As you can see there from the title, our intent with these linked pieces has been to take a look at one of the more foundational questions to the Indo-European theology. Namely, why it is that we carry out rites of sacrifice and offering to the Gods in the first place. I suspect that for … Continue reading Why We Offer To The Gods [Part Two: Irrigating The Worlds With Blood-Dimmed Tide]
Puranas
Rama’s Invocation Of The War-Goddess
It is Friday - Devi's Day And therefore - a Hero making offering to the Goddess, so as to ensure His Victory in the (more actively combative phase of the ongoing) War soon to come, where He shall vanquish the demon who has stolen His Wife. The Hero, of course, here is Lord Ram (the … Continue reading Rama’s Invocation Of The War-Goddess
On Hanuman, The Striker/Thunderer, As Son Of Shiva, The Sky Father – A Textual Collation
It is Thursday - Thor's Day via the familiar late-Germanic reckoning, although in truth and per the older Indo-European schema a Day of the Sky Father: Jupiter (Dies Jovis), Zeus (Hemera Dios), and Brihaspati. This double-linkage of affiliation makes our subject for this post rather apt - a textual concordancy of material pertaining to both … Continue reading On Hanuman, The Striker/Thunderer, As Son Of Shiva, The Sky Father – A Textual Collation
Perseus , Krishna , Karna – Three Perspectives Upon The Origin Myth Of The Indo-European Striker/Thunderer
I have been meaning for some time to take a look at the Indo-European underpinnings of Krishna - in part because it helps to dispel this lingering and insistent misapprehension about post-Vedic / 'Puranic' era Hinduism being somehow 'non-Indo-European' mythology or religion. Now, a full-scale writeup of all the observed concordancies for this figure is … Continue reading Perseus , Krishna , Karna – Three Perspectives Upon The Origin Myth Of The Indo-European Striker/Thunderer
On Lord Shiva As Tripurantaka In The Vedas
Tomorrow marks one of the more important Shaivite observances of the year - Tripurari Purnima / Kartik Purnima . Which, inter alia, commemorates the Destruction of the Three Fortresses of the Demons by Lord Shiva . Now, it is often asserted by some that Lord Shiva is somehow not a Vedic God - something I … Continue reading On Lord Shiva As Tripurantaka In The Vedas
On The Concepts Of Religious Warfare And Foreign Religion Amidst The Archaic Indo-Europeans
Something I have been absolutely perplexed by in the past few days, is a sudden upwelling of people who seek to claim that 'religious war' was a 'monotheistic' or more specifically 'Christian' invention; and that prior to this, the non-/pre-Christian world had neither these concepts, nor even the barest notion that there could be such … Continue reading On The Concepts Of Religious Warfare And Foreign Religion Amidst The Archaic Indo-Europeans
On Disregarding The Puranic Mythology For Allegedly Denigrating Vedic Gods
Quite frequently, we hear it said that people may like Vedic religion, Vedic mythology - but they balk at the later developments upon same. Often because they claim that these subsequent scriptures "denigrate" various Vedic - and therefore Indo-European - Gods. I have already addressed elsewhere the arguments that the Puranas contain all manner of allegedly "non-Aryan" elements … Continue reading On Disregarding The Puranic Mythology For Allegedly Denigrating Vedic Gods
Immortalizing, Through Pitru Paksha
"'Some people say you achieve immortality through your children,' said the minstrel. ‘Yeah?’ said Cohen. ‘Name one of your great-granddads, then.'" - Terry Pratchett Sunday marked the start of Pitru Paksha - the Fortnight of the Ancestors, wherein the borders between worlds are regarded as being thinner and more insubstantial than usual; and the Pitrs … Continue reading Immortalizing, Through Pitru Paksha