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Samavayanga Sutra

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58-595: Samavayanga Sutra (c. 3rd-4th century BCE) is the 4th amongst the 12 Angas of the Jaina canon . The sutra is believed to have been composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami . This ancient manuscript is the holy book of the Śvetāmbara sect. This text contains the essence of Jain religion, defined and catalogued systematically. Written c. 300 BCE, it is a part of the collection of texts containing Lord Mahavira’s teachings, collectively termed as Agama Sutras. Samavayanga Sutra contains elements of mathematics and astronomy. One of

116-571: A collection of palm leaf manuscripts in Odisha in 1957. The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas ", a description considered incorrect by other scholars. In contrast to the 'hieratic religion' of the other three Vedas, the Atharvaveda is said to represent a 'popular religion', incorporating not only formulas for magic , but also the daily rituals for initiation into learning ( upanayana ), marriage and funerals. Royal rituals and

174-485: A historical collection of beliefs and rituals addressing practical issues of daily life of the Vedic society, and it is not a liturgical Yajurveda-style collection. The Caraṇavyuha , a later era Sanskrit text, states that the Atharvaveda had nine shakhas , or schools: paippalāda , stauda , mauda , śaunakīya , jājala , jalada , brahmavada , devadarśa and cāraṇavaidyā . Of these, only

232-450: A household. Some hymns were not about magic spells and charms, but prayer qua prayer and philosophical speculations. The contents of the Atharvaveda contrasts with the other Vedas. The 19th century Indologist Weber summarized the contrast as follows, The spirit of the two collections [Rigveda, Atharvaveda] is indeed widely different. In the Rigveda there breathes a lively natural feeling,

290-424: A husband! As this comfortable cave, O Indra!, furnishing a safe abode hath become pleasing to all life, thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune, beloved, not at odds with her husband! Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of fortune; upon this bring, hither the suitor who shall be agreeable to thee! Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, the suitor, bend his mind towards her; turn thou

348-468: A loved one or recovery from some illness. In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet . Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering

406-456: A similar nature, likely of new compositions and was added later. The 143 hymns of the 20th book of Atharvaveda Samhita is almost entirely borrowed from the Rigveda. The hymns of Atharvaveda cover a motley of topics, across its twenty books. Roughly, the first seven books focus primarily on magical poems for all sorts of healing and sorcery, and Michael Witzel states these are reminiscent of Germanic and Hittite sorcery stanzas, and may likely be

464-541: A warm love for nature; while in the Atharva there prevails, on the contrary, only an anxious dread of her evil spirits and their magical powers. In the Rigveda we find the people in a state of free activity and independence; in the Atharva we see it bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition. Jan Gonda cautions that it would be incorrect to label Atharvaveda Samhita as mere compilation of magical formulas, witchcraft and sorcery. While such verses are indeed present in

522-567: Is also a mention of the days of their inhalation and exhalation. It further defines and catalogues the main substances of the Jain religion from a different perspective than the Sthananga Sutra . Furthermore, it contains references to the Damili script, an early Tamil script known as Tamili . Anga Anga was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern India whose existence is attested during

580-453: Is cognate to Avestan āθrauuan "priest" and possibly related to Tocharian *athr , "superior force". The Atharvaveda is also occasionally referred to as Bhrgvangirasah and Brahmaveda , after Bhrigu and Brahma , respectively. The Atharvaveda is dated by Flood at ca. 900 BCE, while Michael Witzel gives a dating at, or slightly after, c. 1200/1000 BCE. The ancient Indian tradition initially recognized only three Vedas. The Rigveda,

638-406: Is earth and sky held? is there space beyond the sky? what are seasons and where do they go? does Skambha (literally "cosmic pillar", synonym for Brahman ) penetrate everything or just somethings? does Skambha know the future? is Skambha the basis of Law, Devotion and Belief? who or what is Skambha ?" The wonderful structure of Man (...) How many gods and which were they, who gathered

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696-464: Is from the forest") after being assumed to be Vindhyaketu's daughter, was brought to Vatsa to become servant of Vāsavadattā, and later married Udayana after the Āṅgeya chamberlain recognised her as once Udayana had defeated Kaliṅga. Aṅga's prosperity ended when, in the middle of the 6th century BCE, the Māgadhī crown prince Bimbisāra Śreṇika avenged his father's defeat against Aṅga by defeating and killing

754-466: Is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity". ' The Atharvaveda Samhita contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf. The most frequent goal of these hymns, charms, and spells were long life of

812-572: Is said to have begotten five sons through his wife, the queen Sudesna. The princes were named Aṅga, Vaṅga , Kaliṅga , Sumha and Pundra . The Ramayana (1.23.14) narrates the origin of name Aṅga as the place where Kamadeva was burnt to death by Siva and where his body parts ( aṅgas ) are scattered. Aṅga was first mentioned in the Atharvaveda , where it was connected to the Gāndhārīs , Mūjavats, and Māgadhīs . The founder of Aṅga might have been

870-567: Is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas ", an epithet declared to be incorrect by many scholars. The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine. Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy. The text, states Kenneth Zysk ,

928-401: Is the "knowledge storehouse of atharvāṇas , the procedures for everyday life". The text is the fourth Veda , and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism . The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms . It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books. About a sixth of

986-690: The Kathā-sarit-sāgara , the Āṅgeya city of Viṭaṅkapura was located on the shores of the sea. During the 6th century BCE, the king of Aṅga was Dadhivāhana, who was married to the Licchavika princess Padmāvatī, who was herself the daughter of the consul of the Licchavika republic, Ceṭaka . Ceṭaka's sister Trisalā was the mother 24th Jain Tīrthaṅkara , Mahāvīra , thus making Ceṭaka his uncle and Padmāvatī his cousin; Ceṭaka himself had become an adept of

1044-500: The Sāmaveda . There is no absolute dating of any Vedic text including the Atharvaveda. The dating for Atharvaveda is derived from the new metals and items mentioned therein; it, for example, mentions iron (as krsna ayas , literally "black metal"), and such mentions have led Michael Witzel to the estimate that the Atharvaveda hymns were compiled in the early Indian Iron Age , at, or slightly after, c. 1200/1000 BCE. corresponding to

1102-770: The Iron Age . The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas . Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya , Aṅga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti 's list of ancient janapadas . Aṅga proper was located between the Champā river to the west and the Rajmahal hills to the east. However, at times, its territories did extend to

1160-662: The Mundaka Upanishad , the Mandukya Upanishad and the Prashna Upanishad . The Veda may be named, states Monier Williams , after the mythical priest named Atharvan who was first to develop prayers to fire, offer Soma, and who composed "formulas and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities". The name Atharvaveda, states Laurie Patton, is for the text being "Veda of the Atharvāṇas". The oldest name of

1218-607: The 11th–12th century, Anga region was under the control of Varman dynasty . Belava copperplate of Bhojavarman mentions that Jatavarman under the leadership of his father Vajravarman conquered Anga and established the rule of his family. Atharvaveda Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda ( Sanskrit : अथर्ववेद , IAST : Atharvaveda , from अथर्वन् , "priest" and वेद , "knowledge") or Atharvana Veda ( Sanskrit : अथर्वणवेद , IAST : Atharvaṇaveda )

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1276-494: The Atharvaveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness. Hymn 5.21 of the Paippalāda edition of the text, for example, states, Heaven our father, and Earth our mother, Agni

1334-556: The Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda , and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is mainly in verse deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into modern times. Reliable manuscripts of the Paippalada edition were believed to have been lost, but a well-preserved version was discovered among

1392-668: The Jaina canon, the Jaina Loka, the different types of Earth, the 7 Hells, the increase in water levels in the Lavana ocean and like. It also gives information on the subject matter of the 14 Purva and the 12th Anga, Drstivada . Being one of the oldest and most referred texts, it forms the backbone of the Jain literature. There is a description of the life-span of the Gods in the Samavayanga Agama. There

1450-532: The Mundaka Upanishad is referred to as one of the Mantra Upanishads. The Mundaka Upanishad contains three Mundakams (parts), each with two sections. The first Mundakam, states Roer, defines the sciences of "Higher Knowledge" and "Lower Knowledge", and then asserts that the acts of oblations and pious gifts are foolish and do nothing to reduce unhappiness in the current life or the next - rather, it

1508-449: The Samhita layer, a significant portion of the Samhita text are hymns for domestic rituals without magic or spells, and some are theosophical speculations such as "all Vedic gods are One". Additionally, the non-Samhita layers of Atharvaveda text include a Brahmana and several influential Upanishads. The Atharvaveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example,

1566-502: The Shaunakiya recension, and the more recently discovered manuscripts of Paippalāda recension have survived. The Paippalāda edition is more ancient. The two recensions differ in how they are organized, as well as content. For example, the Book 10 of Paippalada recension is more detailed and observed carefully not doing a single mistake, more developed and more conspicuous in describing monism ,

1624-433: The attention of every agreeable suitor towards her! The Atharvaveda Samhita, as with the other Vedas, includes some hymns such as 4.1, 5.6, 10.7, 13.4, 17.1, 19.53-54, with metaphysical questions on the nature of existence, man, heaven and hell, good and evil. Hymn 10.7 of Atharvaveda, for example, asks questions such as "what is the source of cosmic order? what and where is planted this notion of faith, holy duty, truth? how

1682-421: The balasa, cough, udraja, terrible are your missiles, O fever, avoid us with them. Several hymns in the Atharvaveda such as hymn 8.7, just like the Rigveda's hymn 10.97, is a praise of medicinal herbs and plants, suggesting that speculations about the medical and health value of plants and herbs was an emerging field of knowledge in ancient India. The Atharvavedic hymn states (abridged), The tawny colored, and

1740-407: The book with the shortest hymns as Book 1, and then in an increasing order (a few manuscripts do the opposite). Most of the hymns are poetic and set to different meters, but about a sixth of the book is prose. Most of the hymns of Atharvaveda are unique to it, except for the one sixth of its hymns that it borrows from the Rigveda , primarily from its 10th mandala. The 19th book was a supplement of

1798-526: The breast, the neck bones of man? how many disposed the two teats? who the two collar bones? how many gathered the shoulder bones? how many the ribs? Who brought together his two arms, saying, "he must perform heroism?" (...) Which was the god who produced his brain, his forehead, his hindhead? (...) Whence now in man come mishap, ruin, perdition, misery? accomplishment, success, non-failure? whence thought? What one god set sacrifice in man here? who set in him truth? who untruth? whence death? whence

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1856-419: The concept of "oneness of Brahman , all life forms and the world". The Atharvaveda Samhita originally was organized into 18 books ( Kāṇḍas ), and the last two were added later. These books are arranged neither by subject nor by authors (as is the case with the other Vedas), but by the length of the hymns. Each book generally has hymns of about a similar number of verses, and the surviving manuscripts label

1914-493: The duties of the court priests are also included in the Atharvaveda. The Atharvaveda was likely compiled as a Veda contemporaneously with Samaveda and Yajurveda , or about 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE. Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Atharvaveda includes a Brahmana text, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations. The latter layer of Atharvaveda text includes three primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy . These include

1972-485: The early Kuru Kingdom . The priests who practised the Atharvaveda were considered to be the lowest tier of Brahmins , in comparison to the priests who practised the Rigveda, Samaveda, or Yajurveda [considered by whom?]. A stigma held by some against Atharvaveda priests is documented in Odisha well into the modern day. The Atharvaveda is a collection of 20 books, with a total of 730 hymns of about 6,000 stanzas. The text is, state Patrick Olivelle and other scholars,

2030-401: The fourth Veda, and make references to only three Vedas. Olson states that the ultimate acceptance of Atharvaveda as the fourth Veda probably came in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE. However, notes Max Muller , the hymns of Atharvaveda existed by the time Chandogya Upanishad was completed (~700 BCE), but were then referred to as "hymns of Atharvangirasah". Frits Staal states that

2088-588: The heavenly spirit Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow fly, for day is present! The Atharvaveda includes Gopatha Brahmana text, that goes with Atharva Samhita . The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it. The Mundaka Upanishad , embedded inside the Atharvaveda, is a poetic-style Upanishad with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras . However, these mantras are not used in rituals; rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge. In ancient and medieval era Indian literature and commentaries,

2146-443: The immortal? The Atharvaveda, like other Vedic texts, states William Norman Brown , goes beyond the duality of heaven and hell, and speculates on the idea of Skambha or Brahman as the all pervasive monism. Good and evil, Sat and Asat (truth and untruth) are conceptualized differently in these hymns of Atharvaveda, and the Vedic thought, wherein these are not dualistic explanation of nature of creation, universe or man, rather

2204-516: The interesting aspects of this text is its portrayal of Monasticism and spirituality in the terms of numerology. Mathematics - The Samavayanga Sutra seems to be in continuation of the Sthananga Sutra and follows the numeric method of describing substances from 1 to 1 billion. Astronomy – It contains discussion on Mount Meru , the jyotishcakra, the Jambudvipa itself, the measurements used in

2262-643: The king Aṅga Vairocana, who is mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa as a ruler who had been consecrated by the Aryan ritual of Aindra mahābhiśeka . Vedic literature such as the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra nevertheless listed the Āṅgeyas with peoples described as being of "mixed origin." Aṅga was a powerful kingdom at the time of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa , which mentions the "world conquest" of one of

2320-541: The men-watcher, let them send the ten days’ fever far away from us. O fever, these snowy mountains with Soma on their back have made the wind, the messenger, the healer for us, Disappear from here to the Maratas. Neither the women desire you, nor the men whosoever, Neither a small one, nor a grown-up weeps here from desire of fever. Do not harm our grown-up men, do not harm our grown-up women, Do not harm our boys, do not harm our girls. You who simultaneously discharge

2378-659: The oldest section. Books 8 to 12 are speculations of a variety of topics, while Books 13 to 18 tend to be about life cycle rites of passage rituals. The Srautasutra texts Vaitāna Sūtra and the Kauśika Sūtra are attached to the Atharvaveda Shaunaka edition, as are a supplement of Atharvan Prayascitthas , two Pratishakhyas , and a collection of Parisisthas . For the Paippalada edition of Atharvaveda, corresponding texts were Agastya and Paithinasi Sutras but these are lost or yet to be discovered. The Atharvaveda

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2436-497: The pale, the variegated and the red, the dusky tinted, and the black – all Plants we summon hitherward. I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single, I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men. The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess, Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare

2494-456: The positive auspicious side came to be celebrated and the name Atharva Veda became widespread. The latter name Angiras which is linked to Agni and priests in the Vedas, states George Brown, may also be related to Indo-European Angirôs found in an Aramaic text from Nippur. Michael Witzel states the etymology of Atharvan is Proto Indo-Iranian *atharwan "[ancient] priest, sorcerer", and it

2552-500: The remedy. The contents of the Atharvaveda have been studied to glean information about the social and cultural mores in the Vedic era of India. A number of verses relate to spells for gaining a husband, or a wife, or the love of a woman, or to prevent any rivals from winning over one's "love interest". May O Agni!, a suitor after our own heart come to us, may he come to this maiden with fortune! May she be agreeable to suitors, charming at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through

2610-482: The same time as a campaign against Vatsa was being carried out by the king Pradyota of Avanti , the latter became the overlord of Vatsa, and Udayana lived as a captive at the court of Pradyota, in Ujjenī . During Udayana's captivity, the state of Kaliṅga attacked Aṅga and took Dadhivāhana captive. It was once Pradyota had restored Udayana to his throne, after the latter's marriage to his daughter Vāsavadattā, that Udayana

2668-594: The sea in the south, or included Magadha in the west. The capital of Aṅga, named Campā, was located at the confluence of the Campā and Gaṅgā rivers, and corresponds to the modern-day area of Campāpurī and Champanagar in Bhagalpur the eastern part of the Indian state of Bihār . According to the Jātaka s , Campā was also called Kāla-Campā, while Puranic texts claim its ancient name

2726-543: The state of Magadha , hence why the Vidhura Paṇḍita Jātaka described the Māgadhī capital of Rājagaha as a city of Aṅga. This conquest brought Aṅga in direct contact with Magadha's western neighbour Vatsa , whose king Śatānīka attacked the Āṅgeya capital of Campā out of fear of Dadhivāhana's expansionism. Dadhivāhana instead sought friendly relations with Vatsa, and he gave his daughter in marriage to Śatānīka's son, Udayana . After Śatānīka's death from dysentery at

2784-416: The teachings of Mahāvīra and made the Licchavika capital of Vesālī a bastion of Jainism, and the marriages of his daughters contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern India. The daughter of Dadhivāhana and Padmāvatī, Candanā or Candrabālā, became the first woman convert to Jainism shortly after Mahāvīra attained Kevala . Under Dadhivāhana's rule, Aṅga had conquered its western neighbour,

2842-610: The text may be a compilation of poetry and knowledge that developed in two different regions of ancient India, the Kuru region in northern India and the Pancalas region of eastern India. The former was home to Paippalāda, whose name was derived from the sacred fig tree named Pippala (Sanskrit: पिप्पल). This school's compositions were in the Rigvedic style. The Pancalas region contributions came from composer-priests Angirasas and Bhargavas, whose style

2900-462: The text transcends these and the duality therein. Order is established out of chaos, truth is established out of untruth, by a process and universal principles that transcend good and evil. Some hymns are prayer qua prayer, desiring harmony and peace. For example, Give us agreement with our own; with strangers give us unity Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love. May we agree in mind, agree in purpose; let us not fight against

2958-439: The text, according to its own verse 10.7.20, was Atharvangirasah , a compound of " Atharvan " and " Angiras ", both Vedic scholars. Each scholar called the text after itself, such as Saunakiya Samhita , meaning the "compiled text of Saunakiya". The "Atharvan" and "Angiras" names, states Maurice Bloomfield, imply different things, with the former considered auspicious while the latter implying hostile sorcery practices. Over time,

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3016-482: The verse 3.12.9.1 of Taittiriya Brahmana, the verse 5.32-33 of Aitareya Brahmana and other Vedic era texts mention only three Vedas. The acceptance of the Atharvanas hymns and traditional folk practices was slow, and it was accepted as another Veda much later than the first three, by both orthodox and heterodox traditions of Indian philosophies. The early Buddhist Nikaya texts, for example, do not recognize Atharvaveda as

3074-538: The verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant ( Ficus infectoria , native to India): Let marrow be put together with marrow, and joint together with joint, together what of the flesh fallen apart, together sinew and together your bone. Let marrow come together with marrow, let bone grow over together with bone. We put together your sinew with sinew, let skin grow with skin. Numerous hymns of

3132-541: The Āṅgeya king Brahmadatta , after which Aṅga became part of the Māgadhī empire, and Campā became the seat of a Māgadhī viceroy. During his pilgrimage there in the end of the 4th century, the Chinese monk Faxian noted the numerous Buddhist temples that still existed in Campā, transliterated Chanpo in Chinese (瞻波 pinyin : Zhānbō ; Wade–Giles : Chanpo ) . The kingdom of Aṅga by then had long ceased to exist; it had been known as Yāngjiā (鴦伽) in Chinese. In

3190-526: The Āṅgeya kings. The Āṅgeya capital of Campā itself was counted until the time of the Buddha's death among the six most prominent cities of northern India, along with Rājagaha , Sāvatthī , Sāketa , Kosāmbī , and Vārāṇasī . During the Iron Age, Aṅga expanded to include Vaṅga within its borders, with the capital city of Campā being a wealthy commercial centre from where traders sailed to Suvarṇabhūmi . According to

3248-465: Was Mālinī. The other important cities within the Aṅga kingdom included Assapura ( Sanskrit : Aśvapura ) and Bhaddiya ( Sanskrit : Bhadrika ). According to the Mahabharata (I.104.53–54) and Puranic literature, Aṅga was named after Prince Anga, the founder of the kingdom, and the son of Vali, who had no sons. So, he requested the sage, Dirghatamas, to bless him with sons. The sage

3306-401: Was able to defeat Kaliṅga and restore Dadhivāhana on the Āṅgeya throne, and Dadhivāhana's daughter Priyadarśikā was married to Udayana; according to the later play Priyadarśikā , which itself rests on historical records, the Āṅgeya chamberlain took brought her into the refuge of the forest-king Vindhyaketu, from where she was captured by Udayana's army and, given the name Āraṇyikā ("she who

3364-522: Was unlike the metric Rigvedic composition, and their content included forms of medical sorcery. The Atharvaveda editions now known are a combination of their compositions. The core text of the Atharvaveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit , during the 2nd millennium BC - younger than the Rigveda , and roughly contemporary with the Yajurveda mantras, the Rigvedic Khilani , and

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