Miscellaneous Topics discussion

01-24-2007, 09:48 PM

"Putt Jattan de"
(Jat's son)
Recent phenomenon. In old traditional folk songs, one can't find this reference.

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 01-25-2007, 08:46 AM by Bodhi.)

QUOTE(Mudy @ Jan 23 2007, 02:07 AM)Please also provide download link to Sunderkand in mp3 by Mukesh?
[right][snapback]63422[/snapback][/right]

Here Mudyji. Sundar Kanda File is large (62 Mb- 46 mins). Give it some time to download.

01-25-2007, 08:22 AM

Bodhiji,
Thanks. It took me 2 min.51 sec to download.

01-26-2007, 01:39 AM

Bhagwat Gita - by S.P. Balasubramanium and Harish Bhimani with English translation, 2 CDs
Bhagwat Gita -1
Bhagwat Gita- 2

Bharatvarsh · 01-27-2007, 06:33 AM

Mudy are there any Hindu Jats left in Punjab or are all the Jats Sikh now, I am not talking about united Punjab which obviously had a lot of Hindu Jats since Haryana was in there, but does today's proper Punjab have any Hindu Jats cuz all the Jat clans found in today's Punjab seem to be entirely Sikh, examples include Dhaliwal, Dhillon, Sekhon etc.

01-27-2007, 09:05 AM

QUOTEMudy are there any Hindu Jats left in Punjab or are all the Jats Sikh now
I will check.
QUOTEall the Jat clans found in today's Punjab seem to be entirely Sikh
No. Some follow both religion. Not sure how cut-sikh or cut-Jats want to identified themselves. Punjab is very mixed state, Hindus and Sikhs visit each other religious places.

Bharatvarsh · 01-27-2007, 09:15 AM

QUOTEI will check.
Thanks Mudy, if you get an answer then please post it here.
QUOTENo. Some follow both religion. Not sure how cut-sikh or cut-Jats want to identified themselves. Punjab is very mixed state, Hindus and Sikhs visit each other religious places. 
I know that Punjab is mixed, obvious that Hindus and Sikhs do visit each other's religious places but I am talking in the sense that do all Jatts register themselves as Sikh in the census, for example Khatris are mixed, they have Hindu Khatris and Sikh Khatris, same thing with Aroras, I was just wondering if there are any Hindu Jats left along with Sikh Jatts.

The peculiar thing about Jatts in Punjab seems to be that over time all of them joined the Khalsa Panth while others like Khatris or Aroras only had some from their families join the panth. Interestingly this seems to be restricted to only the Jatts in today's Punjab, the Jats of Haryana did not seem to have joined the panth very much even though they were also part of historical Punjab.

01-27-2007, 09:26 AM

QUOTEThe peculiar thing about Jatts in Punjab seems to be that over time all of them joined the Khalsa Panth
Because of mixed marriages now they are returning back to Hinduism. I know couple of current generation who visit Gurdawara but got married according to Hindu rituals and are raising kids as Hindus. If you check census, more people are calling themselves Hindu.

01-28-2007, 01:06 AM

QUOTEAbhishek, Aishwarya seek blessings at Vindhyavasini Temple
Link
Press Trust of India
Mirzapur (UP), January 27, 2007

The most-talked about Bollywood couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on Saturday sought blessings of the deity at the famous Vindhyavasini Temple in Mirzapur, making their first public appearance together after their engagement.
The Bachchan family led by Amitabh Bachchan, which arrived in Mirzapur to participate in the 51st birthday celebrations of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, offered prayers at the temple of Maa Bhagwati, seeking her blessings in the run-up to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding.

In what is being seen as a pre-nuptial ceremony, Abhishek and Aishwarya performed parikrama (circumambulation) of the deity and also performed the Bhagwati Pooja. The two were alone in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and they accepted the kumkumÂ given to them as prasad.

Abhishek applied kumkum on Aishwarya's forehead and also applied some on his own forehead.

The two also offered a gold chhatraÂ (umbrella), nose ring and anklets during the pooja in which besides the Bachchan family, Amar Singh and his wife Pankaja Kumari Singh were present ahead of a function in which 51 couples were united in wedlock on the occasion of Singh's 51st birthday.

One of the 51 couples was also introduced to Amitabh and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav by Amar Singh. Amitabh also performed kanya daan at the function.

The priests who conducted the poojaÂ said with these prayers the mangal dosh, said to be afflicting Aishwarya and not considered good for the in-laws, has been removed.

On Friday, Amitabh in an interview to a TV channel, had described reports about the mangal dosh (defect) as "speculation".

Are these local rituals or performed everywhere?

01-28-2007, 08:30 AM

QUOTEhttp://www.ibnlive.com/news/hindu-temple-supports-muslim-women/32206-3.html
Hindu temple supports Muslim women : CNN-IBN
- Naveen Nair
Cherthala (Kerala): Fifty-three-year-old Jameela and 17-year-old Ansila are both Muslims but their lives revolve around a Hindu temple at Cherthala in Kerala's Alappuzha district and the Raja Rajeswari temple has become the only support for the two women.

Jameela is deaf and dumb and earns a living by working at the temple. She cleans the premises and washes the utensils used for the puja. While Ansila says that she would never have completed her schooling after her father's death, if the temple authorities hadn't stepped in to help.

âMy father passed away when I was in the 11th standard. I couldn't have completed 12th standard without help from the temple authorities. Apart from paying my school fees, they also gave me a lot of moral support,â says Ansila.

So, what inspires an orthodox Hindu temple, which is run by a trust based on the teachings of social reformer Sri Narayana Guru, to go this length to salvage the lives of two Muslim women?

âThis temple always had good relations with other religious communities. We strongly believe in the teachings of Sri Narayana Guru, who said that we must help the needy, no matter which community they belong to,â says President of Raja Rajeswari Temple, K Purushan.

For all the preachers of religious harmony, this temple in southern Kerala is sending a strong signal: practice what you preach. And undoubtedly there cant be a better way than to use the teachings of a 20th century Hindu social reformer to salvage the lives to two needy women.

If a Hindu women had asked for help from a mosque or church, they would have converted her before helping her. That is the difference between a Hindu priest, and an Imam or Bishop. No forced conversion.

01-28-2007, 08:41 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /> A school that abides by Gandhigiri

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Blog this story
Bhopal: Imagine a school where teachers mark themselves absent voluntarily if they get late and the headmaster notes down his own time of arrival!
The Bawadia Kalan Middle School on the outskirts of the Madhya Pradesh capital has become quite popular with students and parents with a bit of "Gandhigiri" - a term that has come to signify winning over people with persuasion and honesty.
"I have not seen the much talked about Munnabhai's Gandhigiri but what I feel is that Gandhigiri is nothing but 'living for others by honesty' and that is what we have adopted in this school," said A.N. Pathak, the headmaster.
No official or local politician has ever visited the school in Bawadia Kalan village. But that has hardly been a hindrance to its smooth-functioning. The school, which has classes up to the middle level, has 454 students, 11 teachers and one head master.
"Almost all amenities like drinking water, toilets (specially for girls), lights, fans and a speaker in each classroom have been arranged with public cooperation thanks to the teachers who have become friendly with the villagers," said Pathak.
"Villagers in most places avoid sending their children to school either due to lack of facilities or because the child is not interested or both, but in our village it is not so," says Matadin who runs a grocery shop in the village.
"Teachers take so much personal interest in educating the child that neither the parents nor the child thinks of missing school."
"In case a child misses classes for more than two days, a teacher personally comes to us to inquire about him and persuade us to send him for studies regularly. They care not only for the studies of children but also for their entertainment and try to ensure that students get a homely environment in school as well," he said.
His three children, including two daughters, go to school regularly.
Unlike most government schools, teachers here mark themselves absent voluntarily if they come late for three days in a row. All teachers as well as the headmaster not only sign the attendance register but also put their time of arrival on it.

"We treat all students as family members and give them a family-like atmosphere, so that they do not think of being absent from class," said Arvind Tiwari, teacher.

Husky · (This post was last modified: 01-29-2007, 05:07 AM by Husky.)

Post 230:
QUOTEhttp://www.ibnlive.com/news/hindu-temple-supports-muslim-women/32206-3.html
Hindu temple supports Muslim women : CNN-IBN CNN-IBN knows so little. Slanted christomedia.
Don't they know this is common in many temples, some major South Indian temples especially? Lots of them provide free food to all people who come at meal-time, many poor people (as well as better-off Hindus who appreciate good, wholesome, food blessed by the Deity) come and are fed. I've seen Muslim families also. None of them are ever asked to convert, nor are they bothered when they come because of their religion. Everyone is allowed.
For instance, even Food Planet had a bit showing how Guruvayoor Appan or Udoopi Krishna or other Krishna temple feeds innumerable Indians free food everyday without caring about their religious-affiliation.

Some temples have particularly helped any people who were so destitute they were brave enough to ask the temples for help, and the Muslim ladies mentioned in #230 aren't the only ones of their religion to do so. They are never bothered by Hindus, not missionized (told stuff about Hinduism), never asked to do anything that goes against their religion, never asked to convert.
But for CNN-IBN, reporting on the general case would be like admitting how Hinduism might be an ethical religion after all. And lying christomedia can't do that, now can it? It would also show up the shallowness of christian charity: billions of dollars of rich people's funds going to buy you (they buy your allegiance to their religion) and keep you dependent. Whereas Hindu temples don't expect anything in return. They do it because it is the Right thing to do: because they believe that people, regardless of persuasion, should not go hungry.

01-29-2007, 08:59 AM

QUOTEDon't they know this is common in many temples
Writers of this news channel are familiar with Christians or Muslim way of feeding people. They provide assistance only if you convert, recent example, during Tsunami and earthquake in Gujarat or J&K they were busy converting people by giving conditional assistance.

Bharatvarsh · (This post was last modified: 02-01-2007, 11:24 PM by Bharatvarsh.)

Any of you guys know what way animal's are being slaughtered in Indian restaurants?

Hindus and later Sikhs only approved of the jhatka way, in fact it is forbidden for Sikhs to eat halal meat but look at this:
QUOTEBad blood over meat served at Doon School
Seema Sharma
[ 5 May, 2006 0116hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK

CHANDIGARH: It was actually a Pakistani delegation that started it. And now, no one is eating a particular type of meat in Doon School.

Doon School had in November last year invited a school delegation from Pakistan for a friendly visit. Everything went off well until the school called in the foreign team for a meal at its Common Dinning Hall (CDH).

To assuage the feelings of the Pakistan group, obviously Muslim, Doon authorities announced that only Halal meat was served in the school. That did it.

As the news trickled out parents of Hindu and Sikh students began registering their protest with headmaster Kanti Bajpai. Although boys remained boys on the sports field, at the dinner table some became Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Soon, non-Muslims stopped eating all meat.

"Aggrieved" parents, who held a press conference on the issue, now want the school to offer a choice to students. They could either go for halal meat - a ritualistic slaughter that Muslims prefer - or jhatka, which Hindus prefer.

When contacted for a response, Bajpai was not pleased. Refusing to say anything, he fumed that it was an issue "between the school and parents and the media has nothing to do with it."

But parents won't have it that way. Gurpreet Singh, Chandigarh representative of the Doon School Old Boys Society (DOSCO), lamented: "The headmaster tried to justify his action by saying the school is justified in serving only halal since it gives holidays on festivals like Holi and Diwali, and that concessions are given to Sikh boys to wear turban and kada and grow beards."

While one of Singh's sons has already passed out of Doon, the younger one is still there. "We just hope that such a prestigious school does not follow the French example of banning the use of religious symbols," he added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...516879.cms
What the hell is that, why only halal and not jhatka?

The meat eater's among Hindus should make sure that it's jhatka and demand it if only halal is being offered, that's what I tell my family since they are meat eaters.

02-01-2007, 11:39 PM

QUOTEAny of you guys know what way animal's are being slaughtered in Indian restaurants?
I don't think they care. I have seen them dragging on road, back of pickup with full contact with junk and metal (in Slough,South Hall UK), left on Kitchen floor (Restr in OK). Just try to peek one of the restra Kitchen. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
In Bay Area, Halal restra closed its door within 3 months. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

Bharatvarsh · (This post was last modified: 02-01-2007, 11:53 PM by Bharatvarsh.)

QUOTEI don't think they care. I have seen them dragging on road, back of pickup with full contact with junk and metal (in Slough,South Hall UK), left on Kitchen floor (Restr in OK). Just try to peek one of the restra Kitchen.
In Bay Area, Halal restra closed its door within 3 months.
Well that's why I tell Hindus I know to avoid halal restaurants in the first place, some of my friends actually go in and find out where it's not clear and walk out if the guy behind the counter says halal <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

02-04-2007, 11:12 AM

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2007...07/harmony.html
QUOTE'Being In A Crowd Is Good For You'
Friday, 2nd February 2007, 07:10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being in a crowd is actually good for you - and makes you a better person, according to new research.

Psychologists who studied the "the greatest show on Earth" say their findings highlight that large communities can live together in peace and harmony.

The team from the Universities of St Andrews, Dundee and Lancaster, went to the 30 million strong Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, Northern India, and analysed the participants' behaviour, a month long Hindu festival held on the banks of the Ganges.

Professor Steve Reicher, of the University of St Andrews, said the event which ends today provides a unique setting in which to study mass psychology.

The work overturns many longstanding presuppositions about crowd behaviour and collective living. It shows that, where people share a strong sense of common identity, then the close proximity of others becomes something that is beneficial rather than harmful.

The researchers say their investigation of how those benefits come about can provide the key to understanding and creating successful communities.

Prof Reicher said: "The Mela is an incredible event - like a vast biblical scene. But it also carries some fundamental lessons for our understanding of society."

His colleague Dr Clare Cassidy added: "Many people argue that crowds are bad for you. But, in the Mela, we found that people become more generous, more supportive and more orderly rather than less.

"This is the opposite of a 'walk on by' society, it is a community where people are attentive to the needs of strangers."

Professor Reicher said these positive effects extend to the overall well being of participants. He explained: "Despite the fact that the Mela appears designed to increase stress in every way - it is very noisy day and night, very unhealthy, and very packed - what we found was that actually people feel serene, peaceful and unstressed.

"These various findings raise very important questions about the nature of collective participation and how it can affect both individual well being and social cohesion."

Professor Reicher and Dr Cassidy have been studying 'the collective experience of the Mela' for the last three years alongside Dr Nick Hopkins of the University of Dundee and Dr Mark Levine from Lancaster University.

In order to overcome the many challenges involved in investigating such an extraordinary event, they also collaborated with colleagues from a consortium of Indian Universities.
http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=U...is_good_for_you 

QUOTEIssue Date: Sunday, February 04, 2007
Kumbh harmony lessons for West - Uniting 'us' and 'them'Â 
AMIT ROY
Â
A foreigner at the Kumbh mela in AllahabadÂ
London, Feb. 3: Sophisticated Indians living in, say, Ballygunge, Bandra or Bangalore may believe that the Kumbh mela, described by the British as "the largest single gathering of people on earth", is something best attended by others but not so UK social psychologists who have studied crowd behaviour.

They say the West has much to learn from India in how to avoid the divisive "us" and "them" forces in society and, thereby, create greater harmony.

As it is, the Kumbh mela, where 35 lakh may gather at one moment as happened at the Ganges last week on the occasion of Maghi Poornima, is beloved of British photographers who love to focus on naked sadhus chilling out on chillum.

Channel 4 â the same network that has given the world Shilpa Shetty and Celebrity Big Brother â has carried live broadcasts from the Kumbh mela.

But the latest development is a just-published three-year study into the month-long Hindu festival by psychologists from the universities of St Andrews (where Prince William met his girlfriend, Kate Middleton), Dundee and Lancaster.

That Indians largely get on with each other, even when packed up close and personal, has been observed and commented on favourably in a report â though in suitably academic language.

The team said its work overturned many old beliefs about crowd behaviour.

Professor Steve Reicher, a social psychologist at St Andrews University, observed: "Despite the fact that the mela seems designed to increase stress in every way â it is very noisy day and night, very unhealthy, and very packed â what we found was that actually people feel serene, peaceful and unstressed."

No doubt if he travelled on a packed 2B bus in Calcutta, he would arrive at the same conclusion and have possibly even more fun.

UK academics find ever more ingenious ways of keeping themselves in gainful employment â not that Reicher and his team are not composed of perceptive Brits.

Reicher is said to be "broadly interested in the issues of group behaviour and the individual-social relationship. More specifically, his recent research can be grouped into three areas. The first is an attempt to develop a model of crowd action that accounts for both social determination and social change. The second concerns the construction of social categories through language and action. The third concerns political rhetoric and mass mobilisation â especially around the issue of national identity."

Although the mela brings together a seething mass of humanity, there is virtually no disorder, crushes or rioting, the researchers noted.

They found that even though people at the festival came from different castes and social backgrounds, there was a strong sense of common identity. They said this positive outlook stemmed from a lack of an "us" and "them" psychology, which was often the root of social conflict.

In contrast, a distinct division existed in western society between, for example, immigrants and non-immigrants. According to Reicher, it was the responsibility of everyone to avoid doing anything to entrench the "us" and "them" mentality between communities, disrupting social cohesion.

He added: "These various findings raise very important questions about the nature of collective participation and how it can affect both individual well-being and social cohesion."

Reicher's colleague at St Andrew's, Clare Cassidy, said: "Many people argue crowds are bad for you. But in the mela we found that people become more generous, more supportive and more orderly rather than less."

She explained: "This is the opposite of a 'walk on by' society, it is a community where people are attentive to the needs of strangers."

On Celebrity Big Brother, the American actor, Dirk Benedict, offered his own wisdom: "Sometimes the loneliest place is in the middle of a crowd."
http://www.telegraphindia.com//1070204/asp...ory_7348174.asp #

Bharatvarsh · 02-07-2007, 11:36 PM

QUOTEKamba Ramayanam: A Study in English
V.V.S.Aiyar

"It is not easy to convince the literary world at this late hour of the day that there is, unsuspected by the greater part of it, a Tamil poet who is worthy to take rank with the greatest names in literature. It is, however, my purpose in this book to make an attempt to prove that in the Ramayana of Kamban the world possesses an epic which can challenge comparison not merely with the 'Iliad' and the 'Aeneid', the 'Paradise Lost' and the 'Mahabharata', but with its original itself, namely, the 'Ramayana' of Valmiki. This is not the language of mere patriotic enthusiasm. It is an opinion that has grown slowly with the years and after deep and careful study. And I hope to make the impartial reader rise from the study of this monograph with a conviction of the truth of my contention and with a desire to know more of the poet than what he will see exhibited within the pages of this volume...

I spoke of Valmiki's work as the original of Kamban's Ramayana. But Kamban has not translated Valmiki. He has merely taken the story immortalised by the Aryan sage and, though he has followed it closely enough in all its details, has written an entirely original poem. Bentley said of Pope's Iliad', 'It is a pretty poem, but you must not call it Homer.' Of Kamban's Ramayana we should say reversing the language, it is not Valmiki Ramayana, but it is a grander poem.'Â

...The reader will have noticed that the Ramayana follows in its natural order the life of the hero from his birth and childhood up to the close of the action which forms its theme. On the other hand, the epics of Europe, as is well known, follow their prototype and example, the 'Iliad', and start the story as near the end as possible, filling in the earlier events by slight allusions as well as by episodic narrative. These epics have an undeniable advantage over the Indian maha kavyas in that their dramatic opening arrests the imagination even at the very commencement of the poem, while the Indian epics have to gather momentum before they are able to carry with them the attention of the modern reader. But our great epic poets have proved one may tell a story in the chronological order and yet write a poem that generations will not willingly let die...

....The build and structure of the Ramayana of Kamban are superb. The poem satisfies the soul with its ampleur, the proportion of its parts, and the art with which the parts are combined into an organic whole...Kamban has shown his genius for the architectonics of poetry both where he follows Valmiki as well as where he departs from his order...

...Now the plot in almost all its details is Valmiki's. But if Kamban takes the situations from Valmiki, he has treated them absolutely in his own way. In the manner of developing the situations, in the gradation by which the climax of each situation is brought about, in the justesse which knows how to bring about all its capabilities out of each situation, we feel the touch of the master artist. In the manner also in which the incidents have been joined together to form the whole, no ordinary skill has been displayed. Every limb of Kamban's story is of course familiar to the student ofÂ Valmiki. But on going through the whole poem of Kamban, one is constrained to exclaim, 'Here is a building which is built on the same plan no doubt, and with the same materials, but which possesses a striking individuality of its own.'...

..In the delineation of character, Kamban stands on a level with the greatest poets in the world. The lines are drawn with a firm hand, and the characters are painted with such accuracy and fullness that from any single sentence, and sometimes even from a single phrase in a speech, one can tell the person speaking without any the least doubt.

Here too, Valmiki has set the stamp on the characters of the Ramayana. But in Kamban's hand they have become much more grand. The student of Valmiki will wonder how his Rama and Bharata, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, Vali and Hanuman, Sita and Kausalya, and the rest could be improved. The fact, however, is there that Kamban's heroes and heroines are beings of a decidedly higher stature than those of Valmiki..."

(1) Rama's description of Sita, as he gave his final instructions to Hanuman before his departure in search of her:

'Even the lotus has its petals pale,
The moon has got its spot, and where is form
Of any kind without the slightest fault ?
But thou wilt see no imperfection mar
Her shapely form. Great Brahma made the flute
And vina, parrots, koils, and children's babble,
And then he coped all sweetness with her voice:
But nought could he create to parallel
Her speech and tone; and can he e'er succeed
If he should try ev'n now for all his life ?
Though earth and heaven should search to find its like
What can approach amrit in taste ? And what
Can e'er compare with the sweetness of her speech ?
Thou think'st of honey and amrit: but can
They e'er delight the ear?...'

(2) Sita calls on Rama to capture the Golden deer:

Pouting her ambrosia-dropping ruby lips
Like a sweet-tongued parrot young she lisped, 'Then, thou
Wouldst not thyself pursue and capture him
For me ?', and left him with tears flowing down
Her cheeks. But Rama could not bear to see
Her in a pet, and said, 'My golden love,
Behold I myself go and shall bring Him in a trice.'

(3) Rama on learning that Ravana has carried away Sita:

He scarce spoke when rushed the blood at once
To Rama's eyes; a storm was in his breath;
A frown settled on his manly brow; the spheres
In terror shook; the stars their orbit fled!...
The worlds lay crouching lest his sudden wrath
Should burst on them; when with a smile that meant
Destruction dire, he thus addressed the bird:
'Behold the world on its stable axis moves
And Gods unmoved look on, while in their sight
A Rakshas carries off a helpless dame,
And thou art mangled thus in her defence!
I will destroy them all in one single ruin.
The stars shall scattering fall! The sun shall burst !
The void of heaven shall shimmer with the light
Of burning spheres! And water, air, and fire
And all that lives and moves shall soon dissolve
To their embryon atoms! And my wrath shall end
The gods themselves in heaven. And thou wilt see
The circling universe and all that lies
Beyond, burst like a bubble in a stream!'

(4) A battle scene the fight between Indrajit and Lakshmana:

The world-consuming fire now issued from
Its loins, and now the whirlwind sweeping clean
The earth and all that lives on Judgment Day.
And now the waters of the seas beyond
The seven did issue forth from its entrails.
The sky it darkened as with outer darkness,
The gods in terror fled, and Rishis left
With whitened face the field; the Vanar host
Sank in despair upon the ground; and moon
And sun and all the worlds their orbits swerved
In fear! Vibhishan trembled at the sight
And called the holy name aloud of Ram,
But lion-like Lakshmana only smiled...

(5) Rama's lament when Lakshmana falls a prey to Indrajit's Brahmastra:

'I died not when I heard of our father's death,
Though he a kingdom gave, for in thy love
I learnt to forget his loss: but thee now dead,
What's life to me ? I come, my brother, I come.
But wert thou brother alone? Thou wert to me
A child and father, mother and blessings all:
And thou art gone! And thou art gone without
A farewell said. Alas! have I become
More cruel than thee? For I see thee dead
And still, pretending sorrow, I bear to live.
My heart is made of stone, it breaketh not;
E'en thy loss I shall bear and cling to life!...'

(6) Hanuman's grief at not having discovered Sita in Lanka:

'Alas, that jewelled one is not in this
Extensive fort. Has he, perchance, killed her
Because she would not yield her charms to him ?
Or has he eat her in wicked rage ?
Or haply does he hold her captive close
In another world ? I know not what to think
Or where to search for her?...'

(7) And how he discovers her:

There in the midst of black-skinned Rakshasis
Seated as a flash of lightning in the bosom
Of a sable cloud, he saw the sun-flower bright
That smiles alone to the light of Kaushtubha -
The brilliant sun-like gem on Rama's breast.

http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/ka...saiyar.htm

Bharatvarsh · 02-08-2007, 01:32 AM

Does anyone know who authored Hanuman Natak, this book seems to have been in popular in Punjab even among Sikhs, for example:
QUOTEFrom among Bhai Kahn Singh's works, Gurushabad Ratanakar Mahan Kosh (1930), an encyclopaedia of Sikh literature, will remain a permanent monument to his unmatched industry and erudition. His maiden work Raj Dharam (1884), written at the instance of Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha, was followed by Nanak Bhavarth Dipika (1888), an exegesis of extracts from the Hanuman Natak, based on his notes prepared for the instruction of the young prince under his tutelage.

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/perso...ature/kahn.html
QUOTEAmong the other obscure but worthwhile works are Balmiki Ramayana, Tulsi Ramayan, Mahabharata, Gita, Rama, Krishna, Upanishads, Puranas, Yog Vasishtha, Gulistan, Bostan, Hanuman Natak and Mudra Rakshas (a unique historical play in Sanskrit dealing with Kautilya and Chandragupt Maurya).

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/2003011.../main2.htm
QUOTEThese are aesthetic versions of medieval Indian miniature painting. The Janam Sakhi of Bhai Bala and Damdami Bir dating back to 1702 bears lavish use of attractive colour and gold.

Also on display are a rare Bhagvat Purana and Hanuman Natak (1623) scripted in Gurmukhi.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...835668.cms

Bharatvarsh · 02-08-2007, 01:44 AM

QUOTEThe same evening, in Elphinstone's Theatre, there was given a special performance in honour of "the American Mission," as we are styled here. Native actors represented in Gujerati the ancient fairy drama Sita-Rama, that has been adapted from the Ramayana, the celebrated epic by Vilmiki. This drama is composed of fourteen acts and no end of tableaux, in addition to transformation scenes. All the female parts, as usual, were acted by young boys, and the actors, according to the historical and national customs, were bare-footed and half-naked. Still, the richness of the costumes, the stage adornments and transformations, were truly wonderful. For instance, even on the stages of large metropolitan theatres, it would have been difficult to give a better representation of the army of Rama's allies, who are nothing more than troops of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman -- the soldier, statesman, dramatist, poet, god, who is so celebrated in history (that of India, s.v.p. [=s'il vous plait, "if you please"]).Â The oldest and best of all Sanskrit dramas, Hanuman-Natak, is ascribed to this talented forefather of ours.Â

Alas! gone is the glorious time when, proud of our white skin (which after all may be nothing more than the result of a fading, under the influences of our northern sky), we looked down upon Hindus and other "niggers" with a feeling of contempt well suited to our own magnificence. No doubt Sir William Jones's soft heart ached when translating from the Sanskrit such humiliating sentences as the following: "Hanuman is said to be the forefather of the Europeans." Rama, being a hero and a demi-god, was well entitled to unite all the bachelors of his useful monkey army to the daughters of the Lanka (Ceylon) giants, the Rakshasas, and to present these Dravidian beauties with the dowry of all Western lands. After the most pompous marriage ceremonies, the monkey soldiers made a bridge, with the help of their own tails, and safely landed with their spouses in Europe, where they lived very happily and had a numerous progeny.

This progeny are we, Europeans. Dravidian words found in some European languages -- in Basque for instance -- greatly rejoice the hearts of the Brahmans, who would gladly promote the philologists to the rank of demi-gods for this important discovery, which confirms so gloriously their ancient legend. But it was Darwin who crowned the edifice of proof with the authority of Western education and Western scientific literature. The Indians became still more convinced that we are the veritable descendants of Hanuman, and that if one only took the trouble to examine carefully, our tails might easily be discovered. Our narrow breeches and long skirts only add to the evidence, however uncomplimentary the idea may be to us.Â

Still, if you consider seriously, what are we to say when Science, in the person of Darwin, concedes this hypothesis to the wisdom of ancient Aryas? We must perforce submit. And really, it is better to have for a forefather Hanuman, the poet, the hero, the god, than any other monkey, even though it be a tailless one.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritche...y/01bombay.html

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