We often hear people attack Hinduism as being 'impure' from an Indo-European perspective - purportedly hopelessly "compromised" via incorporations of all manner of non-IE customs and cults. I disagree most strongly with much of that, of course - and have repeatedly demonstrated how what often looks non-IE to a certain sort of observer … is … Continue reading Of Hittites And Hindus And Their Respective Differing Receptions Amidst Some
Vedic and Puranic Comparison
Witzel On The Essential Coterminities Of Vedic And Later Hindu Religion
Something I have often shouted in the course of my work is the fact that Hinduism - the 'modern' Hinduism - is not some sort of 'new religion' built up atop the ruins of the old Vedic religion. People seem to think that the two things are fundamentally different, almost irreconcilable - and that even … Continue reading Witzel On The Essential Coterminities Of Vedic And Later Hindu Religion
The Black Avenging Form Of The Earth Mother And The Pursuits Of The Sky Father As Solar Horseman – A Comparative Indo-European Typological Evocation [Part Two: Surya, Saranyu And Chhaya – The Shadowy ‘Second’ Wife Of The Sky Father]
[Author's Note: This piece continues our look at a fundamentally coterminous myth of the Indo-Europeans found reasonably intact in both the Greek and the Hindu canons - wherein the Sky Father engages with a 'Darkened' form of His Consort, often in symbolically resonant animal shape. Part One examined the situation of Poseidon in pursuit of … Continue reading The Black Avenging Form Of The Earth Mother And The Pursuits Of The Sky Father As Solar Horseman – A Comparative Indo-European Typological Evocation [Part Two: Surya, Saranyu And Chhaya – The Shadowy ‘Second’ Wife Of The Sky Father]
On The Still Active Dyaus Pitar Of The Indo-Europeans – The Sky Father Still Roars Supreme
There is much misinformation and misapprehension about Dyaus Pitar (also known as Dyeus Phter if we are going with the PIE reconstruction) - none more so, in my estimation than that He is somehow a 'remote' or 'inactive' deity Who plays no real functional role in our still-living mythology. In line with which, you will … Continue reading On The Still Active Dyaus Pitar Of The Indo-Europeans – The Sky Father Still Roars Supreme
Skanda , Heimdall , Kumara – The Star-Borne Son Of The Sky Father
A brief Indo-European observation inspired by the SkandaMata Night of NavRatri - Skanda, the War God Son of Shiva, has Six Heads. This is due to the rather unique manner of His Birth - wherein the embryonic Skanda is transplanted to six mothers via Agni, the Krittika Stars (we would know these in the West … Continue reading Skanda , Heimdall , Kumara – The Star-Borne Son Of The Sky Father
Shiva Is Not Indra – A Response To A Grave Mythunderstanding
It has come to my attention that there is a curious misbelief out there - that Shiva is somehow Indra. As in, the post-Vedic Deity Shiva is a 'continuation' of the Vedic Indra under a somewhat different name. I thought that this was merely a matter of some people being a bit misinformed - yet … Continue reading Shiva Is Not Indra – A Response To A Grave Mythunderstanding
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