Traditional
184-565: Varaha ( Sanskrit : वराह , Varāha , "boar") is the avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu , in the form of a boar . Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara , the ten principal avataras of Vishnu. Varaha lifts the earth goddess Bhumi out of the cosmic ocean when the demon Hiranyaksha stole the earth goddess and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue her. Varaha killed Hiranyaksha and retrieved
368-464: A rakshasa (demon) named Sindhusena defeated the gods and took the sacrifice to the netherworld Rasatala. Implored by the gods, Vishnu takes the form of Varaha and enters Rasatala. He slew the demons and recovered the sacrifice holding it in his mouth ( mukha ), thus sacrifice known as makha . Near Brahmagiri hill in Trimbak , Varaha washed his blood-stained hands in the river Ganga (identified with
552-522: A Rakshasi in Indian texts. The powers of an Asuri are projected into plants offering a remedy against leprosy . First, before all, the strong-winged Bird was born, thou wast the gall thereof. Conquered in fight, the Asuri took then the shape and form of plants. The Asuri made, first of all, this medicine for leprosy, this banisher of leprosy. She banished leprosy, and gave one general colour to
736-561: A count of the word use for every Vedic deity: Asura is used as an adjective meaning "powerful" or "mighty". In the Rig Veda , two generous kings – as well as some priests – have been described as asuras . One hymn requests a son who is an asura . In nine hymns, Indra is described as asura . He is said to possess asurya 5 times, and once he is said to possess asuratva . Agni has total of 12 asura descriptions, Varuna has 10, Mitra has 8, and Rudra has 6. Book 1 of
920-453: A dead language in the most common usage of the term. Pollock's notion of the "death of Sanskrit" remains in this unclear realm between academia and public opinion when he says that "most observers would agree that, in some crucial way, Sanskrit is dead." Asura Asuras ( Sanskrit : असुर ) are a class of beings in Indian religions . They are described as power-seeking beings related to
1104-619: A demon - identified with Hiranyaksha in other narratives in the Purana. The Linga Purana and the Markendeya Purana clearly identifies Varaha, as the rescuer of the earth, with Vishnu, barring the cosmogonic myth. While early references in the Mahabharata to the demon Hiranyaksha do not relate him to Varaha, Vishnu is said to be taken the boar form to slay a demon named Naraka. Another late insertion describes Vishnu lifting
1288-544: A fiery cosmic pillar which is he himself, while Vishnu as Varaha is seen at the base going down and Brahma as Hamsa is seen at the top going up. The Lingodbhava icon of the Shiva-worshipping Shaiva sect was aimed to counter the avatara theory of Vishnu that presented him as the Supreme Being. The icon elevated Shiva to the Supreme Being position and demoted Vishnu as inferior to Shiva by belittling
1472-433: A focus on Indian philosophies and Sanskrit. Though written in a number of different scripts, the dominant language of Hindu texts has been Sanskrit. It or a hybrid form of Sanskrit became the preferred language of Mahayana Buddhism scholarship; for example, one of the early and influential Buddhist philosophers, Nagarjuna (~200 CE), used Classical Sanskrit as the language for his texts. According to Renou, Sanskrit had
1656-521: A form of Brahma before being shown as forms of Vishnu in later traditions. Arthur Anthony Macdonell traces the origins of the Varaha legend to two verses (1.61.7 and 8.66.10) of the Rigveda , the oldest Veda. Vishnu, aided by the god Indra , steals hundred buffaloes from a boar (identified Vritra by Macdonell based on verse 1.121.11); and then Indra - shooting across a mountain kills that same boar who
1840-399: A host of parallels such as Inmar-Indra, Sampas-Stambha and many other elements of respective mythologies. In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called Devas and Asuras. A much-studied hymn of the Rig Veda states Devav asura (Asuras who have become Devas), and contrasts it with Asura adevah (Asuras who are not Devas). Each Asura and Deva emerges from
2024-538: A language competed with numerous, less exact vernacular Indian languages called Prakritic languages ( prākṛta - ). The term prakrta literally means "original, natural, normal, artless", states Franklin Southworth . The relationship between Prakrit and Sanskrit is found in Indian texts dated to the 1st millennium CE. Patañjali acknowledged that Prakrit is the first language, one instinctively adopted by every child with all its imperfections and later leads to
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#17327731822522208-658: A limited role in the Theravada tradition (formerly known as the Hinayana) but the Prakrit works that have survived are of doubtful authenticity. Some of the canonical fragments of the early Buddhist traditions, discovered in the 20th century, suggest the early Buddhist traditions used an imperfect and reasonably good Sanskrit, sometimes with a Pali syntax, states Renou. The Mahāsāṃghika and Mahavastu, in their late Hinayana forms, used hybrid Sanskrit for their literature. Sanskrit
2392-592: A much more pleasurable life than humans, but they are plagued by envy for the devas, whom they can see just as animals perceive humans. Edelmann and other scholars state that the dualistic concept of Asura and Deva in Hinduism is a form of symbolism found throughout its ancient and medieval literature. In the Upanishads , for example, Devas and Asuras go to Prajāpati to understand what is Self (Atman, soul) and how to realize it. The first answer that Prajāpati gives
2576-454: A natural part of the earliest Vedic language, and that these developed in the centuries after the composition had been completed, and as a gradual unconscious process during the oral transmission by generations of reciters. The primary source for this argument is internal evidence of the text which betrays an instability of the phenomenon of retroflexion, with the same phrases having sandhi-induced retroflexion in some parts but not other. This
2760-479: A negative evidence to Pollock's hypothesis, but it is not positive evidence. A closer look at Sanskrit in the Indian history after the 12th century suggests that Sanskrit survived despite the odds. According to Hanneder, On a more public level the statement that Sanskrit is a dead language is misleading, for Sanskrit is quite obviously not as dead as other dead languages and the fact that it is spoken, written and read will probably convince most people that it cannot be
2944-546: A pan-Indo-Aryan accessibility to information and knowledge in the ancient and medieval times, in contrast to the Prakrit languages which were understood just regionally. It created a cultural bond across the subcontinent. As local languages and dialects evolved and diversified, Sanskrit served as the common language. It connected scholars from distant parts of South Asia such as Tamil Nadu and Kashmir, states Deshpande, as well as those from different fields of studies, though there must have been differences in its pronunciation given
3128-578: A refined and standardized grammatical form that emerged in the mid-1st millennium BCE and was codified in the most comprehensive of ancient grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight chapters') of Pāṇini . The greatest dramatist in Sanskrit, Kālidāsa , wrote in classical Sanskrit, and the foundations of modern arithmetic were first described in classical Sanskrit. The two major Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and
3312-538: A restrained language from which archaisms and unnecessary formal alternatives were excluded". The Classical form of the language simplified the sandhi rules but retained various aspects of the Vedic language, while adding rigor and flexibilities, so that it had sufficient means to express thoughts as well as being "capable of responding to the future increasing demands of an infinitely diversified literature", according to Renou. Pāṇini included numerous "optional rules" beyond
3496-625: A sermon from Varaha to the sage Ribhu. Sanskrit language Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively 𑀲𑀁𑀲𑁆𑀓𑀾𑀢𑀁 , संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages . It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from
3680-675: A shorter summary says that he becomes the wind. In the Brahmanda Purana , realizing that the earth was in the waters, he decides to take the form of Varaha as the beast likes to sport in the water. Similar reasons for taking the boar form particularly are also given in the Linga Purana , the Matsya Purana and the Vayu Purana . The Vishnu Purana adds that Brahma-Narayana decides to take the form of Varaha, similar to
3864-439: A similar phonetic structure to Tamil. Hock et al. quoting George Hart state that there was influence of Old Tamil on Sanskrit. Hart compared Old Tamil and Classical Sanskrit to arrive at a conclusion that there was a common language from which these features both derived – "that both Tamil and Sanskrit derived their shared conventions, metres, and techniques from a common source, for it is clear that neither borrowed directly from
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#17327731822524048-541: A special group of gods in one of major Vedic theories of creation of the universe. Their role changes only during and after the earth, sky and living beings have been created. The sky world becomes that of Devas , the underworld becomes that of Asuras . The god Indra is the embodiment of good and represents the Devas, while the dragon Vrtra is the embodiment of evil and an Asura. During this battle between good and evil, creation and destruction, some powerful Asuras side with
4232-462: A third meaning of the word varaha . The Vedic group of Angirases are called varaha s or collectively a varahavah . The god Varaha is also called referred by the epithet sukara ( Sanskrit सूकर, sūkara ), meaning 'wild boar', which also used in the Rigveda (e.g. 7.55.4) and Atharvaveda (e.g. 2.27.2). The word literally means "the animal that makes a peculiar nasal sound in respiration"; in
4416-518: A type of supernatural beings (antigods, demigods, or titans) in traditional Buddhist cosmology and a realm of rebirth based on one's karma in current or past lives. They are described in Buddhist texts as creatures who live in lower levels of mount Sumeru, obsessed with sensuous aspects of existence, living with jealousy, and endlessly engaged in wars against the creatures who are Devas (gods). As Buddhism spread into East Asia and Southeast Asia,
4600-657: Is yajna "). The Vishnu Purana , the Bhagavata Purana and the Padma Purana embeds the sacrificial description within a paean to Varaha by the sages of Janaloka after he saves the earth. Roshen Dalal describes the symbolism of his iconography based on the Vishnu Purana as follows: His four feet represent the Vedas (scriptures). His tusks represent sacrificial stakes. His teeth are offerings. His mouth
4784-688: Is a presumption of Kuiper. Many scholars describe Asuras to be "lords" with different specialized knowledge, magical powers and special abilities, which only later choose to deploy these for good, constructive reasons or for evil, destructive reasons. The former become known as Asura in the sense of Devas , the later as Asura in the sense of demons. Kuiper, Brown, Otto and others are in this school; however, none of them provide an explanation and how, when and why Asura came ultimately to mean demon. Asuras are non-believers of God and believe in their own powers. Ananda Coomaraswamy suggested that Devas and Asuras can be best understood as being similar in concept to
4968-464: Is akin to that of Latin and Ancient Greek in Europe. Sanskrit has significantly influenced most modern languages of the Indian subcontinent , particularly the languages of the northern, western, central and eastern Indian subcontinent. Sanskrit declined starting about and after the 13th century. This coincides with the beginning of Islamic invasions of South Asia to create, and thereafter expand
5152-416: Is called Varah Avatar. the word varah means wild boar; first overland creature. The word varāha is from Proto-Indo-Iranian term warāȷ́ʰá , meaning boar. It is thus related to Avestan varāza , Kurdish beraz , Middle Persian warāz , and New Persian gorāz (گراز), all meaning "wild boar". The Sanskrit grammarian and etymologist Yaska (circa 300 BCE) states that the word varaha originates from
5336-564: Is found in Rigveda, for example, in its verses such as 1.88.5, 8.77.10 and 10.28.4 where it means "wild boar". The word also means "rain cloud" and is symbolic in some Rigvedic hymns, such as Vedic deity Vritra being called a varaha in Rigvedic verses 1.61.7 and 10.99.6, and Soma 's epithet being a varaha in 10.97.7. Later the rain-relationship led the connotation of the term evolve into vara-aharta , which means "bringer of good things" (rain), which also mentioned by Yaska. Yaska mentions
5520-452: Is found in the writing of Bharata Muni , the author of the ancient Natya Shastra text. The early Jain scholar Namisādhu acknowledged the difference, but disagreed that the Prakrit language was a corruption of Sanskrit. Namisādhu stated that the Prakrit language was the pūrvam ('came before, origin') and that it came naturally to children, while Sanskrit was a refinement of Prakrit through "purification by grammar". Sanskrit belongs to
5704-406: Is interpreted as an allusion to Varaha and links Varaha with Vishnu. In the epic Mahabharata , Narayana ("one who lies in the waters", an appellation of Brahma which was later transferred to Vishnu) is praised as the one who rescues the earth as a boar. The Puranas complete the full transition of Varaha from the form of Prajapati-Brahma to the avatar of Narayana-Vishnu. The Brahmanda Purana ,
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5888-409: Is large as a mountain and blazing like the sun. Dark like a rain cloud in complexion, his tusks are white, sharp and fearsome. His body is the size of the space between the earth and the sky. His thunderous roar is frightening. In one instance, his mane is so fiery and fearsome that Varuna , the god of the waters, requests Varaha to save him from it. Varaha complies and folds his mane. Early texts like
6072-473: Is named Ermusha, who is Vritra in disguise. Arthur Berriedale Keith also agrees with Macdonell; interpreting the mountain as a cloud and the killing is a story of the killing of the asura Vritra by Indra. The 14th century Vedic commentator Sayana states the Taittiriya Samhita (6.2.4) elaborates the Rigveda version. However, the Rigveda does not hint at the classical legend of the rescue of
6256-646: Is only when they turn to lust, hate, cravings, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, hypocrisy, cruelty and such negativity- and destruction-inclined that natural human inclinations metamorphose into something demonic (Asura). In the Brahmanda Purana , it is stated the term 'Asura' was used for the Daityas due to their rejection of Varuni (Goddess of Wine) after she emerged from the Ocean of Milk (i.e. 'a-sura', meaning 'those who do not have Sura' , that is, 'wine' or more generally 'liquor'). However, in other legends,
6440-532: Is rare in the later version of the language. The Homerian Greek, like Ṛg-vedic Sanskrit, deploys simile extensively, but they are structurally very different. The early Vedic form of the Sanskrit language was far less homogenous compared to the Classical Sanskrit as defined by grammarians by about the mid-1st millennium BCE. According to Richard Gombrich—an Indologist and a scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli and Buddhist Studies—the archaic Vedic Sanskrit found in
6624-555: Is referred to yajna-varaha ("sacrifice boar") in some instances. The Agni Purana while narrating tales of the Dashavatara in sequence briefly mentions that the Hiranyaksa, a chief of asura s (demons) defeated the gods and captured Svarga (heaven). Vishnu, in his third avatar as Varaha, slew the demons. The Linga Purana mentions that Vishnu takes the avatars due to a curse by the sage Bhrigu . It mentions Varaha as
6808-609: Is reiterated in later texts like the epic's appendix Harivamsa , the Vishnudharmottara Purana and the Brahma Purana . This tale constitutes the mythology of Pitr-yajna or Shraddha , sacrifice to the ancestors. The Brahma Purana narrates about Varaha's deliverance of the Pitrs (manes). Once, the Pitrs lust for Urja (also known as Svadha and Koka), the daughter of the moon-god Chandra . Cursed by Chandra,
6992-625: Is said to have slain Hiranyaksha on Mount Sumana (also called Ambikeya or Rishabha) on/ near the legendary island Jambudvipa . Besides to alluding to the raising of the earth from the waters by Varaha, the Brahmavaivarta Purana also mentions that Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha. The Garuda Purana and the Narada Purana also refers to Varaha as the slayer of Hiranyaksha. The Brahma Purana narrates another tale where
7176-546: Is simplistic, which the Asuras accept and leave with, but the Devas led by Indra do not accept and question because Indra finds that he hasn't grasped its full significance and the given answer has inconsistencies. Edelmann states that this symbolism embedded in the Upanishads is a reminder that one must struggle with presented ideas, learning is a process, and Deva nature emerges with effort. Similar dichotomies are present in
7360-479: Is taken along with evidence of controversy, for example, in passages of the Aitareya-Āraṇyaka (700 BCE), which features a discussion on whether retroflexion is valid in particular cases. The Ṛg-veda is a collection of books, created by multiple authors. These authors represented different generations, and the mandalas 2 to 7 are the oldest while the mandalas 1 and 10 are relatively the youngest. Yet,
7544-462: Is the Supreme Being. The Shiva Purana says that Vishnu chose the boar form due to the animal's inborn ability to burrow in this story. It also notes that the current kalpa is known as Varaha-kalpa due to Vishnu's form as Varaha in the beginning of the kalpa when this incident happened. This tale is iconographically depicted in the Lingodbhava icon of Shiva where Shiva is shown as emerging from
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7728-533: Is the altar, the tongue is the sacrificial fire. The hair on his head denotes the sacrificial grass. The eyes represent the day and night. The head represents the seat of all. The mane represents the hymns of the Vedas. His nostrils are the oblation. His joints represent the various ceremonies. The ears are said to indicate rites (voluntary and obligatory). Some texts like the Vishnu Purana , the Matsya Purana ,
7912-589: Is the predominant language of one of the largest collection of historic manuscripts. The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit are from the 1st century BCE, such as the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana and Ghosundi-Hathibada (Chittorgarh) . Though developed and nurtured by scholars of orthodox schools of Hinduism, Sanskrit has been the language for some of the key literary works and theology of heterodox schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. The structure and capabilities of
8096-506: The Bhagavata Purana , Varaha is referred to Sukara, when he is born from the god Brahma 's nostrils. The origin of Varaha is found in the Vedas , the oldest Hindu scriptures. Varaha is originally described as a form of Prajapati (a form of Brahma ), but on evolved into the avatara of Vishnu in later Hindu scriptures. Two other avataras of Vishnu - Matsya (the fish) and Kurma (the tortoise) were also equated with Prajapati,
8280-475: The Bhagavata Purana , the Panchatantra and many other texts are all in the Sanskrit language. The Classical Sanskrit with its exacting grammar was thus the language of the Indian scholars and the educated classes, while others communicated with approximate or ungrammatical variants of it as well as other natural Indian languages. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside
8464-514: The Taittiriya Samhita and the Shatapatha Brahmana ; scholars differ on which one is the core version. The Shatapatha Brahmana narrates that the universe was primordial waters. The earth which was the size of a hand, was trapped in it. The god Prajapati (who is a form of Brahma ) in the form of a boar ( varaha ) plunges into the waters and brings the earth out. He also marries the earth thereafter. The Shatapatha Brahmana calls
8648-945: The Vayu Purana , the Vishnu Purana , the Linga Purana , the Markendeya Purana , the Kurma Purana , the Garuda Purana , the Padma Purana and the Shiva Purana have similar narratives of the cosmogonic myth, wherein Brahma, identified with Vishnu, takes the Varaha form to raise the earth from the primeval waters. The Brahmanda Purana , one of the oldest Puranas , narrates that in
8832-475: The Assyrian deity Ashur . Some scholars such as Asko Parpola suggest that the word Asura may be related to proto-Uralic and proto-Germanic history. The Aesir-Asura correspondence is the relation between Vedic Sanskrit Asura and Old Norse Æsir and Proto-Uralic * asera , all of which mean 'lord, powerful spirit, god'. Parpola states that the correspondence extends beyond Asera / Asura, and extends to
9016-520: The Asuras are "evil spirits, demons and opponents of the gods". Asuras connote the chaos-creating evil, in Indo-Iranian mythology about the battle between good and evil. According to Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola , the word Asura was borrowed from Proto-Indo-Aryan into Proto-Uralic during an early period of contact, in the form *asera-, showing a meaning "lord, prince". Bhargava states
9200-529: The Asuri drew Indra downward from the Gods, With this same Herb I draw thee close that I may be most dear to thee. Thou art the peer of Soma, yea, thou art the equal of the Sun, The peer of all the Gods art thou: therefore we call thee hitherward. I am the speaker here, not thou: speak thou where the assembly meets. Thou shalt be mine and only mine, and never mention other dames. If thou art far away beyond
9384-434: The Bhagavata Purana narrates that Jaya and Vijaya , the doorkeepers of Vishnu's abode Vaikuntha , were cursed by the four Kumaras to be born as demons. In their first birth, they are born as the daityas Hiranyakashipu (who is slain by another of Vishnu's avatara of Narasimha ) and Hiranyaksha as the twin sons of Diti and the sage Kashyapa . Blessed by Brahma, the king of daityas Hiranyaksha became powerful and conquered
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#17327731822529568-399: The Bhagavata Purana , in the episode of the killing of the demon Narakasura by Krishna avatara of Vishnu, mentions that he was the foster son of Varaha and the earth goddess Bhumi. In some versions of the tale, Vishnu-Varaha promises the earth that he will not kill their son, without any consent. In Krishna form, Vishnu slays the demon with the support of Satyabhama , Krishna's consort and
9752-526: The Brahmanda Purana and the Vayu Purana build up on the Taittiriya Brahmana Vedic cosmogonic concept of Yajna-varaha (Varaha as sacrifice). The Brahmanda Purana describes that acquiring the boar form composed of Vedic sacrifices, he plunges in waters, finding the earth in the subterranean realm. Varaha's various body parts are compared with various implements or participants of a yajna (sacrifice). This description of Yajna-varaha
9936-580: The Dalai Lama , the Sanskrit language is a parent language that is at the foundation of many modern languages of India and the one that promoted Indian thought to other distant countries. In Tibetan Buddhism, states the Dalai Lama, Sanskrit language has been a revered one and called legjar lhai-ka or "elegant language of the gods". It has been the means of transmitting the "profound wisdom of Buddhist philosophy" to Tibet. The Sanskrit language created
10120-558: The Godavari alias Gautami river); the water collected forms the sacred pond called Varaha- tirtha or Varaha-kunda . In an instance in the Mahabharata after raising the earth, Vishnu as Varaha, shakes his tusk and three balls of mud fall in the South, which he declares as the three pinda s (riceballs) to be given to the Pitrs (ancestors). Varaha's association with the three pinda s
10304-665: The Harivamsa and the Padma Purana contain a panegyric - dedicated to Varaha - and a plea of rescue by the earth. They clearly identify Varaha with Vishnu at this stage. Further in the Brahmanda Purana and other texts, Varaha rose from the waters carrying the earth on his tusks and restored her on the waters, where she floated like a boat. Varaha flattened the earth and divided it into seven great portions by creating mountains. Further, Brahma, identified with Vishnu, creates natural features like mountains, rivers, oceans, various worlds as well as various beings. The Venkatacala Mahatmya and
10488-613: The Indo-European family of languages . It is one of the three earliest ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as Proto-Indo-European : Other Indo-European languages distantly related to Sanskrit include archaic and Classical Latin ( c. 600 BCE–100 CE, Italic languages ), Gothic (archaic Germanic language , c. 350 CE ), Old Norse ( c. 200 CE and after), Old Avestan ( c. late 2nd millennium BCE ) and Younger Avestan ( c. 900 BCE). The closest ancient relatives of Vedic Sanskrit in
10672-453: The Puranas literature of Hinduism, where god Indra (a Deva) and the antigod Virocana (an Asura) question a sage for insights into the knowledge of the self. Virocana leaves with the first given answer, believing now he can use the knowledge as a weapon. In contrast, Indra keeps pressing the sage, churning the ideas, and learning about means to inner happiness and power. Edelmann suggests that
10856-625: The Rig Veda describes Savitr (Vedic solar deity) as an asura who is a "kind leader". हिरण्यहस्तो असुरः सुनीथः सुमृळीकः स्ववाँ यात्वर्वाङ् । अपसेधन्रक्षसो यातुधानानस्थाद्देवः प्रतिदोषं गृणानः ॥१०॥ May he, gold-handed Asura , kind leader, come hither to us with his help and favour. Driving off Raksasas and Yatudhanas , [he] the god is present, praised in hymns at evening. – Translated by Ralph Griffith The golden-handed lord of good guidance, of good grace, of good help—let him drive in our direction. Repelling demons and sorcerers,
11040-699: The Rigveda had already evolved in the Vedic period, as evidenced in the later Vedic literature. Gombrich posits that the language in the early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit, while the archaic Vedic Sanskrit had by the Buddha 's time become unintelligible to all except ancient Indian sages. The formalization of the Saṃskṛta language is credited to Pāṇini , along with Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patañjali's work. Panini composed Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight-Chapter Grammar'), which became
11224-476: The Rāmāyaṇa , however, were composed in a range of oral storytelling registers called Epic Sanskrit which was used in northern India between 400 BCE and 300 CE, and roughly contemporary with classical Sanskrit. In the following centuries, Sanskrit became tradition-bound, stopped being learned as a first language, and ultimately stopped developing as a living language. The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to
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#173277318225211408-544: The Twelve Olympians and the titans of Greek mythology: Both are powerful, but have different orientations and inclinations – in Hindu mythology the Devas represent the powers of light and the Asuras represent the powers of darkness. According to Coomaraswamy (1935) , p. 374 "the titan [Asura] is potentially an angel [Deva], the angel still by nature a titan" in Hinduism. In the 19th century, Haug pioneered
11592-406: The sandhi rules, both internal and external. Quite many words found in the early Vedic Sanskrit language are never found in late Vedic Sanskrit or Classical Sanskrit literature, while some words have different and new meanings in Classical Sanskrit when contextually compared to the early Vedic Sanskrit literature. Arthur Macdonell was among the early colonial era scholars who summarized some of
11776-500: The verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- is a compound word consisting of sáṃ ('together, good, well, perfected') and kṛta - ('made, formed, work'). It connotes a work that has been "well prepared, pure and perfect, polished, sacred". According to Biderman, the perfection contextually being referred to in the etymological origins of the word is its tonal—rather than semantic—qualities. Sound and oral transmission were highly valued qualities in ancient India, and its sages refined
11960-427: The "Asuras who remain Asuras" question, challenge, and attack the "Asuras who became Devas" to loot or extract a portion of what the Devas have and the Asuras do not. The hostility between the two groups is the source of extensive legends, tales, and literature in Hinduism; however, many texts discuss their hostility in neutral terms – without explicit moral connotations or condemnation. Some of these tales constitute
12144-405: The "myths and genealogies" connected to the worship of Vishnu. Though Varaha is praised numerous times as the saviour of the earth from the waters, the detailed legend is not given in the Purana. Bhumi praises Vishnu as Varaha who rescued her numerous times in various avataras and sees the complete universe in his mouth, when Varaha laughs. The Varaha Upanishad , a minor Upanishad , is narrated as
12328-414: The 13th century, a premier center of Sanskrit literary creativity, Sanskrit literature there disappeared, perhaps in the "fires that periodically engulfed the capital of Kashmir" or the "Mongol invasion of 1320" states Pollock. The Sanskrit literature which was once widely disseminated out of the northwest regions of the subcontinent, stopped after the 12th century. As Hindu kingdoms fell in the eastern and
12512-532: The 7th century where he established a major center of learning and language translation under the patronage of Emperor Taizong. By the early 1st millennium CE, Sanskrit had spread Buddhist and Hindu ideas to Southeast Asia, parts of the East Asia and the Central Asia. It was accepted as a language of high culture and the preferred language by some of the local ruling elites in these regions. According to
12696-473: The Asura concept of Indian Buddhism expanded and integrated local pre-existing deities as a part of regional Buddhist pantheon. The asura realm is one of the realms in which one can be reborn as a result of experiencing the fruits of wholesome karma, while engaging in unwholesome karma. Generally, the desire realm is recognized as consisting of five realms and the realm of the asuras tends to be included among
12880-781: The Asuras accept Varuni (see Kurma ). According to the Vishnu Purana, during the Samudra Manthana or the "churning of the ocean", the daityas came to be known as asuras because they rejected Varuni , the goddess of sura "wine", while the devas accepted her and came to be known as suras. Alain Daniélou states that Asuras were initially good, virtuous and powerful in Indian mythology. However, their nature gradually changed and they came to represent evil, vice and abuse of power. In Shiva Purana, they evolved into anti-gods and had to be destroyed because they threatened
13064-425: The Classical Sanskrit language launched ancient Indian speculations about "the nature and function of language", what is the relationship between words and their meanings in the context of a community of speakers, whether this relationship is objective or subjective, discovered or is created, how individuals learn and relate to the world around them through language, and about the limits of language? They speculated on
13248-611: The Deva-Asura dichotomies in Hindu mythology may be seen as "narrative depictions of tendencies within our selves". The god (Deva) and antigod (Asura), states Edelmann, are also symbolically the contradictory forces that motivate each individual and people, and thus Deva-Asura dichotomy is a spiritual concept rather than mere genealogical category or species of being. In the Bhāgavata Purana, saints and gods are born in families of Asuras, such as Mahabali and Prahlada , conveying
13432-532: The Dravidian languages borrowed from Sanskrit vocabulary, but they have also affected Sanskrit on deeper levels of structure, "for instance in the domain of phonology where Indo-Aryan retroflexes have been attributed to Dravidian influence". Similarly, Ferenc Ruzca states that all the major shifts in Indo-Aryan phonetics over two millennia can be attributed to the constant influence of a Dravidian language with
13616-521: The Dravidian words and forms, without modifying the word order; but the same thing is not possible in rendering a Persian or English sentence into a non-Indo-Aryan language. Shulman mentions that "Dravidian nonfinite verbal forms (called vinaiyeccam in Tamil) shaped the usage of the Sanskrit nonfinite verbs (originally derived from inflected forms of action nouns in Vedic). This particularly salient case of
13800-489: The Hamsa form in the tale of the tip of Shiva as the linga (the aniconic symbol of Shiva). Once, Brahma and Vishnu contest for superiority. A large, fiery pillar which was Shiva himself as the linga appears. Brahma as a hamsa (swan) flies up to find its top; while Varaha as large varaha (boar) digs down to find its bottom. However, both fail the ends of the linga. Shiva appears in the place of linga and enlightens them that he
13984-476: The Indo-Aryan language underwent rapid linguistic change and morphed into the Vedic Sanskrit language. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit . The earliest attested Sanskrit text is the Rigveda , a Hindu scripture from the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if any ever existed, but scholars are generally confident that
14168-519: The Indo-European languages are the Nuristani languages found in the remote Hindu Kush region of northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Himalayas, as well as the extinct Avestan and Old Persian – both are Iranian languages . Sanskrit belongs to the satem group of the Indo-European languages. Colonial era scholars familiar with Latin and Greek were struck by the resemblance of
14352-532: The Muslim rule in the form of Sultanates, and later the Mughal Empire . Sheldon Pollock characterises the decline of Sanskrit as a long-term "cultural, social, and political change". He dismisses the idea that Sanskrit declined due to "struggle with barbarous invaders", and emphasises factors such as the increasing attractiveness of vernacular language for literary expression. With the fall of Kashmir around
14536-496: The Muslim rulers. Hindu rulers such as Shivaji of the Maratha Empire , reversed the process, by re-adopting Sanskrit and re-asserting their socio-linguistic identity. After Islamic rule disintegrated in South Asia and the colonial rule era began, Sanskrit re-emerged but in the form of a "ghostly existence" in regions such as Bengal. This decline was the result of "political institutions and civic ethos" that did not support
14720-595: The Pitrs fall as humans on the Himalayan mountains from their elevated positions, while Koka transforms into a river in the mountains. The demons attack the Pitrs, who hides under a slab in the Koka river. Eulogized by the Pitrs, Varaha uplifted the drowning Pitrs from the river by his tusks. Then, he performs the rites of Shraddha by performing libations and pinda s to the Pitrs with the Earth acting as Chaya - his consort in
14904-499: The Saṃskṛta language, both in its vocabulary and grammar, to the classical languages of Europe. In The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World , Mallory and Adams illustrate the resemblance with the following examples of cognate forms (with the addition of Old English for further comparison): The correspondences suggest some common root, and historical links between some of
15088-638: The South India, such as the great Vijayanagara Empire , so did Sanskrit. There were exceptions and short periods of imperial support for Sanskrit, mostly concentrated during the reign of the tolerant Mughal emperor Akbar . Muslim rulers patronized the Middle Eastern language and scripts found in Persia and Arabia, and the Indians linguistically adapted to this Persianization to gain employment with
15272-563: The Varaha avatara of his by defeating him. Similarly, the Sharabha form of Shiva belittled Narasimha , the lion-man avatar of Vishnu by killing him. Another legend in the minor Purana named Kalika Purana also depicts the sectarian conflicts between the Vaishnava followers of Vishnu and the Shaiva followers of Shiva. Varaha lifts Bhumi by piercing his tusks through her. He then assumes
15456-447: The Vedic Sanskrit in these books of the Ṛg-veda "hardly presents any dialectical diversity", states Louis Renou – an Indologist known for his scholarship of the Sanskrit literature and the Ṛg-veda in particular. According to Renou, this implies that the Vedic Sanskrit language had a "set linguistic pattern" by the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Beyond the Ṛg-veda, the ancient literature in Vedic Sanskrit that has survived into
15640-451: The Vedic Sanskrit's bahulam framework, to respect liberty and creativity so that individual writers separated by geography or time would have the choice to express facts and their views in their own way, where tradition followed competitive forms of the Sanskrit language. The phonetic differences between Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit, as discerned from the current state of the surviving literature, are negligible when compared to
15824-459: The alphabet, the structure of words, and its exacting grammar into a "collection of sounds, a kind of sublime musical mold" as an integral language they called Saṃskṛta . From the late Vedic period onwards, state Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, resonating sound and its musical foundations attracted an "exceptionally large amount of linguistic, philosophical and religious literature" in India. Sound
16008-419: The avatara of Bhumi. The Brahmavaivarta Purana narrates that Varaha slew Hiranyaksha and rescued the earth from the waters. Varaha and the earth goddess were attracted to each other and made love. After they regained consciousness, Varaha worshipped the earth and decreed that the earth be worshipped at specific occasions, such as the construction of a house, lakes, wells, dams, etc. From their union, Mangala ,
16192-643: The background of major Hindu Epics and annual festivals, such as the story of Asura Ravana and Deva Rama in the Ramayana , and the legend of Asura Hiranyakashipu and Deva Vishnu as Narasimha , the latter celebrated with the Hindu spring festival of Holika and Holi . In Buddhist mythology, while all the gods of the Kāmadhātu are subject to passions to some degree, the asuras above all are addicted to them, especially wrath, pride, envy, insincerity, falseness, boasting, and bellicosity. The asuras are said to experience
16376-535: The bad in Vedic religion; where Daeva evolves to represent the bad in pre- Zoroastrianism , while Deva evolves to represent the good in Vedic religion. These contrary roles have led some scholars to infer that there may have been wars between proto-Indo-European communities, and that adapted their gods and demons to reflect their social differences. This idea was thoroughly researched and reviewed by Peter von Bradke in 1885. The relationship between ahura s / asura s and daeva s / deva s in Indo-Aryan times,
16560-480: The boar Emusha. According to J. L. Brockington, there are two distinct boar mythologies in Vedic literature. In one, he is depicted as a form of Prajapati, in other an asura named Emusha is a boar that fights Indra and Vishnu. The section 14.1.2 of the Shatapatha Brahmana harmonizes the two myths and Emusha is conflated into Prajapati. The earliest versions of the classical Varaha legend are found in
16744-534: The boar as Ermusha, which Keith relates to the boar's epithet ermusha in the Rigveda. In the Taittiriya Samhita (7.1.5), Prajapati - who was roaming as the wind - acquires the form of a " cosmogonic " boar lifting the earth goddess from the primeval waters. As Vishvakarma (the creator of the world), he flattened her, thus she - the earth - was called Prithvi , "the extended one". They produce various deities. The Taittiriya Aranyaka (10.1.8) states
16928-440: The capacity to understand the old Prakrit languages such as Ardhamagadhi . A section of European scholars state that Sanskrit was never a spoken language. However, evidences shows that Sanskrit was a spoken language, essential for oral tradition that preserved the vast number of Sanskrit manuscripts from ancient India. The textual evidence in the works of Yaksa, Panini, and Patanajali affirms that Classical Sanskrit in their era
17112-530: The classical Dashavatara. The Narada Purana has a variant of Caturvyuha with Krishna, Varaha, Vamana and Balarama (Haladhara) as the four emanations. The Linga Purana , the Shiva Purana and the Shaiva Khanda Book of the Skanda Purana mention Vishnu taking the Varaha form in the tale of the base of Shiva as the linga (the aniconic symbol of Shiva) along with Brahma taking
17296-527: The close relationship between the Indo-Iranian tongues and the Baltic and Slavic languages , vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European Uralic languages , and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna. The pre-history of Indo-Aryan languages which preceded Vedic Sanskrit is unclear and various hypotheses place it over a fairly wide limit. According to Thomas Burrow, based on
17480-559: The context of a speech or language, is found in verses 5.28.17–19 of the Ramayana . Outside the learned sphere of written Classical Sanskrit, vernacular colloquial dialects ( Prakrits ) continued to evolve. Sanskrit co-existed with numerous other Prakrit languages of ancient India. The Prakrit languages of India also have ancient roots and some Sanskrit scholars have called these Apabhramsa , literally 'spoiled'. The Vedic literature includes words whose phonetic equivalent are not found in other Indo-European languages but which are found in
17664-601: The crystallization of Classical Sanskrit. As in this period the Indo-Aryan tribes had not yet made contact with the inhabitants of the South of the subcontinent, this suggests a significant presence of Dravidian speakers in North India (the central Gangetic plain and the classical Madhyadeśa) who were instrumental in this substratal influence on Sanskrit. Extant manuscripts in Sanskrit number over 30 million, one hundred times those in Greek and Latin combined, constituting
17848-560: The demon fatally by his tusk and then places the earth over the hood of the serpent and becomes the world turtle to support it. The Avantikshetra Mahatmya section of the Avantya Khanda Book of the Skanda Purana also refers to the curse. The earth sinks in the waters tormented by the daityas; Varaha vanquishes Hiranyaksha. In a passing reference in the Brahmanda Purana , the Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana , Varaha
18032-422: The demon's magic; finally slaying Hiranyaksha hitting him with his foreleg after the thousand-year battle. The Garuda Purana , that refers to the Bhagavata Purana , alludes to the curse in the Hiranyaksha tale. The cursed Vijaya is born as the demon Hiranyaksha, begins a boon from Brahma. He takes the earth to Patala. Vishnu, as Varaha, enters Patala via the ocean. He lifts the earth with the tusks and annihilates
18216-465: The demon-king. Vishnu combats with Hiranyaksha for a hundred divine years; finally the demon expands his size and seizing the earth escapes to the netherworld. Vishnu follows him, taking up the Varaha form and rescues the earth. After engaging in a fierce mace-battle, Varaha finally beheads the demon with his discus. In the Shiva Purana , the annihilation of Hiranyaksha appears as a cursory tale in
18400-519: The demon; then places the four world elephants to support the earth and settles in Srimushnam . The Uttarakhanda book of the Padma Purana also narrates about the curse of the Kumaras. Jaya and Vijaya choose three births on the earth as foes of Vishnu, rather than seven existences as his devotees to lessen the period of the curse. Hiranyaksha carries the earth away to the underworld. Varaha pierces
18584-1045: The demons, spirits, and ghosts worshipped by the enemies of Vedic people, and this created the myths of the malevolent asuras and the rakshasa . The allusions to the disastrous wars between the asuras and the suras , found in the Puranas and the epics, may be the conflict faced by people and migrants into ancient India. Scholars have disagreed on the nature and evolution of the Asura concept in ancient Indian literature. The most widely studied scholarly views on Asura concept are those of F.B.J. Kuiper , W. Norman Brown, Haug, von Bradke, Otto, Benveniste, Konow, Rajwade, Dandekar, Darmesteter, Bhandarkar, and Raja, Banerji-Sastri, Padmanabhayya, Skoeld, S.C. Roy, Kumaraswamy, Shamasastry , Przyluski, Schroeder, Burrows, Hillebrandt, Taraporewala, Lommel, Fausboll, Segerstedt, Thieme, Gerschevitch, Boyce, Macdonnell, Hermann Oldenberg , Geldner, Venkatesvaran, and Jan Gonda . Kuiper calls Asuras
18768-467: The detailed and sophisticated treatise then transmitted it through his students. Modern scholarship generally accepts that he knew of a form of writing, based on references to words such as Lipi ('script') and lipikara ('scribe') in section 3.2 of the Aṣṭādhyāyī . The Classical Sanskrit language formalized by Pāṇini, states Renou, is "not an impoverished language", rather it is "a controlled and
18952-630: The deva realms, but the addition of the asuras in the six-world bhavacakra was created in Tibet at the authority of Je Tsongkhapa . The asuras were dispossessed of their state in Trāyastriṃśa because they became drunk and were thrown down Mount Sumeru by the bodhisatta, as mentioned in Jatakas . This led to ever lasting war between the Devas of Tavatimsa and Asuras, which still continues. In Buddhism,
19136-471: The differences between the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit. Louis Renou published in 1956, in French, a more extensive discussion of the similarities, the differences and the evolution of the Vedic Sanskrit within the Vedic period and then to the Classical Sanskrit along with his views on the history. This work has been translated by Jagbans Balbir. The earliest known use of the word Saṃskṛta (Sanskrit), in
19320-460: The distant major ancient languages of the world. The Indo-Aryan migrations theory explains the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages by proposing that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in South Asia from a region of common origin, somewhere north-west of the Indus region , during the early 2nd millennium BCE. Evidence for such a theory includes
19504-414: The early lists, instead the term avatara . Varaha is listed as one of the four incarnations of Narayana-Vishnu who "relieve the burden of the earth" in an early list; in another list which may be a later addition to the epic, Varaha is one among eight pradurbhava s. Some manuscripts of the epic expand the list to the classical ten Dashavatar list; with Varaha listed as third or fourth pradurbhava . Varaha
19688-479: The earth as well as defeating all the danavas (demons). Late passages start the association of Hiranyaksha with Varaha. Vishnu is praised as Varaha, the vanquisher of Hiranyaksha in three instances. The Agni Purana mentions the obliteration of the demon Hiranyaksha as Varaha's main purpose. The Linga Purana and the Kurma Purana narrate that the daitya (demon; lit. "son of Diti ") Hiranyaksa defeats
19872-440: The earth by the boar. In the scripture, the god Rudra (a form of the god Shiva ) is called the "boar of the sky". Even Vishnu has killed a boar. The hunting and butchering of a boar using dogs is also referred to. The Taittiriya Samhita (6.2.4) mentions that the boar, "the plunderer of wealth", hides the riches of the asuras, beyond the seven hills. Indra kills the board by striking it a blade of sacred kusha grass , piercing
20056-423: The earth by using the same as an ornament. The Brahmanda Purana , the Vayu Purana , the Matsya Purana and the Padma Purana mentions that Varaha's battle with the asura s (demons) is one of twelve in this kalpa between the gods and the demons. The Brahmanda Purana states that Hiranyaksha is pierced by Varaha's tusk, while Vayu Purana comments that Hiranyaksha is killed in this battle before Varaha rescued
20240-606: The earth goddess from the cosmic ocean, lifting it on his tusks, and restored her to her place in the universe. Varaha is completely a boar or in an anthropomorphic form, with a boar's head and the human body. His consort, Bhumi, the earth goddess, is a goddess lifted by Varaha. The deity Varaha derives its name from the Sanskrit word varaha ( Devanagari : वराह, varāha ) meaning "boar" or "wild boar". Mind element descend from vaikunth to earth, hence mind called avatar . mind of overland creatures descends from vaikunth to earth
20424-451: The earth is lifted by a "black boar with hundred arms". The Taittiriya Brahmana (1.1.3.6) expands the Taittiriya Samhita narrative. The "Lord of creation" was pondering on how the universe should be. He saw a lotus leaf and took the form of a boar to explore under it. He found mud and outstretched it on the leaf, rising above the waters. It was called the earth - Bhumi , literally "that which became (spread)". The Ayodhya Kanda book of
20608-431: The earth. The Harivamsa narrates that the demons led by Hiranyaksha overpower and imprison the gods, Vishnu assumes the boar form and slays the demon-king with his Sudarshana chakra (discus) after a fierce war. The Shrishti Khanda book of the Padma Purana provides an elaborate description of the war between the gods and the demons led by Hiranyaksha. The demon army is routed by the gods, who in turn by overpowered by
20792-408: The epic Ramayana refers to Varaha retaining his connection to Prajapati as Brahma. In a cosmogonic myth, Brahma appears in the primal universe full of water and takes the form of a boar to lift the earth from the waters; creation begins with Brahma and his progeny. The Yuddha Kanda book of the epic praises Rama (the hero of the epic, who is identified with Vishnu) as "the single-tusked boar", which
20976-523: The etymological roots of asura ( असुर ) to asu ( असु ), which means 'life of the spiritual world' or 'departed spirits'. In the oldest verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, the Asuras are any spiritual, divine beings including those with good or bad intentions, and constructive or destructive inclinations or nature. In later verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, Monier Williams states
21160-531: The final episode of the Devi Mahatmya text embedded in the Markendeya Purana . Vishnu as Varaha creates his shakti Varahi (along with other deities, together called the eight matrika goddesses) to aid the Great Goddess to fight the demon Raktabija and they kill him. The scripture Varaha Purana is believed to be narrated by Vishnu to Bhumi, as Varaha. The Purana is devoted more to
21344-404: The first account in the Bhagavata Purana mentions only the rescue of the earth by Varaha, omitting the creation activities attributed to him in other texts. The Venkatacala Mahatmya states that Varaha placed beneath the earth the world elephants , the serpent Shesha and the world turtle as support. At his behest, Brahma creates various beings. The Bhagavata Purana alludes to the slaying of
21528-548: The first language of the respective speakers. The Sanskrit language brought Indo-Aryan speaking people together, particularly its elite scholars. Some of these scholars of Indian history regionally produced vernacularized Sanskrit to reach wider audiences, as evidenced by texts discovered in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Once the audience became familiar with the easier to understand vernacularized version of Sanskrit, those interested could graduate from colloquial Sanskrit to
21712-452: The form of the seven-hooded serpent Shesha (Ananta) and supports the earth on one of his hoods. Thereafter, Varaha and Bhumk enjoy amorous dalliance as Varaha and Varahi. They have three boar sons named Suvrtta, Kanaka, Ghora. Varaha and his three boar sons create mayhem in the world. The gods and goddesses go to Varaha to abandon his boar form. Vishnu requests Shiva to take the form of Sharabha (also called Varahaghna Murti), to kill Varaha and
21896-615: The forms of the fish (Matsya) and tortoise (Kurma), he took in previous kalpa s. The Brahma Purana , the Venkatacala Mahatmya in the Vaishnava Khanda Book of the Skanda Purana and the Vishnu Smriti narrate the tale with slight variation, however Brahma is missing; it is Vishnu who unambiguously becomes Varaha to lift the sunken earth from the waters. In late addition in the Mahabharata ,
22080-412: The foundation of Vyākaraṇa, a Vedānga . The Aṣṭādhyāyī was not the first description of Sanskrit grammar, but it is the earliest that has survived in full, and the culmination of a long grammatical tradition that Fortson says, is "one of the intellectual wonders of the ancient world". Pāṇini cites ten scholars on the phonological and grammatical aspects of the Sanskrit language before him, as well as
22264-610: The god has taken his place facing evening, while being hymned. – Translated by Stephanie W. Jamison, Joel P. Brereton In the Jaiminya (3.35.3), one of three recensions of the SamaVeda , the term 'Asura' is stated to be derived from 'rests' (√ram) in the vital airs (asu), i.e. 'Asu' + 'ram' = 'Asuram' (Asura); this is in reference to the mind being 'asura[-like]'. According to the Bhagavad Gita (16.6-16.7), all beings in
22448-524: The god of the planet Mars , their original divine son was born. The Avantikshetra Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana states that after slaying Hiranyaksha, the Shipra River springs from the heart of Varaha. Thus, the sacred river is described as the daughter of Varaha. The Mahabharata lays the foundation for the avatar concept in Vishnu theology; the term pradurbhava ("manifestation") appears in
22632-537: The gods Varuna, Mitra, Indra, and Nasatya found in the earliest layers of the Vedic literature. O Bṛhaspati, when in giving names they first set forth the beginning of Language, Their most excellent and spotless secret was laid bare through love, When the wise ones formed Language with their mind, purifying it like grain with a winnowing fan, Then friends knew friendships – an auspicious mark placed on their language. — Rigveda 10.71.1–4 Translated by Roger Woodard The Vedic Sanskrit found in
22816-411: The gods and entraps the earth in the subterranean realm. Taking the Varaha form, Vishnu slays the demon by piercing him by his tusks. Later, he uplifts the earth from the netherworld and restores her to her original position. The Linga Purana continues further: Later, Vishnu discards his boar body and returns to his heavenly abode of Vaikuntha; the earth cannot bear the weight of his tusks. Shiva relieves
23000-544: The gods". Asuras are part of Hinduism along with Yakshas (nature spirits), Rakshasas (fierce man-eating beings or demons), Bhutas (ghosts) and many more . Asuras have been featured in many cosmological theories and legends in Hinduism and Buddhism . Asura is a given name by Devas to other races collectively as Asura means not-sura , where sura is another name for Devas. The 5th century Buddhist philosopher, Buddhaghosa explains that their name derives from
23184-458: The gods. The asuras (anti-gods) were depicted to have become proud, vain, to have stopped performing sacrifices, to violate sacred laws, not visit holy places, not cleanse themselves from sin, to be envious of devas, torturous of living beings, creating confusion in everything and challenging the devas. Alain Daniélou states that the concept of asuras evolved with changing socio-political dynamics in ancient India. Asuras gradually assimilated
23368-549: The good and are called Devas, other powerful Asuras side with the evil and thereafter called Asuras. This is the first major dualism to emerge in the nature of everything in the Universe. Hale (1999) , in his review, states that Kuiper's theory on Asura is plausible, but weak, because the Vedas never call Vrtra (the central character) an Asura , as the texts describe many other powerful beings. Secondly, Rig Veda never classifies Asura as "group of gods" states Hale, and this
23552-431: The historic Sanskrit literary culture and the failure of new Sanskrit literature to assimilate into the changing cultural and political environment. Sheldon Pollock states that in some crucial way, "Sanskrit is dead ". After the 12th century, the Sanskrit literary works were reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored, and any creativity was restricted to hymns and verses. This contrasted with
23736-452: The idea that the term Asura is linguistically related to the Ahuras of Indo-Aryan people and pre- Zoroastrianism era. In both religions, Ahura of pre-Zoroastrianism ( Asura of Indian religions), Vouruna (Varuna) and Daeva ( Deva ) are found, but their roles are on opposite sides. That is, Ahura evolves to represent the good in pre- Zoroastrianism , while Asura evolves to represent
23920-486: The intense change that must have occurred in the pre-Vedic period between the Proto-Indo-Aryan language and Vedic Sanskrit. The noticeable differences between the Vedic and the Classical Sanskrit include the much-expanded grammar and grammatical categories as well as the differences in the accent, the semantics and the syntax. There are also some differences between how some of the nouns and verbs end, as well as
24104-432: The largest cultural heritage that any civilization has produced prior to the invention of the printing press. — Foreword of Sanskrit Computational Linguistics (2009), Gérard Huet, Amba Kulkarni and Peter Scharf Sanskrit has been the predominant language of Hindu texts encompassing a rich tradition of philosophical and religious texts, as well as poetry, music, drama , scientific , technical and others. It
24288-458: The leaders of the asuras are called asurendra (Pāli: Asurinda, 阿修羅王; lit. "Asura-lord"). There are several of these, as the Asuras are broken into different tribes or factions. In Pali texts, names that are found include Vepacitti , Rāhu ( Verocana ), Pahārāda , Sambara , Bali , Sucitti , and Namucī . According to the Lotus Sutra , the four leaders of the asuras took refuge in
24472-412: The linguistic expression and sets the standard for the Sanskrit language. Pāṇini made use of a technical metalanguage consisting of a syntax, morphology and lexicon. This metalanguage is organised according to a series of meta-rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced. Despite differences in the analysis from that of modern linguistics, Pāṇini's work has been found valuable and
24656-514: The literary works. The Indian tradition, states Winternitz , has favored the learning and the usage of multiple languages from the ancient times. Sanskrit was a spoken language in the educated and the elite classes, but it was also a language that must have been understood in a wider circle of society because the widely popular folk epics and stories such as the Ramayana , the Mahabharata ,
24840-447: The malevolent ones are called Danavas and are led by Vritra . In the earliest layer of Vedic texts, Agni , Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of their being "lords" of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, the benevolent gods are called Devas , while malevolent Asuras compete against these Devas and are considered "enemy of
25024-511: The modern age include the Samaveda , Yajurveda , Atharvaveda , along with the embedded and layered Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas , Aranyakas , and the early Upanishads . These Vedic documents reflect the dialects of Sanskrit found in the various parts of the northwestern, northern, and eastern Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, Vedic Sanskrit was a spoken language of
25208-429: The more advanced Classical Sanskrit. Rituals and the rites-of-passage ceremonies have been and continue to be the other occasions where a wide spectrum of people hear Sanskrit, and occasionally join in to speak some Sanskrit words such as namah . Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini , around the fourth century BCE. Its position in the cultures of Greater India
25392-418: The more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism . In its Buddhist context, the word is translated as " titan " or " antigod ". According to Hindu texts , the asuras are in constant fear of the devas. Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods with good or bad qualities. In early Vedic literature, the good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna , while
25576-401: The most advanced analysis of linguistics until the twentieth century. Pāṇini's comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit. His systematic treatise inspired and made Sanskrit the preeminent Indian language of learning and literature for two millennia. It is unclear whether Pāṇini himself wrote his treatise or he orally created
25760-602: The most archaic poems of the Iranian and Greek language families, the Gathas of old Avestan and Iliad of Homer . As the Rigveda was orally transmitted by methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, as a single text without variant readings, its preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor language Proto-Indo-European . Sanskrit does not have an attested native script: from around
25944-409: The mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across northern Pakistan and into northwestern India. Vedic Sanskrit interacted with the preexisting ancient languages of the subcontinent, absorbing names of newly encountered plants and animals; in addition, the ancient Dravidian languages influenced Sanskrit's phonology and syntax. Sanskrit can also more narrowly refer to Classical Sanskrit ,
26128-476: The mounts. Vishnu, "the sacrifice" ( yajna ), brings the killed boar as a sacrificial offering to the gods and goddesses, thereby the gods and goddesses acquiring the treasure of the asuras and asuris and eat the boar. Vishnu is both the sacrifice as well as the "bringer of sacrifice"; the boar being the sacrifice. The tale is also recalled in Charaka Brahmana and Kathaka Brahmana ; the latter calls
26312-414: The myth of their defeat at the hands of the god Śakra . According to the story, the asura were dispossessed of their state in Trāyastriṃśa because they became drunk and were thrown down Mount Sumeru . After this incident, they vowed never to drink sura again. In some Buddhist literature, they are sometimes referred to as pūrvadeva (Pāli: pubbadeva ), meaning "ancient gods." Monier-Williams traces
26496-435: The northwest in the late Bronze Age . Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism , the language of classical Hindu philosophy , and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism . It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture , and of
26680-545: The numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. Sanskrit has been taught in traditional gurukulas since ancient times; it is widely taught today at the secondary school level. The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in 1791 during East India Company rule . Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial and ritual language in Hindu and Buddhist hymns and chants . In Sanskrit,
26864-403: The oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they are ceremonial literature, where the exact phonetic expression and its preservation were a part of the historic tradition. However some scholars have suggested that the original Ṛg-veda differed in some fundamental ways in phonology compared to the sole surviving version available to us. In particular that retroflex consonants did not exist as
27048-431: The other." Reinöhl further states that there is a symmetric relationship between Dravidian languages like Kannada or Tamil, with Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali or Hindi, whereas the same relationship is not found for non-Indo-Aryan languages, for example, Persian or English: A sentence in a Dravidian language like Tamil or Kannada becomes ordinarily good Bengali or Hindi by substituting Bengali or Hindi equivalents for
27232-529: The political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rigveda , a collection of 1,028 hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE by Indo-Aryan tribes migrating east from
27416-414: The possible influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is only one of many items of syntactic assimilation, not least among them the large repertoire of morphological modality and aspect that, once one knows to look for it, can be found everywhere in classical and postclassical Sanskrit". The main influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is found to have been concentrated in the timespan between the late Vedic period and
27600-482: The present kalpa ("aeon") called Varaha kalpa , Brahma wakes from his slumber. Brahma is called Narayana ("he who lies in the waters"). The Vayu Purana says that Brahma roams as the wind in the waters, which is interpreted as allusion to the Vedic Taittiriya Brahmana version. Similarly alluding to the Vedic version, the detailed Brahmanda Purana version says that Brahma is "invisible" and
27784-439: The previous 1,500 years when "great experiments in moral and aesthetic imagination" marked the Indian scholarship using Classical Sanskrit, states Pollock. Scholars maintain that the Sanskrit language did not die, but rather only declined. Jurgen Hanneder disagrees with Pollock, finding his arguments elegant but "often arbitrary". According to Hanneder, a decline or regional absence of creative and innovative literature constitutes
27968-480: The problems of interpretation and misunderstanding. The purifying structure of the Sanskrit language removes these imperfections. The early Sanskrit grammarian Daṇḍin states, for example, that much in the Prakrit languages is etymologically rooted in Sanskrit, but involves "loss of sounds" and corruptions that result from a "disregard of the grammar". Daṇḍin acknowledged that there are words and confusing structures in Prakrit that thrive independent of Sanskrit. This view
28152-609: The regional Prakrit languages, which makes it likely that the interaction, the sharing of words and ideas began early in the Indian history. As the Indian thought diversified and challenged earlier beliefs of Hinduism, particularly in the form of Buddhism and Jainism , the Prakrit languages such as Pali in Theravada Buddhism and Ardhamagadhi in Jainism competed with Sanskrit in the ancient times. However, states Paul Dundas , these ancient Prakrit languages had "roughly
28336-497: The relationship between various Indo-European languages, the origin of all these languages may possibly be in what is now Central or Eastern Europe, while the Indo-Iranian group possibly arose in Central Russia. The Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches separated quite early. It is the Indo-Aryan branch that moved into eastern Iran and then south into South Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Once in ancient India,
28520-460: The rituals. Varaha liberated the Pitrs from the curse and blessed Koka to be reborn as Svadha (the food or oblations offered to Pitrs) and become the wife of the Pitrs. Further, Narakasura (also called Bhauma) was born to the earth due to her contact with Varaha. Also, Varaha's temple was established at Kokamukha , where Varaha freed the Pitrs. The Vishnu Purana , the Brahma Purana and
28704-653: The rivers, far away from men, This Herb shall seem to bind thee fast and bring thee back my prisoner. Similarly, in the Atharva Veda, all sorts of medical remedies and charms are projected as Asuri manifested in plants and animals. Asuri Kalpa is an abhichara (craft) which contains various rites derived from special knowledge and magic of Asuri. Asuras ( Classical Tibetan : ལྷ་མིན , romanized: lha min ; simplified Chinese : 阿修罗 ; traditional Chinese : 阿修羅 ; pinyin : āxiūluó ; Japanese : 阿修羅 , romanized : ashura, asura ) are
28888-562: The role of language, the ontological status of painting word-images through sound, and the need for rules so that it can serve as a means for a community of speakers, separated by geography or time, to share and understand profound ideas from each other. These speculations became particularly important to the Mīmāṃsā and the Nyaya schools of Hindu philosophy, and later to Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, states Frits Staal —a scholar of Linguistics with
29072-401: The root √hr. The Monier-Williams dictionary states that the root √hr means "'to offer', 'to outdo, eclipse, surpass', 'to enrapture, charm, fascinate', and 'to take away or remove evil or sin'" and also "to take away, carry off, seize, deprive of, steal, rob". As per Yaska, the boar is a animal that "tears up the roots, or it tears up all the good roots" is thus called varaha . The word varaha
29256-660: The same father ( Prajapati ), share the same residence ( Loka ), eat together the same food and drinks ( Soma ), and have innate potential, knowledge and special powers in Hindu mythology; the only thing that distinguishes "Asura who become Deva" from "Asura who remain Asura" is intent, action and choices they make in their mythic lives. "Asuras who remain Asura" share the character of powerful beings obsessed with their craving for ill-gotten Soma , and for wealth, ego, anger, unprincipled nature, force, and violence. Further, in Hindu mythology, when they lose, miss, or don't get what they want (because they were distracted by their cravings)
29440-496: The same relationship to Sanskrit as medieval Italian does to Latin". The Indian tradition states that the Buddha and the Mahavira preferred the Prakrit language so that everyone could understand it. However, scholars such as Dundas have questioned this hypothesis. They state that there is no evidence for this and whatever evidence is available suggests that by the start of the common era, hardly anybody other than learned monks had
29624-556: The semi-nomadic Aryans . The Vedic Sanskrit language or a closely related Indo-European variant was recognized beyond ancient India as evidenced by the " Mitanni Treaty" between the ancient Hittite and Mitanni people, carved into a rock, in a region that now includes parts of Syria and Turkey. Parts of this treaty, such as the names of the Mitanni princes and technical terms related to horse training, for reasons not understood, are in early forms of Vedic Sanskrit. The treaty also invokes
29808-502: The single-tusked ( Eka-shringa ) Varaha (identified with Vishnu) lifts the earth, which sinks under the burden of overpopulation when Vishnu assumes the duties of Yama (the god of Death) and death seizes on earth. In the Matsya Purana and the Harivamsa , at the beginning of a kalpa , Vishnu creates various worlds from the cosmic golden egg . The earth, unable to bear the weight of the new mountains and losing her energy, sinks in
29992-445: The skin. In Book 7, Asuri is a powerful female with the special knowledge of herbs, who uses that knowledge to seduce Deva Indra in Atharva Veda. A hymn invokes this special power in Asuri , and this hymn is stipulated for a woman as a charm to win over the lover she wants. I dig this Healing Herb that makes my lover look on me and weep, That bids the parting friend return and kindly greets him as he comes. This Herb wherewith
30176-615: The social structures such as the role of the poet and the priests, the patronage economy, the phrasal equations, and some of the poetic metres. While there are similarities, state Jamison and Brereton, there are also differences between Vedic Sanskrit, the Old Avestan, and the Mycenaean Greek literature. For example, unlike the Sanskrit similes in the Ṛg-veda, the Old Avestan Gathas lack simile entirely, and it
30360-467: The story of subduing of his adopted son Andhaka by Shiva. The demon king Hiranyaksha confines the earth to Patala. Vishnu becomes Varaha (identified with Sacrifice) and slaughters the demon army by trashing them by his snout, piercing by tusks and kicking by his legs. Finally, Varaha decapitates the demon king with his discus and crowns Andhaka as his successor. He picks the earth on his tusks and places it in her original place. A detailed second account in
30544-407: The symbolism that motivations, beliefs and actions rather than one's birth and family circumstances define whether one is Deva-like or Asura-like. Asuri is the feminine of an adjective from asura and in later texts means 'belonging to or having to do with demons and spirits'. Asuri parallels Asura in being "powerful beings", and in early Vedic texts includes all goddesses. The term Asuri also means
30728-468: The third of the Dashavatara. The Narada Purana , the Shiva Purana and the Padma Purana concurs placing Varaha as third of ten avatars. The Bhagavata Purana and Garuda Purana mention Varaha as second of 22 avatars. They say that Varaha, "the lord of sacrifices", rescued the earth from the netherworld or the waters. In two other instances in the Garuda Purana , Varaha is mentioned as third of
30912-478: The three sons of his. The retinues of Sharabha and Varaha, aided by Narasimha, fight. In the war, Narasimha is killed by Sharabha. Thereafter, Varaha requests Sharabha to dismember him and create implements of sacrifice from his body parts; Sharabha complies by slaying Varaha and he kills his three sons and creates implements of sacrifice from his body. Varaha also appears in the Shakta (Goddess-oriented) narrative in
31096-653: The turn of the 1st-millennium CE, it has been written in various Brahmic scripts , and in the modern era most commonly in Devanagari . Sanskrit's status, function, and place in India's cultural heritage are recognized by its inclusion in the Constitution of India 's Eighth Schedule languages . However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first-language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but
31280-595: The universe have both the divine qualities ( daivi sampad ) and the demonic qualities ( asuri sampad ) within each. The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita states that pure god-like saints are rare and pure demon-like evil are rare among human beings, and the bulk of humanity is multi-charactered with a few or many faults. According to Jeaneane Fowler, the Gita states that desires, aversions, greed, needs, emotions in various forms "are facets of ordinary lives", and it
31464-422: The universe. He challenges the sea god Varuna to combat, who redirects him the more powerful Vishnu. The demon confronts Vishnu as Varaha, who is rescuing the earth at the time. The demon mocks Varaha as the animal and warns him not to touch earth. Ignoring the demon's threats, Varaha lifts the earth on his tusks. Varaha engages in a mace-duel with the demon. Varaha destroys with the discus, the demon horde created by
31648-408: The variants in the usage of Sanskrit in different regions of India. The ten Vedic scholars he quotes are Āpiśali, Kaśyapa , Gārgya, Gālava, Cakravarmaṇa, Bhāradvāja , Śākaṭāyana, Śākalya, Senaka and Sphoṭāyana. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī , language is observed in a manner that has no parallel among Greek or Latin grammarians. Pāṇini's grammar, according to Renou and Filliozat, is a classic that defines
31832-564: The vernacular Prakrits. Many Sanskrit dramas indicate that the language coexisted with the vernacular Prakrits. The cities of Varanasi , Paithan , Pune and Kanchipuram were centers of classical Sanskrit learning and public debates until the arrival of the colonial era. According to Lamotte , Sanskrit became the dominant literary and inscriptional language because of its precision in communication. It was, states Lamotte, an ideal instrument for presenting ideas, and as knowledge in Sanskrit multiplied, so did its spread and influence. Sanskrit
32016-566: The waters to the subterranean realm of Rasatala - the abode of the demons. In the first account in the Bhagavata Purana states that in early stages of creation, Brahma creates various beings, however finds the earth under the waters. Varaha (identified with Vishnu, the Lord of sacrifice) emerges as a tiny beast (a size of a thumb) from the nostrils of Brahma, but soon starts to grow. Varaha's size increases to that of an elephant and then to that of an enormous mountain and later, he becomes larger than
32200-429: The whole earth and raises it to the intrastellar space where Brahma places the created beings on top of. The scriptures emphasize Varaha's gigantic size. The Brahmanda Purana , the Vayu Purana , the Matsya Purana , the Harivamsa and the Linga Purana describes Varaha as 10 yojana s (The range of a yojana is disputed and ranges between 6–15 kilometres (3.7–9.3 mi)) in width and a 1000 yojana s in height. He
32384-515: The word, asura , including its variants, asurya and asura , occurs "88 times in the Rig Veda , 71 times in the singular number, 4 times in the dual, 10 times in the plural, and 3 times as the first member of a compound. In this, the feminine form, asuryaa , is included twice. The word, asurya , has been used 19 times as an abstract noun, while the abstract form asuratva occurs 24 times, 22 times in one hymn and twice each in two other hymns". Bhargava gives
32568-446: The Ṛg-veda is distinctly more archaic than other Vedic texts, and in many respects, the Rigvedic language is notably more similar to those found in the archaic texts of Old Avestan Zoroastrian Gathas and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . According to Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton – Indologists known for their translation of the Ṛg-veda – the Vedic Sanskrit literature "clearly inherited" from Indo-Iranian and Indo-European times
32752-408: Was a spoken language ( bhasha ) used by the cultured and educated. Some sutras expound upon the variant forms of spoken Sanskrit versus written Sanskrit. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentioned in his memoir that official philosophical debates in India were held in Sanskrit, not in the vernacular language of that region. According to Sanskrit linguist professor Madhav Deshpande, Sanskrit
32936-427: Was a spoken language in a colloquial form by the mid-1st millennium BCE which coexisted with a more formal, grammatically correct form of literary Sanskrit. This, states Deshpande, is true for modern languages where colloquial incorrect approximations and dialects of a language are spoken and understood, along with more "refined, sophisticated and grammatically accurate" forms of the same language being found in
33120-604: Was adopted in various other Puranas (like the Brahma Purana , the Bhagavata Purana , the Matsya Purana , the Padma Purana , the Venkatacala Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana , the Vishnudharmottara Purana ), the Harivamsa , Smriti texts (including the Vishnu Smriti ,), Tantras and Adi Shankara 's commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama explaining the epithet Yajnanga ("whose body
33304-472: Was adopted voluntarily as a vehicle of high culture, arts, and profound ideas. Pollock disagrees with Lamotte, but concurs that Sanskrit's influence grew into what he terms a "Sanskrit Cosmopolis" over a region that included all of South Asia and much of southeast Asia. The Sanskrit language cosmopolis thrived beyond India between 300 and 1300 CE. Today, it is believed that Kashmiri is the closest language to Sanskrit. Reinöhl mentions that not only have
33488-568: Was also the language of some of the oldest surviving, authoritative and much followed philosophical works of Jainism such as the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati . The Sanskrit language has been one of the major means for the transmission of knowledge and ideas in Asian history. Indian texts in Sanskrit were already in China by 402 CE, carried by the influential Buddhist pilgrim Faxian who translated them into Chinese by 418 CE. Xuanzang , another Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, learnt Sanskrit in India and carried 657 Sanskrit texts to China in
33672-415: Was discussed at length by F.B.J. Kuiper. This theory and other Avesta-related hypotheses developed over the 20th century, are all now in question, particularly for lack of archaeological evidence. Asko Parpola has re-opened this debate by presenting archaeological and linguistic evidence, but notes that the links may go earlier to Uralic languages roots. The Indo-Aryan Asura may also be related to
33856-442: Was visualized as "pervading all creation", another representation of the world itself; the "mysterious magnum" of Hindu thought. The search for perfection in thought and the goal of liberation were among the dimensions of sacred sound, and the common thread that wove all ideas and inspirations together became the quest for what the ancient Indians believed to be a perfect language, the "phonocentric episteme" of Sanskrit. Sanskrit as
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