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26-450: This Upanishad is notable for asserting that the cosmos is Atman (soul), it resides in the heart , its awareness and self-realization emerges by Vichara (investigation into the Self) and Samadhi , the ultimate stage of meditation. The author and the century in which Sita Upanishad was composed is unknown. The text was likely composed, in the same period as other Shakta Upanishads, between

52-429: A rather unexpected way. Within this frame story are found many digressions , the longest among them being the well-known tale of Cupid and Psyche . This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text. The Metamorphoses ends with the (once again human) hero, Lucius, eager to be initiated into the mystery cult of Isis ; he abstains from forbidden foods, bathes, and purifies himself. He

78-401: A younger brother, Sicinius Pudens, a mere boy, and their paternal uncle, Sicinius Aemilianus, to join him in impeaching Apuleius upon the charge that he had gained the affections of Pudentilla by charms and magic spells. The case was heard at Sabratha , near Tripoli, c. 158 AD, before Claudius Maximus , proconsul of Africa . The accusation itself seems to have been ridiculous, and

104-563: Is full of the beautiful, states the Upanishad, and all that beauty is she, she alone. The Vedas are her, states Sita Upanishad, and she personifies the three goddesses: Shri (goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi ), Bhumi (mother earth), and Nila (goddess of destruction). These manifestations of her, correspond to Samkhya theory of Guṇa , as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas respectively, and are traced in Vaishnavism tradition respectively to

130-606: Is introduced to the Navigium Isidis . Then the secrets of the cult's books are explained to him, and further secrets are revealed before he goes through the process of initiation, which involves a trial by the elements on a journey to the underworld. Lucius is then asked to seek initiation into the cult of Osiris in Rome, and eventually is initiated into the pastophoroi  – a group of priests that serves Isis and Osiris. Apologia ( Apulei Platonici pro Se de Magia )

156-525: Is narrated as a discourse between Prajapati and the gods, the latter eager about "Who is Sita? What is her nature?" Prajapati describes Sita as primal Prakriti, or primordial nature. She is, asserts the text, same as Lakshmi and the Shakti (energy and power) of Vishnu . The text references and uses fragments of hymns in the Vajasaneyi Samhita of Yajurveda , asserting the goddess to manifest all

182-409: Is the first cause of the universe. The text then offers a folk etymology for her name, asserting that each letter of her name has specific meaning. The “S” indicates Satya or eternal truth, the “i” signifies Maya or illusion in an unchanging form, and “ta” denoting the goddess of speech conjoined with Brahman . The text weaves in mythical elements of her origins. She, asserts the text, emerged at

208-463: Is the basis of the whole world, is composed of Brahma Vishnu and Shiva, and she is the soul (inner self, Atman) that resides in all livings. Who is Sita? सा देवी त्रिविधा भवति शक्त्यासना इच्छाशक्तिः क्रियाशक्तिः साक्षाच्छक्तिरिति That divine Being is threefold, through her power, namely, the power of desire, the power of action, the power of knowledge. — Sita Upanishad verse 11 Her name Sita, signifies Pranava or “Aum”, and she

234-428: Is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It is an imaginative, irreverent, and amusing work that relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who introduces himself as related to the famous philosophers Plutarch and Sextus of Chaeronea . Lucius experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into an ass . In this guise, he hears and sees many unusual things, until escaping from his predicament in

260-1240: Is the version of the defence presented in Sabratha , in 158–159, before the proconsul Claudius Maximus , by Apuleius accused of the crime of magic. Between the traditional exordium and peroratio, the argumentation is divided into three sections: The main interest of the Apologia is historical, as it offers substantial information about its author, magic and life in Africa in the second century. His other works are: parit enim conversatio contemptum, raritas conciliat admirationem (familiarity breeds contempt, rarity brings admiration) Apuleius wrote many other works which have not survived. He wrote works of poetry and fiction , as well as technical treatises on politics , dendrology , agriculture , medicine , natural history , astronomy , music , and arithmetic , and he translated Plato's Phaedo . Extant works wrongly attributed to Apuleius include: The Apuleian Sphere described in Petosiris to Nechepso , also known as " Columcille's Circle" or "Petosiris' Circle",

286-596: The 12th- and 15th-century CE. Even though this text is of relatively late origin, Sita as goddess is traceable to 1st-millennium BCE Hindu texts and the Epic Ramayana . Manuscripts of this text are also found titled as Sitopanishad . In the Telugu language anthology of 108 Upanishads of the Muktika canon, narrated by Rama to Hanuman , it is listed at number 45. The Upanishad has 37 verses in one chapter and

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312-637: The Sri-Sukta, Bhu-Sukta, and Nila-Sukta hymns in the Vedas. Sita, states the text, is the supreme goddess, non-dual Brahman (Ultimate Reality), the Being (Spirituality), and material cause of empirical reality. David Scott states that the description of Sita in this Upanishad mirrors the description of goddesses in Greek literature and other civilizations. Sita is described in verse 10 of this text, states Scott, as

338-488: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 207713057 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:39:39 GMT Apuleius Apuleius ( / ˌ æ p j ʊ ˈ l iː ə s / APP -yuu- LEE -əs ; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis ; c. 124 – after 170 )

364-575: The adventures of its protagonist, Lucius, who experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into a donkey . Lucius goes through various adventures before he is turned back into a human being by the goddess Isis . Apuleius was born in Madauros, a colonia in Numidia on the North African coast bordering Gaetulia , and he described himself as " half-Numidian half-Gaetulian ." Madaurus

390-548: The attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha , near Oea (modern Tripoli , Libya). This is known as the Apologia . His most famous work is his bawdy picaresque novel the Metamorphoses , otherwise known as The Golden Ass . It is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates

416-523: The charge of exhibiting gladiatorial shows and wild beast events in the province, and statues were erected in his honour by the senate of Carthage and of other senates. The date, place and circumstances of Apuleius' death are not known. There is no record of his activities after 170, a fact which has led some people to believe that he must have died about then (say in 171), although other scholars feel that he may still have been alive in 180 or even 190. The Golden Ass ( Asinus Aureus ) or Metamorphoses

442-483: The house of Sicinius Pontianus, with whom he had been friends when he had studied in Athens. The mother of Pontianus, Pudentilla, was a very rich widow. With her son's consent – indeed encouragement – Apuleius agreed to marry her. Meanwhile, Pontianus himself married the daughter of one Herennius Rufinus; he, indignant that Pudentilla's wealth should pass out of the family, instigated his son-in-law, together with

468-479: The one with different forms yet same in essence, "she is all" embodied with various attributes and activities, she is who manifests as gods, sages and men. Similarly, adds Scott, Apuleius in section 11.5 of Metamorphoses describes its goddess as, "Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names and propitiated by all manners of different rites, yet the whole earth venerates me". Atman (Hinduism) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

494-464: The spirited and triumphant defence spoken by Apuleius is still extant. This is known as the Apologia (A Discourse on Magic) . Apuleius accused an extravagant personal enemy of turning his house into a brothel and prostituting his own wife. Of his subsequent career, we know little. Judging from the many works of which he was author, he must have devoted himself diligently to literature. He occasionally gave speeches in public to great reception; he had

520-427: The times as "will, action and knowledge" that drives change in the universe, wherein everything, the empirically observed and the transcendental reality, is manifestation of her Being. Sita is all of creation, the good and the bad, all the gods and the demons, the cause and the effect, the material and the spiritual, the virtue and the beauty. Her quality includes the changing reality ( Maya , metaphysical illusion), and

546-457: The tip of the plough symbolizing her link to Prakriti or nature that feeds and nourishes all life. She is all pervading. She, asserts the text, lights up everything in all worlds. "The wheel of time and the wheel of the Universe" are her personifications. Evolution and preservation are her gifts, she is the tree of plenty. She is Lakshmi , seated as a Yogini on her lion throne. The universe

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572-487: The unchanging reality without a second ( Brahman , metaphysical constant). She is free from change. She has no blemishes. She represents the vocal form of the four Vedas , which the text asserts comes from 21 schools of Rigveda , 109 schools of Yajurveda , 1000 schools of Samaveda , and 40 schools of Atharvaveda. She is ethics, tradition, law, legend, and the five minor Vedas, asserts the text, naming these as architecture, archery, music, medicine and Daivika (divinity). She

598-588: Was a Numidian Latin -language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman province of Numidia , in the Berber city of Madauros , modern-day M'Daourouch , Algeria . He studied Platonism in Athens , travelled to Italy , Asia Minor , and Egypt , and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries . The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain

624-643: Was a municipal magistrate ( duumvir ) who bequeathed at his death the sum of nearly two million sesterces to his two sons. Apuleius studied with a master at Carthage (where he later settled) and later at Athens , where he studied Platonist philosophy among other subjects. He subsequently went to Rome to study Latin rhetoric and, most likely, to speak in the law courts for a time before returning to his native North Africa. He also travelled extensively in Asia Minor and Egypt, studying philosophy and religion, burning up his inheritance while doing so. Apuleius

650-487: Was an initiate in several Greco-Roman mysteries , including the Dionysian Mysteries . He was a priest of Asclepius and, according to Augustine, sacerdos provinciae Africae (i.e., priest of the province of Carthage). Not long after his return home he set out upon a new journey to Alexandria . On his way there he was taken ill at the town of Oea (modern-day Tripoli ) and was hospitably received into

676-619: Was the same colonia where Augustine of Hippo later received part of his early education, and, though located well away from the Romanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. As to his first name, no praenomen is given in any ancient source; late-medieval manuscripts began the tradition of calling him Lucius from the name of the hero of his novel. Details regarding his life come mostly from his defense speech ( Apology ) and his work Florida , which consists of snippets taken from some of his best speeches. His father

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