According to India mythology. Hanuman, the mighty monkey deity, was said to be the son of the Wind God, Vayu, and Anjana. Hanuman is renowned for his strength and valour besides his steadfast love and loyalty to Lord Rama. He is the embodiment of devotion and power.

The three titles in this Amar Chitra Katha collection narrate the adventures of Hanuman.

‘Hanuman to the Rescue’ is based on krittivasa’s Ramayana. Hanuman’s exploits, particularly after he sets out to bring the herb vishalya karani from Mount Gandhamadana to save Lakshmana, have been beautifully embellished in the Bengali version of the Ramayana.

Hanuman’s unflinching devotion to Rama has made him one of the greatest bhaktas (devotees) ever known In fact, Hanuman is often referred to as Ramabhakta Hanuman. His singular worship of Rama made him compassionate. It helped him leap across 800 miles of ocean to Lanka and console Sita who was pining for Rama – forlorn and lonely in Ravana’s Ashoka garden. This story encapsulates the escapades of Hanuman.

The third tale in this special issue describes the encounter between Hanuman and Bheema, the mighty Pandava prince. Hanuman was the son of Vayu, the Wind God, and Bheema was the son of Kunti, born by the grace of Vayu, thus, the tow can be considered half-brother. Hanuman tests the strength and humility of the great Bheema in this charming anecdote. Hanuman is described as chiranjivi, and immortal. This explains how the meeting between the two was possible, although Bheema was born many centuries later.

Soordas, the blind bard of Brj, is considered the Valmiki of Brij (a dialect of Hindi), not only because he was the first poet to write in that dialect, but also because his works have an epic stature. Soordas was not only a poet, but also a great composer. His song become so popular that even during his lifetime, he had become a legend.

The affection of Yashoda and the gopis – the vowherd-girls of Brij for Krishna, the intense love of Radha for Krishna and dalliance the latter with the gopis formed the theme of most of his songs.

Tulsidas rendered the Ramayana, written in Sanskrit by Valmiki, into hindi in the sixteenth century. But his ‘amcharit-manas’ differs from the original in many ways. It was written at a time when a very vast area of India was under Mughal rule. Amongst the Hindus, there were frequent controversies between the worshippers of Shiva, Vishnuand Mother Goddess, and again between the worshippers of Ram and Krishna. It is to the credit of Tulsidas that he tried to weave all these cuts into an integrated whole.

The story as narrated in this book is mostly based on legends.

The third title in this series is on Mirabai. She was born a princess and marriage became a queen. But the kingdom she chose was the one of Krishna. Not for a moment did she swerve from her purpose. Hers was an immutable faith in Krishna. Uncharitable relatives and uncomprehending friends were no hindrance to her devotion. She had given herself up to Krishna. She belonged to him completely.

The store of Mira, as narrated in this book on legends about her and not on historical facts.

In the Hindu pantheon, Shiva represents the supreme consciousness as well as the male principle which acquires the power to create and destroy the elements only in conjunction with Shakti, the female principle. Thus Shiva’s consort is the manifestation of the supreme consciousness.

This Amar Chitra Katha special issue narrates three powerful tales of the Mother Goddess.

In the first story, Brahma and Vishnu are keen to see the ascetic Lord Shiva married. They appeal to Goddess Uma to Become Shiva’s consort and she is thus born to Brahma’s son Daksha. She is named Sati. With severe penances, young Sati wins the love of Shiva and they marry. Later, when Daksha insults Shiva, the ever-dutiful Sati immolates herself as she wishes to be reborn to a father she can respect.

True to her word, Sati is reborn as Parvati in the second story of this volume. She is the daughter of the great Mountain King, Himavat, and the lovely nymph, Menaka. Parvati fervently woos Shiva with charm, penance and servitude, in turn. The help of Kama, the God of Love, is also engaged in the romantic tale. Eventually, Parvati is united with her beloved Shiva, never to be separated form him again.
The third part of this volume narrates three tales of the mighty Goddess Durga. Shakti, the female principle, activated Shiva and therefore worshipped as Durga, the personification of universal energy. The worship of Durga can be traced to the mother worship of the ancient pre-Aryan cults. Durga is created form the powerful rays of lights that emanated form the faces of all the Gods. Her thousand arms carry the greatest of all the Gods’ weapons – Shiva’s trident, Vishnu’s discus and Indra’s thunderbolt, among other. In essence, Parvati, Durga, Ambika and Kali or Chamundi are all powerful manifestations of the supreme female Shakti.

Lord Krishna is one of the most endearing deities of Indian mythology and is considered to be one of the avatars of the Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu, was born upon earth as his companion during his many incarnations.

Krishna is, at times, the simple cowherd indulging the milkmaids in playful banter. At other times, he is the supreme intellectual – engaged in the exposition of the Gita philosophy. Krishna’s beguiling childish pranks and his dignified wisdom have, in turn influenced the Hindu consciousness for centuries.

This Amar Chitra Katha special issue brings to you three charming tales of the invincible Lord Krishna. The first tale encapsulates Krishna’s romantic marriage with Rukmini, the beautiful and viruous princess of Vidarbha who gives her heart of Krishna when she hears of his great deeds. Rukmini is said to be the earthly incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. How he whisks her off under the very noses of his stunned enemies and subsequent battle of the two sides is wonderfully narrated in this story.

The second story in this volume is about Krishna, the child. He particularly appeals to children because unlike and other deity he is, in fact, one among them. Young Krishna is mischievous, naughty and bubbling with enthusiasm. This powerful human element is the secret to Krishna’s universal popularity.

The third title narrates the story of Krishna when he was falsely accused of stealing the syamantaka gem that belonged to Prince Satrajit of Dwarka. To save his honour, Krishna goes into the jungle on a frantic hunt for the gem. A great adventure follows where Krishna duels with a mighty bear for 28 days and wins two new brides.

Ancient Indian Massage: Traditional Massage techniques based on the Ayurveda

Massage, done according to the natural laws of human anatomy and energy flow, offers the most pleasurable benefit of all daily practices. Regular massage vibrates and energizes the skin, muscles and nerves simultaneously and helps the body become light, active and full of vitality. Body heart and vitality increase as the heart and circulatory system open up to provide fresh oxygen and energy to all parts of the system while simultaneously flushing out waste gases and chemicals. Ancient Indian scriptures which deal with health and massage say: "Diseases do not go near one who massages his feet before sleeping, just as snakes do not approach eagles." There is new acceptance of massage nowadays. In the West people are especially interested in this art as a rejuvenator and vitalizer. There is much literature available on various kinds of massage from different parts of the world, but there is no book about the ancient Indian system of massage where the art is ever popular. In India you can find people massaging people on beaches, on the banks of rivers, and in market places-apart from the privacy of homes and wrestling places (akharas). Massage of children is widespread in India practically every child and the mother of each new born infant gets regular massage, as one gets foods. Massage is part of inherent rituals in Indian life and in many states it becomes a significant ritual before marriage. The purpose of this publication is to portray simply and factually some of the principles, techniques, beauty and benefits of massage. Special formulae have been incorporated to enhance various therapeutic values. Printed Pages: 106 with line drawings.

Medicine Ayurveda Massage India

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From Dualism to Non-Dualism: A Study of the Evolution of Saivite Thought

The religious history of India has expressed itself in terms of what has come to be known as the Great Tradition and the Little Tradition. It is the synthesis of these two traditions that has given rise, through the process of evolution, to the present-day Hinduism. It is with this absorptive spirit of Hinduism with which this book deals by pointing out as to how Saivism, though belonging to the Little Tradition, has evolved as part and parcel of Brahmanism. While being absorbed by Brahmanism, Saivism at the same time has maintained its personal identity in terms of its scriptures and spiritual practices. Although a part of Brahmanism, yet Saivism itself has so evolved in terms of metaphysical thought as to parallel the larger pattern of metaphysical thought of Hinduism in general. Thus the Saivite thought, while following the metaphysical footprints of Brahamanism, ultimately has climaxed in the non-dualistic recognitive philosophy of the Trika. Printed Pages: 254.

Dualism Non-Dualism Saivite Saivism India

The basic principle of Kashmir Saivism is that consciousness alone is real, and that which is not consciousness has no reality of its own, but is contingent on account of its being the expression of consciousness. It accepts a priori that consciousness alone is real, whereas what we cognize or perceive is nothing but what comes out of and from consciousness. The source of this thinking lies in the fact that it is in and through consciousness that we are empowered to engage in the process of reflective thinking, and due to it we become aware of what we are. This personal awareness gives rise to such reasoning which compels us to think that, a part from the body, there is existing within us a thinking principle, namely, the self. It is the inner self which is identified with the absolute—and the Absolute is nothing but consciousness. Whatever we know or experience is because of consciousness. In the absence of consciousness, everything would be insentient, and there would prevail utter darkness of non-knowledge. It is in the context of the thinking that Kashmir Saivism has developed the philosophy of transcendental non-dualism that is theistically oriented, which maintains that the Absolute is none else than the core of myself. It is this self as the Absolute that expresses itself in and through the universe, which is to say that the phenomena are but the appearances of consciousness. Since everything is contained in consciousness, so nothing is different from consciousness. In this manner is established such a form of non-dualism that is both logical and experiential. Printed Pages: 289.

Non-Dualism Trika Saivism Shaivism India

A Complex body of religious practices that spread throughout the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions; a form of spirituality that seemingly combines sexuality, sensual pleasure, and the full range of physical experience with the religious life-Tantra has played a central yet conflicted role in the Western imagination ever since the first "discovery" of Indian religions by European scholars. Always radical, always extremely other, Tantra has proved to be a key factor in the imagining of India. This book offers a critical account of how the phenomenon came to be.

Tracing the complex genealogy of Tantra as a category within the history of religions, Hugh B. Urban reveals how it has been formed through the interply of popular and scholarly imaginations. tantra emerges as a product of mirroring and misrepresentation at work between East and West-a dialectical category born of the ongoing play between Western and Indian minds. Embracing historical detail, textual analysis, popular cultural phenomena, and critical theory, this book shows Tantra as a shifting amalgam of factasies, fears, and wish fulfilment, at once native and other, that strikes at the very heart of our constructions of the exotic Orient and the contemporary West.

Review:

A powerful book demonstrating how the Western study of Hinduism, Indian religious texts, and American popular culture have become related to one another in exceptionally intimate and creative ways. Urban refuses to narrate yet another postcolonial narrative about the evil West, producing instead a subtle and much more accurate reading of the cultural encounter that produced, intentionally or not, a new form of erotic mysticism-Western Tantra." - Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna

Tantra is a major development in the evolution of Indian spiritual thought inasmuch as it represents a determined attempt at reconciling the apparent points of conflict among the different schools of philosophy that came up after the age of the Epics. Tantra seeks to synthesize the monism of the Advaita with dualism of the Samkhya, enrich Jnana with the rasa of Bhakti, join Nature to her Lord in the
person of the human individual, harmonize the claims of the Spirit with the rights of Matter.

The Kularnava is perhaps the foremost Tantra of the Kaula School and is constantly cited as an authority in Tantric literature. It is worthy of close study by those who would understand the tenets and practice of the tradition of which it is a Sastra.

The Introduction by Arthur Avalon gives a concise outline of the work.

Sri M.P. Pandit who is a keen student of the Tantras and Vedas has rendered the work in English in eleven chapters. The readings are free translations, with annotations where necessary, omitting technical details but preserving the spirit and essential import of the original in his characteristically lucid style.

The complete text is given in Devanagari for those who wish to study the book in the original Sanskrit.

The Kularnava prescribes the modes of preparation for the high quest; it draws upon ethics, religion, philosophy, yoga to elevate human life gradually to the level of godly life. It comprehends the multiple personality of man and provides for the healthy growth of his mental faculties, purification of his physical faculties through ritual, japa, mantra and upasana. Who is fit for the path of Tantra? Who is competent to guide the novice on the double - edged razor path? What is the responsibility of a Guru to a disciple? These and other relevant questions are raised and answered in a satisfying manner.

How to Judge a Horoscope is a departure from the conventional method of treatment of astrology. It is a study in the use of Horoscope in every man’s daily life. The work in two volumes is divided in twelve houses, containing six each in consecutive order. The twelve houses have reference to the material relation of soul (jeeva) in its journey from the cradle to the grave. The study of illustrations (charts) makes every point—even the omitted rudimentary principles and rules—very clear and graspable.

Volume I deals with houses I to VI. First House deals with the beginning of life, childhood, health, physical body and character. Second House represents family, face, right eye, food, manners and source of death. Third House rules brothers and sisters, intelligence and other immediate relations. Fourth House indicates peace of mind, home life, land and ancestral properties, education, neck and shoulders. Fifth House indicates children, intelligence, emotion and fame, Sixth House rules over debts, enemies, miseries, sorrows, illness and disappointments.

Volume II deals with houses VII to XII. The Seventh House represents wife, husband, marriage, sexual diseases, business partner, diplomacy, talent and general happiness. The Eight House indicates longevity, legacies, disgrace, degradation and details pertaining to death. The Ninth rules father, righteousness, religion, fame leadership,journeys and communications with spirits. The Tenth indicates occupations, profession, honours, foreign travels and means of livelihood. The Eleventh represents means of gains, elder brother and freedom from misery. The Twelfth rules losses, expenditure,sympathy, divine knowledge, moksha and the state after death

How to Judge a Horoscope is a departure from the conventional method of treatment of astrology. It is a study in the use of Horoscope in every man`s daily life. The work in two volumes is divided in twelve houses, containing six each in consecutive order. The twelve houses have reference to the material relation of soul (jeeva) in its journey from the cradle to the grave. The study of illustrations (charts) makes every point even the omitted rudimentary principles and rules very clear and graspable.

Vol II deals with house VII to XII. The Seventh House represents wife, husband, marriage, sexual diseases, business partner, diplomacy, talent and general happiness. The Eight House indicates longevity, legacies, disgrace, degradation and details pertaining to death. The Ninth rules father, righteousness, religion, fame leadership, Journeys and communications with spirits. The Tenth indicates occupations, profession, honours, foreign travels and means of livelihood. The Eleventh represents means of gains, elder brother and freedom from misery. The Twelfth rules losses, expenditure, sympathy, divine knowledge, moksha and the state after death.

The Bhoga Karika is a collection of Sanskrit verses by the renowned Saivite teacher and writer Sadyojyoti of the eighty century A. D. This translation of the Bhoga karika also includes a short commentary by the similarly renowned Aghora Siva of the twelth century. In a lively and engaging manner the Bhoga Karika defends the Agamic Saivite theology epistemology and ontology of bhoga or mundane worldy experience against the attacks of rival schools notably the Naiyayikas Samkhyas carvakas and Buddhists.

This comprehensive study of Kundalini energy nad how to awaken it within oneself includes methods, techniques, and examples of achieving higher consciousness, Kundalini awakening and self-realization. There is a spiritual energy dormant below the base of the spine. In the east it is called the Kundalini, but whatever name it is called, it is a common denominator in all major religions. People with awakened Kundalini experience death before physically dying through visions and out of body experiences, ultimately leading to a spiritual rebirth. A twice-born person simultaneously enjoys the best of this world and the next through an inner journey that conquers fears of dealth. That inner journey travels the world of meditation and unconscious dreams, as well as actual near-death experience.

This volume is a tribute befitting the international renown and vast array of knowledge and activities of Pandit N.R. Bhatt who has silently practised his dharma of Pansita for several decades, through his vyutpatti and mastery of Sanskrit, through his labours in many sastras: vyakarana, Ayurveda, dharma, samgita, tantra etc., and by giving his knowledge, privately to a number of Indian and European students, generally to the world of research through his pioneering critical editions of Saivagamas and other works. This volume includes forty-two articles by eminent Indian and foreign authors on a rich variety of topics of Indological interest. It is divided into six sections. The first two articles comprising the first section are biographical in nature shedding light on the life scholarly activities of Pandit N.R. Bhatt. The other sections are: Vedic Studies, classical Sanskrit, Religion and Philosophy; Agama and Tantra; and Epigraphy and Archaeology. The one on Religion and Philosophy is the largest, offering illuminating comments on some important aspects of Vedanta, Lokayata, Kashmir Saivism, Nyaya, Navya Nyaya and Jainism.

About the Author
Prof. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat, born in 1936, is Professor of Sanskrit in "Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes" Sorbonne, Paris, since 1967. Since 1963, every year he stays for six months in India for research in Sanskrit literature and in the archaeology of South Indian temples.

His other important publications include French translation of Patanjali'S Mahabhasya with Pradipa and Uddyata (5 Vols). Svayambhuvagama with Sadyajyati's Commentary (edited and translated into French); and Hampi- Vijayanagarm, The Temple of Vithala (in collaboration with Vasundhara Filliozat).

Dr. Satya Pal Narang, born in 1942, was educated in the University of Delhi and has been teaching in the same sinoe 1965. He was in Gurukul Kangri Visvavidyalaya and Pondicherry Central University as Professor and Head of the Department. Her has participated in about 60 seminars, symposia, conferences both national and international. His other important works include Bhatti-kavya: A Hemacandra's Dvyasrayakavya, A Literary and Cultural Study; Kalidasa Bibliography (Vol. I and II. Under preparation) and Meghasuta Studies and about 125 papers. At present he is working on a huge project 'A Pada-index of Classical Sanskrit Poetry'.

Dr. C. Panduranga Bhatta joined R. K. M. Vivekananda College, Madras, in 1976. Since 1988 he is working as Reader at the Pondicherry Central University. He did his Ph.D. on Dice-Play in Sanskrit Literature- A Study. Her has been selected by the Sahitya Akademi as a language consultant.

With the passage of time, the real meaning of Tantra was misunderstood. From a highly evolved spiritual science Tantra was demeaned as a tool for magical or occult power or an enhancer of sensual enjoyment.

Tantra is none of these. It is an ancient discipline that provides a vast learning, a deep understanding of life, and a methodology to attain Self-realization.

Jnana Sankalini Tantra is a beautiful and meaningful dialogue between Lord Shiva and his consort, Parvati. In Tantric practices, both Shiva and Parvati are worshipped together, since the former represents consciousness and the latter, in the form of shakti, symbolizes energy.

In tantric meditation, inner bliss can be obtained by arousing energy latent in humankind, and uniting it with Shiva. Tantra uplifts consciousness in order to embrace the cosmic spirit.

About the Author(s)

Profusely awarded with Jyotisa Martanda, Bhagyavidyamani, Jyotirvidyavaridhi, Jyotisa Vachaspati and Brahmarsi, Mridula Trivedi has been engaged in astrological studies for over three decades. She has published more than three hundred articles and many thought - provoking books on various aspects of astrology. She was honoured with 'Doctor of Astrology' by the World Development Council in 1987 and Varahmihira by Spiritual and Astrological Research Institute, Lucknow in 2001. She was recently declared as the best in her field by Planets and Forecast. She is associated with a number of journals and magazines as a consultant.

In most Asian countries esoteric Buddhism (Tantrayana) declined in the past, while the Tibetans alone preserved the full richness of tantric traditions to our times. Thus this study is based on several Tibetan sources never presented in any modern language - some of them were translated, some were given as a summary.

The main concern of this study is to exhibit and analyse the traditions of the Old School of Tibetan Buddhism i.e., the mying-ma-pa. For the first time there is shown that the history of the Old Schools goes far beyond the Padmasambhava; some sources hint at a non-Indian origin of some tantric cycles. The whole tradition of the Old School is divided into two lineages: one of the Pronouncements and the other of the Concealed Treasures. Each lineage is discussed in detail - more than twenty biographies of the famous masters of the Old School are on these facts and events aims at giving an impression of the spiritual life within the Old School and links the results of this study with the hitherto existing knowledge of esoteric Buddhism. This study exhibits a great deal of so far unknown facts and events that indispensable for understanding thought and history of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet.

About the Author:

The author Dr. (Mrs.) Eva Dargyay, is Reader in Tibetology at the University of Munich (West Germany). Being a German specialist in Tibetan and Buddhist studies, she is married to a Tibetan Geshay.

Man, from the very dawn of history, has never been at home in the world. He has continuously tried to search for such ways and means, both intellectual and practical, that would allow him to transcend the conditioned existence in which he finds himself in space-time bound universe. It has always been the burning desire in the heart of man to realize such a mode of life that transcends the tragic terror of finitude in terms of the realization of abundance of life. It is this search for the everlasting blissful life that constitutes the story as well as history of human religious search for meaning.

Both Yoga and Tantricism have their own eschatologist in terms of which transcendence of human finitude is endeavored to be actualized. To achieve this stereological goal, both the systems have discovered, in their own respective ways, such theoretical responses and practical methods by the application of which soteric goal can be appropriated. It is because of this feature that both may be said to be stereological systems of thought and practice.

This book attempts to study Yoga and Tantra from both historical and theoretical perspective. An effort has been made to trace the historical roots of both Yoga and Tantra, and how, with the passage to time, each system developed in the context of prevailing situations. The analytical interpretation of some of the major themes that Yoga and Tantricism tackle in the context of suffering in the world greatly enhances the value of the work and will be of great interest to students of religion.

About the Author

Moti Lal Pandit, trained as a theologian and linguist, has been communicator of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. His many books include: Towards Transcendence; Being as Becoming; Transcendence and Negation; Beyond the Word; Trika Saivism of Kashmir; Sunyata: The Essence of Mahayana Spirituality; Buddhism: A Religion of Salvation; and Encounter with Buddhism.

This book, winner of CHOICE outstanding Academic Title Award 2007, is a multifaceted, diachronic study reconsidering the very nature of religion in South Asia, the culmination of years of intensive research. Frederick M. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in India, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, disease-producing possession for thousands of years.

In South Asia possession has always been broader and more diverse than in the West, where it has been utmost entirely characterized as “demonic.” At best, spirit possession has been regarded as a medically treatable psychological ailment and at worst, as a condition that requires exorcism or punishment. In South (and East) Asia, ecstatic or oracular possession has been widely practiced throughout history, occupying a position of respect in early and recent Hinduism and in certain forms of Buddhism.

Smith analyzes Indic literature from all ages—the earliest Vedic texts; the Mahabharata; Buddhist, Jain, yogic, Ayurvedic, and Tantric texts; Hindu devotional literature; Sanskrit drama and narrative literatures; and more than a hundred ethnographies. He identifies several forms of possession including festival, initiatory, oracular, and devotional, and demonstrates their multivocality within a wide range of sects and religious identities.