioning of the fingers during worship rituals to symbolise Kurma. The Kurmacakra is a Yantra , a mystical diagram for worship, in
4309-515: The Apsaras , the cow of plenty Surabhi , the white elephant Airavata and Dhanavantri with the pot of amrita (sometimes enumerated as two objects). Other objects include the umbrella of Varuna , earrings taken by Indra for his mother Aditi , the bow of Vishnu Sharanga , the conch of Vishnu ( Shankha ), Nidra - the goddess of sloth, Alakshmi or Jyestha - the goddess of misfortune and the Tulasi plant. In
Kurma - Misplaced Pages Continue
4448-678: The Bhagavata Purana as 'Kacchapam' (कच्छप), 'Kamaṭha' (कमठ), 'Akupara' (अकूपार), and 'Ambucara-Atmana' (अम्बुचर-आत्मना), all of which mean 'tortoise' or 'form of a tortoise'. Written by the grammarian Yaska , the Nirukta is one of the six Vedangas or 'limbs of the Vedas ', concerned with correct etymology and interpretation of the Vedas. The entry for the Tortoise states (square brackets '[ ]' are as per
4587-463: The Brahma Vaivarta Purana and the Shiva Purana . Variations in these narratives alter the number and order of the divine articles appearing from the churning of the ocean. The number ranges from 9 to the popular list of 14. The common list includes the poison Halahala (Kalakuta), Varuni (Sura) - goddess of liquor, the divine horse Uchhaishravas, the gem Kaustubha, the goddess Lakshmi (Sri),
4726-568: The Dalai Lama , the Sanskrit language is a parent language that is at the foundation of many modern languages of India and the one that promoted Indian thought to other distant countries. In Tibetan Buddhism, states the Dalai Lama, Sanskrit language has been a revered one and called legjar lhai-ka or "elegant language of the gods". It has been the means of transmitting the "profound wisdom of Buddhist philosophy" to Tibet. The Sanskrit language created
4865-613: The Garuda Purana and the Shiva Purana similarly praises Vishnu as the one who kept the Mandara mountain aloft or the one who supported Mandara during the churning of the ocean as a tortoise. The Agni Purana , the Markendeya Purana , the Vishnu Purana and the Brahma Purana state that Vishnu resides in Bharata (the Indian subcontinent ) in the form of Kurma. The Markendeya Purana gives
5004-613: The Indo-European family of languages . It is one of the three earliest ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as Proto-Indo-European : Other Indo-European languages distantly related to Sanskrit include archaic and Classical Latin ( c. 600 BCE–100 CE, Italic languages ), Gothic (archaic Germanic language , c. 350 CE ), Old Norse ( c. 200 CE and after), Old Avestan ( c. late 2nd millennium BCE ) and Younger Avestan ( c. 900 BCE). The closest ancient relatives of Vedic Sanskrit in
5143-656: The Matsya Purana , Vishnu states that his form the world turtle Kurma, which supports all the worlds on his back, be requested by the gods to aid in the Samudra Manthana. Kurma is placed in Patala as the base of Mount Mandara. The Shiva Purana explicitly praises Vishnu as the world turtle who supports the Earth. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana states the serpent Shesha who supports the universe over his hoods, sits on Kurma, who lies in
5282-585: The Ocean of Milk , referred to as the Samudra Manthana . Along with being synonymous with Akupara , the World-Turtle supporting the Earth, Kurma is listed as the second of the Dashavatara , which are the ten principal incarnations of Vishnu. The Sanskrit word 'Kurma' ( Devanagari : कूर्म) means 'Tortoise' and 'Turtle'. The tortoise incarnation of Vishnu is also referred to in post-Vedic literature such as
5421-489: The Puranas , Kurma is inextricably linked with the legend of the churning of the Ocean Of Milk , known as the Samudra Manthana . Kurma is also directly linked with Akupara , the so-called 'world-turtle' that supports the Earth, usually with Sesa . The tale of Vishnu appearing as Kurma to support the sinking Mandara mountain is narrated in a chapter in the Agni Purana dedicated to Samudra Manthana. The narrative starts with
5560-744: The Rigveda had already evolved in the Vedic period, as evidenced in the later Vedic literature. Gombrich posits that the language in the early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit, while the archaic Vedic Sanskrit had by the Buddha 's time become unintelligible to all except ancient Indian sages. The formalization of the Saṃskṛta language is credited to Pāṇini , along with Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patañjali's work. Panini composed Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight-Chapter Grammar'), which became
5699-532: The Rigveda , a collection of 1,028 hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE by Indo-Aryan tribes migrating east from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across northern Pakistan and into northwestern India. Vedic Sanskrit interacted with the preexisting ancient languages of the subcontinent, absorbing names of newly encountered plants and animals; in addition, the ancient Dravidian languages influenced Sanskrit's phonology and syntax. Sanskrit can also more narrowly refer to Classical Sanskrit ,
Kurma - Misplaced Pages Continue
5838-526: The Rāmāyaṇa , however, were composed in a range of oral storytelling registers called Epic Sanskrit which was used in northern India between 400 BCE and 300 CE, and roughly contemporary with classical Sanskrit. In the following centuries, Sanskrit became tradition-bound, stopped being learned as a first language, and ultimately stopped developing as a living language. The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to
5977-558: The Shatapatha Brahmana (related to the YajurVeda ), where the name is also synonymous with Kashyapa , one of the Saptarishi (seven sages). The Shatapatha Brahmana is the earliest extant text to mention Kurma, the tortoise. The Shatapatha Brahmana equates the tortoise - Kurma to the creator of all creatures. The god Prajapati assumes the form of Kurma to create all creatures ( praja ). Since he "made" ( kar ) all, Prajapati's form
6116-581: The Sivali yantra, used mainly in Southeast Asian Buddhism, is used for the attraction of wealth and good luck. They are often used in daily ritual worship at home or in temples, and sometimes worn as a talisman. As an aid to meditation (meditative painting), yantras represent the deity that is the object of meditation. These yantras emanate from the central point, the bindu . A yantra typically has several geometric shapes radiating concentrically from
6255-567: The Vajasaneyi Samhita of the white Yajurveda describes the tortoise as the "lord of the waters". The selection of the tortoise may stream from the belief that it supports the world. Though Kurma is not found in the oldest Hindu scripture Rigveda , the seer Kashyapa (who is equated with Kurma) appears in hymns in the scripture. The Atharvaveda regards Kashyapa, who is mentioned along with or identified with Prajapati, as svayambhu ("self-manifested"). In later Hindu scriptures like
6394-656: The Vedas , Itihāsa (Epics), and Puranas to be the progenitor of all living beings (see relevant sections, below) - is also stated to be synonymous with Akupara , the name of the 'World-Turtle' in the Mahabharata . Caland explains in his footnote to verse 30 the significance of this name by quoting from the Jaiminiya Brahmana : Akupara Kasyapa descended together with the Kalis , into the sea. He sought it in firm standing. He saw this atman and lauded with it. Thereupon, he found
6533-406: The sandhi rules, both internal and external. Quite many words found in the early Vedic Sanskrit language are never found in late Vedic Sanskrit or Classical Sanskrit literature, while some words have different and new meanings in Classical Sanskrit when contextually compared to the early Vedic Sanskrit literature. Arthur Macdonell was among the early colonial era scholars who summarized some of
6672-500: The verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- is a compound word consisting of sáṃ ('together, good, well, perfected') and kṛta - ('made, formed, work'). It connotes a work that has been "well prepared, pure and perfect, polished, sacred". According to Biderman, the perfection contextually being referred to in the etymological origins of the word is its tonal—rather than semantic—qualities. Sound and oral transmission were highly valued qualities in ancient India, and its sages refined
6811-505: The 'Twelve Pillars... are evidently the twelve months of the year, and... The four elephants on which Earth rests are the Dikarin, the sentinels of the four directions.. [Kurma] symbolizes the fact that Earth is supported in space in its annual orbit around the Sun'. A.A. Macdonell , A.B. Keith , J. Roy, J. Dowson , and W.J. Wilkins all state that the origin of Kurma is in the Vedas , specifically
6950-414: The 13th century, a premier center of Sanskrit literary creativity, Sanskrit literature there disappeared, perhaps in the "fires that periodically engulfed the capital of Kashmir" or the "Mongol invasion of 1320" states Pollock. The Sanskrit literature which was once widely disseminated out of the northwest regions of the subcontinent, stopped after the 12th century. As Hindu kingdoms fell in the eastern and
7089-521: The 7th century where he established a major center of learning and language translation under the patronage of Emperor Taizong. By the early 1st millennium CE, Sanskrit had spread Buddhist and Hindu ideas to Southeast Asia, parts of the East Asia and the Central Asia. It was accepted as a language of high culture and the preferred language by some of the local ruling elites in these regions. According to
SECTION 50
#17328446143077228-425: The Classical Sanskrit language launched ancient Indian speculations about "the nature and function of language", what is the relationship between words and their meanings in the context of a community of speakers, whether this relationship is objective or subjective, discovered or is created, how individuals learn and relate to the world around them through language, and about the limits of language? They speculated on
7367-521: The Dravidian languages borrowed from Sanskrit vocabulary, but they have also affected Sanskrit on deeper levels of structure, "for instance in the domain of phonology where Indo-Aryan retroflexes have been attributed to Dravidian influence". Similarly, Ferenc Ruzca states that all the major shifts in Indo-Aryan phonetics over two millennia can be attributed to the constant influence of a Dravidian language with
7506-513: The Dravidian words and forms, without modifying the word order; but the same thing is not possible in rendering a Persian or English sentence into a non-Indo-Aryan language. Shulman mentions that "Dravidian nonfinite verbal forms (called vinaiyeccam in Tamil) shaped the usage of the Sanskrit nonfinite verbs (originally derived from inflected forms of action nouns in Vedic). This particularly salient case of
7645-469: The Indo-Aryan language underwent rapid linguistic change and morphed into the Vedic Sanskrit language. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit . The earliest attested Sanskrit text is the Rigveda , a Hindu scripture from the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if any ever existed, but scholars are generally confident that
7784-507: The Indo-European languages are the Nuristani languages found in the remote Hindu Kush region of northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Himalayas, as well as the extinct Avestan and Old Persian – both are Iranian languages . Sanskrit belongs to the satem group of the Indo-European languages. Colonial era scholars familiar with Latin and Greek were struck by the resemblance of
7923-521: The Muslim rule in the form of Sultanates, and later the Mughal Empire . Sheldon Pollock characterises the decline of Sanskrit as a long-term "cultural, social, and political change". He dismisses the idea that Sanskrit declined due to "struggle with barbarous invaders", and emphasises factors such as the increasing attractiveness of vernacular language for literary expression. With the fall of Kashmir around
8062-489: The Muslim rulers. Hindu rulers such as Shivaji of the Maratha Empire , reversed the process, by re-adopting Sanskrit and re-asserting their socio-linguistic identity. After Islamic rule disintegrated in South Asia and the colonial rule era began, Sanskrit re-emerged but in the form of a "ghostly existence" in regions such as Bengal. This decline was the result of "political institutions and civic ethos" that did not support
8201-560: The Puranas, the legend of Shiva (who is closely linked to the Vedic Rudra) drinking poison in the Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean) episode. 29. There is the Akupara(Saman). ('The Chant of Akupara'). 30. By means of this (Saman), Akupara Kasyapa attained power and greatness. Power and Greatness attains he who in lauding has practised the Akupara(Saman). The sage Kashyapa - stated in
8340-427: The Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially " thought forms " representing divinities or cosmic powers that exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations. In Rigvedic Sanskrit , yantra meant an instrument for restraining or fastening, a prop, support, or barrier, etymologically deriving from the root yam, "to sustain, support" and the -tra suffix, expressing instrumentation. The literal meaning
8479-488: The Saṃskṛta language, both in its vocabulary and grammar, to the classical languages of Europe. In The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World , Mallory and Adams illustrate the resemblance with the following examples of cognate forms (with the addition of Old English for further comparison): The correspondences suggest some common root, and historical links between some of
SECTION 60
#17328446143078618-616: The South India, such as the great Vijayanagara Empire , so did Sanskrit. There were exceptions and short periods of imperial support for Sanskrit, mostly concentrated during the reign of the tolerant Mughal emperor Akbar . Muslim rulers patronized the Middle Eastern language and scripts found in Persia and Arabia, and the Indians linguistically adapted to this Persianization to gain employment with
8757-447: The Vedic Sanskrit in these books of the Ṛg-veda "hardly presents any dialectical diversity", states Louis Renou – an Indologist known for his scholarship of the Sanskrit literature and the Ṛg-veda in particular. According to Renou, this implies that the Vedic Sanskrit language had a "set linguistic pattern" by the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Beyond the Ṛg-veda, the ancient literature in Vedic Sanskrit that has survived into
8896-451: The Vedic Sanskrit's bahulam framework, to respect liberty and creativity so that individual writers separated by geography or time would have the choice to express facts and their views in their own way, where tradition followed competitive forms of the Sanskrit language. The phonetic differences between Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit, as discerned from the current state of the surviving literature, are negligible when compared to
9035-407: The alphabet, the structure of words, and its exacting grammar into a "collection of sounds, a kind of sublime musical mold" as an integral language they called Saṃskṛta . From the late Vedic period onwards, state Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, resonating sound and its musical foundations attracted an "exceptionally large amount of linguistic, philosophical and religious literature" in India. Sound
9174-579: The altar and the sacred fire, seems to have been regarded as symbolizing the Deity Yajna-Purusha who is an invisible spiritual god extending from the fire altar up to heaven and everywhere... this seems to be the reason why the tortoise is identified with the sun'. Meditation / Churning the Mind: Aiyangar also surmises that the legend of the Samudra Manthana symbolises churning the mind through Meditation to achieve liberation ( Moksha ). Based on
9313-408: The base of the sacrificial fire altar ( uttar-vedi ). By this act, the sacrificer earns the merit of reaching heaven . Aiyangar suggests that the tortoise symbolizes Yajna-Purusha, the all-pervading god of Sacrifice. In another instance in the Taittiriya Samhita where Prajapati assigns sacrifices for the gods and places the oblation within himself, "the Sacrificial Cake" ( Purodasa ) is said to become
9452-440: The capacity to understand the old Prakrit languages such as Ardhamagadhi . A section of European scholars state that Sanskrit was never a spoken language. However, evidences shows that Sanskrit was a spoken language, essential for oral tradition that preserved the vast number of Sanskrit manuscripts from ancient India. The textual evidence in the works of Yaksa, Panini, and Patanajali affirms that Classical Sanskrit in their era
9591-430: The center, including triangles, circles, hexagons, octagons, and symbolic lotus petals. The outside often includes a square representing the four cardinal directions, with doors to each. A popular form is the Sri Chakra, or Sri Yantra , which represents the goddess in her form as Tripura Sundari . Sri Chakra also includes a representation of Shiva , and is designed to show the totality of creation and existence, along with
9730-444: The churning in many forms - Kurma as the base of the mount, in one form he sits on top of Mandara and in other forms, helps the gods and the demons pull the serpentine rope. The Brahmanda Purana states that Vishnu in the form of Brahma supports the mount; while as Narayana invigorated the gods. The Vayu Purana , the Padma Purana have similar narratives; the Bhagavata Purana also narrates the tale. The Bhagavata Purana describes
9869-543: The churning of the Ocean of Milk represents the 'Churning Of The Dualistic Mind'. Ascetic Penance : H.H. Wilson notes that 'the account [of the Samudra Manthana] in the Hari Vamsa ... is explained, by the commentator, as an Allegory , in which the churning of the ocean typifies ascetic penance, and the Ambrosia is final Liberation ' (Linking With The Idea Of 'Steadiness' And 'Firmness'), but personally dismisses this interpretation as 'Mere Mystification' (Note 1, pp. 146). Astronomy : B.G. Sidharth states that
10008-411: The churning of the ocean, ending with the god Dhanavantri carrying the vessel of Amrita. When the asuras steal the pot, Vishnu assumes the form of the seductress Mohini and grabs it from the asuras and distributes it to the gods. Rahu assumes a form of a deva and drinks the amrita and is decapitated by Vishnu. A similar narrative is also given in the Vishnu Purana ; Vishnu is described to participate in
10147-432: The churning rod and the serpent Vasuki-Ananta as the rope. Then they approach Kurma-raja, the king of tortoises to support the mount on its back, which it consented. The gods churn from the tail side of the serpent, while asuras on the head side. Various trees and herbs are cast into the ocean. The churned water takes into milk. Ultimately, various precious items like Soma (the moon), the goddess Sri ( Lakshmi ), Sura (liquor),
10286-517: The close relationship between the Indo-Iranian tongues and the Baltic and Slavic languages , vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European Uralic languages , and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna. The pre-history of Indo-Aryan languages which preceded Vedic Sanskrit is unclear and various hypotheses place it over a fairly wide limit. According to Thomas Burrow, based on
10425-609: The context of a speech or language, is found in verses 5.28.17–19 of the Ramayana . Outside the learned sphere of written Classical Sanskrit, vernacular colloquial dialects ( Prakrits ) continued to evolve. Sanskrit co-existed with numerous other Prakrit languages of ancient India. The Prakrit languages of India also have ancient roots and some Sanskrit scholars have called these Apabhramsa , literally 'spoiled'. The Vedic literature includes words whose phonetic equivalent are not found in other Indo-European languages but which are found in
10564-639: The crystallization of Classical Sanskrit. As in this period the Indo-Aryan tribes had not yet made contact with the inhabitants of the South of the subcontinent, this suggests a significant presence of Dravidian speakers in North India (the central Gangetic plain and the classical Madhyadeśa) who were instrumental in this substratal influence on Sanskrit. Extant manuscripts in Sanskrit number over 30 million, one hundred times those in Greek and Latin combined, constituting
10703-448: The curse of sage Durvasa to the gods (devas), who lose to the asuras in battle and seek refuge in Vishnu. The asuras and the devas unite to churn the milk ocean, with Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki as the rope. Kurma appears to support the mountain. The poison Halahala appears from the ocean, which is drunk by Shiva to save the world. After which, various divine objects emerge from
10842-467: The detailed and sophisticated treatise then transmitted it through his students. Modern scholarship generally accepts that he knew of a form of writing, based on references to words such as Lipi ('script') and lipikara ('scribe') in section 3.2 of the Aṣṭādhyāyī . The Classical Sanskrit language formalized by Pāṇini, states Renou, is "not an impoverished language", rather it is "a controlled and
10981-467: The differences between the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit. Louis Renou published in 1956, in French, a more extensive discussion of the similarities, the differences and the evolution of the Vedic Sanskrit within the Vedic period and then to the Classical Sanskrit along with his views on the history. This work has been translated by Jagbans Balbir. The earliest known use of the word Saṃskṛta (Sanskrit), in
11120-456: The distant major ancient languages of the world. The Indo-Aryan migrations theory explains the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages by proposing that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in South Asia from a region of common origin, somewhere north-west of the Indus region , during the early 2nd millennium BCE. Evidence for such a theory includes
11259-483: The early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture , and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in
11398-472: The epics and the Puranas, Kashyapa is described as the grandfather of Manu , the progenitor of mankind. Apart from described as one of Saptarishi (seven great sages), he is described as one of the Prajapati s ("agents of creation") and marries 13 daughters of Daksha , fathering gods, demons, animals, birds and various living beings. The seer Kashyapa, tortoise, being referred in various later Vedic literature as
11537-510: The excavation of the stone (it was dated to 25,000–20,000 BCE). The triangular stone, which includes triangular engravings on one side, was found daubed in ochre in what was considered a site related to worship. Worship of goddesses in that region was found to be practiced in a similar manner to the present day. Kenoyer , who was also involved in the excavation, considered it to be associated with Shakti . This triangular shape looks very much similar to Kali Yantra and Muladhara Chakra. Mantras,
11676-543: The first language of the respective speakers. The Sanskrit language brought Indo-Aryan speaking people together, particularly its elite scholars. Some of these scholars of Indian history regionally produced vernacularized Sanskrit to reach wider audiences, as evidenced by texts discovered in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Once the audience became familiar with the easier to understand vernacularized version of Sanskrit, those interested could graduate from colloquial Sanskrit to
11815-468: The form of Vishnu as Ajita, the son of Vairaja and Sambhuti, who assumed the form of the tortoise to rescue Mandara from drowning. He is further called the first tortoise. In another instance, it states that the ocean tides are a result of the breathing of Kurma, who had become drowsy due to the scratching of Mandara on his back. Samudra Manthana is alluded briefly in the Kurma Purana , the Linga Purana ,
11954-520: The form of the boar Varaha, similar to the forms of the fish (Matsya) and tortoise (Kurma), he took in previous kalpa s. The Linga Purana , the Varaha Purana and the Shiva Purana mention Kurma as second in its Dashavatara listing. Sanskrit language Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively 𑀲𑀁𑀲𑁆𑀓𑀾𑀢𑀁 , संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] )
12093-412: The foundation of Vyākaraṇa, a Vedānga . The Aṣṭādhyāyī was not the first description of Sanskrit grammar, but it is the earliest that has survived in full, and the culmination of a long grammatical tradition that Fortson says, is "one of the intellectual wonders of the ancient world". Pāṇini cites ten scholars on the phonological and grammatical aspects of the Sanskrit language before him, as well as
12232-537: The gods Varuna, Mitra, Indra, and Nasatya found in the earliest layers of the Vedic literature. O Bṛhaspati, when in giving names they first set forth the beginning of Language, Their most excellent and spotless secret was laid bare through love, When the wise ones formed Language with their mind, purifying it like grain with a winnowing fan, Then friends knew friendships – an auspicious mark placed on their language. — Rigveda 10.71.1–4 Translated by Roger Woodard The Vedic Sanskrit found in
12371-472: The gods defeat the asuras with Indra retaining the amrita and appointing Nara as its guardian. In this narrative, Kurma is not related with Vishnu. Though the critical edition of the epic does not refer to Kurma as an avatar of Vishnu, some latter insertions in manuscripts of the epic associate Kurma as a pradurbhava (manifestation) of Vishnu. The Ramayana briefly mentions the Samudra Manthana episode, however does not mention Kurma in it. The epic mentions
12510-431: The historic Sanskrit literary culture and the failure of new Sanskrit literature to assimilate into the changing cultural and political environment. Sheldon Pollock states that in some crucial way, "Sanskrit is dead ". After the 12th century, the Sanskrit literary works were reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored, and any creativity was restricted to hymns and verses. This contrasted with
12649-478: The intense change that must have occurred in the pre-Vedic period between the Proto-Indo-Aryan language and Vedic Sanskrit. The noticeable differences between the Vedic and the Classical Sanskrit include the much-expanded grammar and grammatical categories as well as the differences in the accent, the semantics and the syntax. There are also some differences between how some of the nouns and verbs end, as well as
12788-486: The king Indradyumna and later to the sages and the gods at the time of Samudra Manthana. The detailed tale of the Samudra Manthana is absent from the Purana and alludes to Kurma as the one who supported Mount Mandara. The Kurma Purana is stated to be narrated by Kurma and is prescribed to be gifted with a golden statue of a tortoise in the Agni Purana . The Agni Purana prescribes that Kurma be depicted in zoomorphic form as
12927-432: The largest cultural heritage that any civilization has produced prior to the invention of the printing press. — Foreword of Sanskrit Computational Linguistics (2009), Gérard Huet, Amba Kulkarni and Peter Scharf Sanskrit has been the predominant language of Hindu texts encompassing a rich tradition of philosophical and religious texts, as well as poetry, music, drama , scientific , technical and others. It
13066-399: The legend of the Samudra Manthana symbolises astronomic phenomena, for example that 'Mandara represents the polar regions of Earth [and the] Churning Rope, Vasuki , symbolizes the slow annual motion of Earth... Vishnu , or the Sun himself rests upon a coiled snake... which represents the rotation of the Sun on its own axis'. In regards to the tortoise supporting the Earth, Sidharth adds that
13205-412: The linguistic expression and sets the standard for the Sanskrit language. Pāṇini made use of a technical metalanguage consisting of a syntax, morphology and lexicon. This metalanguage is organised according to a series of meta-rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced. Despite differences in the analysis from that of modern linguistics, Pāṇini's work has been found valuable and
13344-503: The literary works. The Indian tradition, states Winternitz , has favored the learning and the usage of multiple languages from the ancient times. Sanskrit was a spoken language in the educated and the elite classes, but it was also a language that must have been understood in a wider circle of society because the widely popular folk epics and stories such as the Ramayana , the Mahabharata ,
13483-654: The mention of Vatarasanaḥ ('Girdled By The Wind') Munis in the Taittirtya Aranyaka - also referred to as urdhvamanthin , meaning 'those who churn upwards' - and the explanation provided in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad , Aiyangar believes this would 'appear to be the hidden pivot on which the gist of the riddle of the Puranic legend about the Churning For Nectar turns'. R. Jarow seems to agree, stating
13622-501: The modern age include the Samaveda , Yajurveda , Atharvaveda , along with the embedded and layered Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas , Aranyakas , and the early Upanishads . These Vedic documents reflect the dialects of Sanskrit found in the various parts of the northwestern, northern, and eastern Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, Vedic Sanskrit was a spoken language of
13761-429: The more advanced Classical Sanskrit. Rituals and the rites-of-passage ceremonies have been and continue to be the other occasions where a wide spectrum of people hear Sanskrit, and occasionally join in to speak some Sanskrit words such as namah . Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini , around the fourth century BCE. Its position in the cultures of Greater India
13900-401: The most advanced analysis of linguistics until the twentieth century. Pāṇini's comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit. His systematic treatise inspired and made Sanskrit the preeminent Indian language of learning and literature for two millennia. It is unclear whether Pāṇini himself wrote his treatise or he orally created
14039-593: The most archaic poems of the Iranian and Greek language families, the Gathas of old Avestan and Iliad of Homer . As the Rigveda was orally transmitted by methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, as a single text without variant readings, its preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor language Proto-Indo-European . Sanskrit does not have an attested native script: from around
14178-643: The mount as holding its peak in a form and another form joins the gods in churning the ocean. Later versions of the Ramayana like the Adhyatma Ramayana associate Kurma with Rama , the male protagonist of the Ramayana who is also regarded as an avatar of Vishnu. J.W. Wilkins states that the 'probable' origin of Kurma is as an incarnation of Prajapati (i.e. Brahma ) in the Shatapatha Brahmana (7:5:1:5-7), but as 'the worship of Brahma became less popular, whilst that of Vishnu increased in its attraction,
14317-443: The mouth. Kaccha (mouth or shell of a tortoise) = kha-ccha, i. e. something which covers (chddayatl) space (kham). This other (meaning of) kaccha, 'a bank of a river', is derived from the same (root) also, i.e. water (kam) is covered (chadyate) by it. As illustrated below, Vedic literature such as the Samaveda and Yajurveda explicitly state Akupara/Kurma and the sage Kashyapa are Synonymous . Kashyapa - also meaning 'Tortoise' -
14456-534: The names, attributes, and works of one deity seem to have been transferred to the other'. Kurma as well as Varaha , the boar avatar of Vishnu, was both associated with the Creator Prajapati. Hermann Jacobi suggests that Prajapati may have worshipped in these animal forms. With Vishnu gaining the status of the Supreme God, the actions of Prajapati were transferred to Vishnu. In post-Vedic literature, including
14595-583: The numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. Sanskrit has been taught in traditional gurukulas since ancient times; it is widely taught today at the secondary school level. The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in 1791 during East India Company rule . Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial and ritual language in Hindu and Buddhist hymns and chants . In Sanskrit,
14734-465: The ocean churned being the ocean of milk, the Kshirasagara . An passage, generally believed to be interpolated and not part of the critical edition, refers to Kurma as well as the drinking of the poison by Shiva. The mount Mandara sinks to Patala (the underworld) during the churning. On the beseeching of the gods, Vishnu takes the form of the tortoise and raises the mount on his back. Vishnu also supports
14873-403: The oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they are ceremonial literature, where the exact phonetic expression and its preservation were a part of the historic tradition. However some scholars have suggested that the original Ṛg-veda differed in some fundamental ways in phonology compared to the sole surviving version available to us. In particular that retroflex consonants did not exist as
15012-492: The original author): May we obtain that illimitable gift of thine. The sun is called akupara also, i. e. unlimited, because it is immeasurable. The ocean, too, is called akupara, i. e. unlimited, because it is boundless. A tortoise is also called a-kupa-ara, because it does not move in a well [On account of its shallowness]. Kacchapa (tortoise) is (so called because) it protects (pati) its mouth (kaccham), or it protects itself by means of its shell (kacchena), or it drinks (√pa) by
15151-431: The other." Reinöhl further states that there is a symmetric relationship between Dravidian languages like Kannada or Tamil, with Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali or Hindi, whereas the same relationship is not found for non-Indo-Aryan languages, for example, Persian or English: A sentence in a Dravidian language like Tamil or Kannada becomes ordinarily good Bengali or Hindi by substituting Bengali or Hindi equivalents for
15290-414: The possible influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is only one of many items of syntactic assimilation, not least among them the large repertoire of morphological modality and aspect that, once one knows to look for it, can be found everywhere in classical and postclassical Sanskrit". The main influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is found to have been concentrated in the timespan between the late Vedic period and
15429-449: The pot of amrita from the asuras. Narayana along with Nara battle the asuras, while the enchantress distributes the amrita only to the gods. Rahu, an asura, disguises himself as a god and tries to drink some Amrita himself. Surya (the sun-god) and Chandra (the moon-god) quickly inform Vishnu, and he uses the Chakra (the divine discus) to decapitate Rahu, leaving the head immortal. Eventually,
15568-439: The previous 1,500 years when "great experiments in moral and aesthetic imagination" marked the Indian scholarship using Classical Sanskrit, states Pollock. Scholars maintain that the Sanskrit language did not die, but rather only declined. Jurgen Hanneder disagrees with Pollock, finding his arguments elegant but "often arbitrary". According to Hanneder, a decline or regional absence of creative and innovative literature constitutes
15707-480: The problems of interpretation and misunderstanding. The purifying structure of the Sanskrit language removes these imperfections. The early Sanskrit grammarian Daṇḍin states, for example, that much in the Prakrit languages is etymologically rooted in Sanskrit, but involves "loss of sounds" and corruptions that result from a "disregard of the grammar". Daṇḍin acknowledged that there are words and confusing structures in Prakrit that thrive independent of Sanskrit. This view
15846-443: The progenitor of beings, is inferred by A.A. Macdonell along with other animal-based tribal names in the Rigveda to suggest totemism ; however E.W. Hopkins disagrees. The Rigveda also refers in a hymn that Vayu churned for the sages ( muni s) and Rudra drinks from a cup of visha , which can be mean water or poison. John Muir suggests that visha in the Rigveda refers to Rudra drinking water, however it may have led to, in
15985-609: The prongs of a trishula . Yantra designs in modern times have deviated from the traditional patterns given in ancient texts and traditions. Designers in the west may copy design elements from Nepali/tantric imitations of yantras. Yantra Tattooing or Sak Yuant ( Thai : สักยันต์ RTGS : sak yan ) is a form of tattooing using yantra designs in Buddhism. It consists of sacred geometrical, animal and deity designs accompanied by Pali phrases that are said to offer power, protection, fortune, charisma and other benefits for
16124-596: The regional Prakrit languages, which makes it likely that the interaction, the sharing of words and ideas began early in the Indian history. As the Indian thought diversified and challenged earlier beliefs of Hinduism, particularly in the form of Buddhism and Jainism , the Prakrit languages such as Pali in Theravada Buddhism and Ardhamagadhi in Jainism competed with Sanskrit in the ancient times. However, states Paul Dundas , these ancient Prakrit languages had "roughly
16263-490: The relationship between various Indo-European languages, the origin of all these languages may possibly be in what is now Central or Eastern Europe, while the Indo-Iranian group possibly arose in Central Russia. The Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches separated quite early. It is the Indo-Aryan branch that moved into eastern Iran and then south into South Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Once in ancient India,
16402-558: The role of language, the ontological status of painting word-images through sound, and the need for rules so that it can serve as a means for a community of speakers, separated by geography or time, to share and understand profound ideas from each other. These speculations became particularly important to the Mīmāṃsā and the Nyaya schools of Hindu philosophy, and later to Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, states Frits Staal —a scholar of Linguistics with
16541-491: The same relationship to Sanskrit as medieval Italian does to Latin". The Indian tradition states that the Buddha and the Mahavira preferred the Prakrit language so that everyone could understand it. However, scholars such as Dundas have questioned this hypothesis. They state that there is no evidence for this and whatever evidence is available suggests that by the start of the common era, hardly anybody other than learned monks had
16680-551: The semi-nomadic Aryans . The Vedic Sanskrit language or a closely related Indo-European variant was recognized beyond ancient India as evidenced by the " Mitanni Treaty" between the ancient Hittite and Mitanni people, carved into a rock, in a region that now includes parts of Syria and Turkey. Parts of this treaty, such as the names of the Mitanni princes and technical terms related to horse training, for reasons not understood, are in early forms of Vedic Sanskrit. The treaty also invokes
16819-539: The shape of a tortoise. These are all mentioned in the Upanishads and Puranas (see below). The Dashavataras are compared to evolution; Kurma - the amphibian - is regarded the next stage after Matysa , the fish. Firmness / Steadiness: W. Caland notes that in relation to 'Akupara Kashyapa' in the Pancavimsa Brahmana and Jaiminiya Brahmana, the tortoise is equal to 'a firm standing... and Kashyapa (The Tortoise)
16958-594: The social structures such as the role of the poet and the priests, the patronage economy, the phrasal equations, and some of the poetic metres. While there are similarities, state Jamison and Brereton, there are also differences between Vedic Sanskrit, the Old Avestan, and the Mycenaean Greek literature. For example, unlike the Sanskrit similes in the Ṛg-veda, the Old Avestan Gathas lack simile entirely, and it
17097-468: The tortoise in regards to providing a 'Firm Standing' to cross over the sea of material existence. As illustrated below, in the Yajurveda , Kashyapa is also stated to be Synonymous with Prajapati (i.e. the Creator-God Brahma ) and with Kurma. In the Puranas, Kashyapa is frequently referred to as 'Prajapati' as well. Swami Achuthananda states that although varied like other legends, Vishnu's role
17236-465: The tortoise says that he has existed from "before" and manifests as Purusha - the primordial being and creates various deities including the sun, Agni (the fire), Indra , Vayu (the wind) and various beings. The tortoise is again treated as the divine Creator of the universe. R.T.H. Griffith states that tortoises were buried in construction of the Ahavaniya Fire-Altar. In this context,
17375-641: The turn of the 1st-millennium CE, it has been written in various Brahmic scripts , and in the modern era most commonly in Devanagari . Sanskrit's status, function, and place in India's cultural heritage are recognized by its inclusion in the Constitution of India 's Eighth Schedule languages . However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first-language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but
17514-464: The user's own unity with the cosmos. Yantras can be on a flat surface or three-dimensional. They can be drawn or painted on paper, engraved on metal, or any flat surface. They tend to be smaller in size than the similar mandala , traditionally with less color. Occult yantras are used as good luck charms, to ward off evil, as preventative medicine, in exorcism, etc., by virtue of magical power. When used as talismans, yantras are viewed as representing
17653-408: The variants in the usage of Sanskrit in different regions of India. The ten Vedic scholars he quotes are Āpiśali, Kaśyapa , Gārgya, Gālava, Cakravarmaṇa, Bhāradvāja , Śākaṭāyana, Śākalya, Senaka and Sphoṭāyana. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī , language is observed in a manner that has no parallel among Greek or Latin grammarians. Pāṇini's grammar, according to Renou and Filliozat, is a classic that defines
17792-564: The vernacular Prakrits. Many Sanskrit dramas indicate that the language coexisted with the vernacular Prakrits. The cities of Varanasi , Paithan , Pune and Kanchipuram were centers of classical Sanskrit learning and public debates until the arrival of the colonial era. According to Lamotte , Sanskrit became the dominant literary and inscriptional language because of its precision in communication. It was, states Lamotte, an ideal instrument for presenting ideas, and as knowledge in Sanskrit multiplied, so did its spread and influence. Sanskrit
17931-455: The white horse Uchchaihshravas , the white elephant Airavata , the gem Kaustubha and finally the god Dhanvantari with the vessel of amrita emerge from the ocean. The poison kalakuta springs from the ocean and is drunk by Shiva, whose throat becomes blue earning him the epithet Nila-kantha (The blue necked). The devas and asuras battle for the amrita . Narayana becomes an enchanting woman (called Mohini in later scriptures) and snatch
18070-515: The wind or the waters. The Vishnu Purana narrative of Vishnu's boar avatar Varaha alludes to the Matysa and Kurma avatars, saying that Brahma (identified with Narayana, an epithet transferred to Vishnu) took these forms in previous kalpa s. In the tale of the battle of the demon Bhandasura and the goddess Lalita in the Brahmanda Purana , Lalita creates Kurma to shelter her goddess army who
18209-501: The worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; and for the benefits believed given by their occult powers based on Hindu astrology and tantric texts. They are also used for adornment of temple floors, due mainly to their aesthetic and symmetric qualities. Specific yantras are traditionally associated with specific deities and/or certain types of energies used for accomplishment of certain tasks or vows that may be either materialistic or spiritual in nature. They become
18348-497: The Ṛg-veda is distinctly more archaic than other Vedic texts, and in many respects, the Rigvedic language is notably more similar to those found in the archaic texts of Old Avestan Zoroastrian Gathas and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . According to Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton – Indologists known for their translation of the Ṛg-veda – the Vedic Sanskrit literature "clearly inherited" from Indo-Iranian and Indo-European times
18487-408: Was a spoken language ( bhasha ) used by the cultured and educated. Some sutras expound upon the variant forms of spoken Sanskrit versus written Sanskrit. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentioned in his memoir that official philosophical debates in India were held in Sanskrit, not in the vernacular language of that region. According to Sanskrit linguist professor Madhav Deshpande, Sanskrit
18626-427: Was a spoken language in a colloquial form by the mid-1st millennium BCE which coexisted with a more formal, grammatically correct form of literary Sanskrit. This, states Deshpande, is true for modern languages where colloquial incorrect approximations and dialects of a language are spoken and understood, along with more "refined, sophisticated and grammatically accurate" forms of the same language being found in
18765-472: Was adopted voluntarily as a vehicle of high culture, arts, and profound ideas. Pollock disagrees with Lamotte, but concurs that Sanskrit's influence grew into what he terms a "Sanskrit Cosmopolis" over a region that included all of South Asia and much of southeast Asia. The Sanskrit language cosmopolis thrived beyond India between 300 and 1300 CE. Today, it is believed that Kashmiri is the closest language to Sanskrit. Reinöhl mentions that not only have
18904-722: Was also the language of some of the oldest surviving, authoritative and much followed philosophical works of Jainism such as the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati . The Sanskrit language has been one of the major means for the transmission of knowledge and ideas in Asian history. Indian texts in Sanskrit were already in China by 402 CE, carried by the influential Buddhist pilgrim Faxian who translated them into Chinese by 418 CE. Xuanzang , another Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, learnt Sanskrit in India and carried 657 Sanskrit texts to China in
19043-448: Was called Kurma . Kurma is equated with Kashyapa (literally "tortoise"), thus all creatures are called "children of Kashyapa". Kurma is also called Surya (the sun). The Shatapatha Brahmana also has the origins of Matsya , the Fish. Like Kurma, Matsya is also associated as the avatar of Vishnu later in the Puranas . The Taittiriya Samhita suggests a ritual of burying a live tortoise at
19182-457: Was drowning in the ocean, created by a weapon used by the demon. In the Agni Purana , the Shaligram stone for Kurma is described as black in colour with circular lines and an elevated hinder part. Kurma is invoked in worship of Vishnu in various scriptures. The Brahma Purana salutes Kurma in a hymn as the "great tortoise", who "lifted the Earth and kept the mountain aloft". The Linga Purana ,
19321-442: Was visualized as "pervading all creation", another representation of the world itself; the "mysterious magnum" of Hindu thought. The search for perfection in thought and the goal of liberation were among the dimensions of sacred sound, and the common thread that wove all ideas and inspirations together became the quest for what the ancient Indians believed to be a perfect language, the "phonocentric episteme" of Sanskrit. Sanskrit as
#306693