It is likely much older than this division of the Hindu trinity. It shows an advanced yoga pose, a lotus position with heels touching and facing upwards.
Sadly, no one has yet rigged artificial intelligence to crack the code and decipher the ancient Indus Valley Civilization language of this area and/or what was spoken in Harappa (since it seems to not have been an early/archaic form of Vedic Sanskrit as one might guess).
Man, this kind of Indian history is way better than American history about Indians.
Oh, how we worship our male gods, Hitler, Goebbels, Mengele, von Braun, and Little Eve.
Indians | Ep. 2: The Aryans and the Vedic Age | A Brief History of a Civilization
(The Wire) The story of [proto-India or Great Bharat] is one of profound and continuous change. It has been shaped by the dynamic of migration, conflict, mixing, coexistence, and cooperation.
Am I Aryan? The Right thinks so (Swift)
In this 10-part web series, Namit Arora tells the story of Indians and their civilization by exploring some of our greatest historical sites, most of which were lost to memory and were dug out by archaeologists.
He focuses on ancient and medieval foreign travelers whose idiosyncratic accounts conceal surprising insights about us Indians.
All along, Arora surveys India’s long and exciting churn of cultural ideas, beliefs, and values — some that still shape us today, and others that have been lost forever.
After the decline of the Harappan Civilization, waves of Aryan [from the Steppes around the Stans and Ukraine] migrants arrived from Central Asia between 2000–1500 BCE.
A nomadic-pastoralist people of lighter skin, the Aryans were culturally different from the Subcontinent’s settled farmers and forest tribes of darker skin.
They brought along an early Sanskrit, proto-Vedas, Vedic [mostly male] gods, a [Brahmin] priestly class fond of fire rituals and oral chants, new social and [sexist] gender hierarchies, the horse and chariot.
Who will be US president: Kamala, Nikki, Vivek?
Mixing with the locals forged a lighter-skinned elite that spoke Indo-European languages, or Prakrits.
In the centuries ahead, larger political units led by tribal chiefs emerged in north India. War among Aryanized tribes like the Bharatas and Purus became common.
From this substrate and its social conflicts came the early stories of the Mahabharata, circa 1,000 BCE.
Indo-Aryan culture and languages became dominant in Aryavarta, whose cultural and material qualities Arora explores in this episode.
More than 1,000 years after the Harappans, the next cities arose in the Gangetic Plain in mid-first millennium BCE.
The use of the word "Aryan" is not a coincidence. It was stolen by German Nazis along with other elements of Buddhist philosophy and legend (namely that of a world monarch chakravartin world ruler) by genius Nazi propagandist Goebbels. As for the problem of suffering (dukkha), "the final solution" would be the ultimate liberation (moksha), nirvana, cynically used by Nazi killers and eugenicists (inspired by earlier U.S. eugenic projects and programs) to refer to the extermination of invalids, the infirm, and "human parasites," including gays, Gypsies, and one other targeted groiup.
Scientific racism is real.
New states with money economies even flirted with democratic ideas. New hybrid cultures arose from the mixing of Indo-Aryans, post-Harappans, and ethnic groups whose ancestors had come to [proto-] India much earlier.
They forged new trades, lifestyles, and a thriving marketplace of spiritual and religious ideas.
This prolific age — of the early Upanishads, the Buddha, Mahavira [Jainism], Carvaka, Panini — would profoundly shape later Indians.
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY/FOR FURTHER READING
Anthony, David W, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, Princeton, 2010
Bryant, Edwin, The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate, OUP, 2001
Devy, G N, Mahabharata: The Epic and the Nation, Aleph, 2022
Doniger, Wendy, The Hindus: An Alternative History, Penguin, 2009
Jha, D.N., The Myth of the Holy Cow, Navayana, 2010
Joseph, Tony, Early Indians, Juggernaut, 2018
Khan, Razib, The character of caste; Stark Truth About Aryans: a story of India; Stark Truth About Humans: a story of India, 'Unsupervised Learning' Substack, 2021
Kristiansen, K., Kroonen, G., & Willerslev, E. (Eds.), The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics. CUP, 2023
Kuz'mina, Elena E., The Origin of the Indo-Iranians, Brill, 2007
Mohan, Peggy, Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages, Penguin, 2021
Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji, ‘The antiquity of the custom of Sati’, Anthropological Papers, 1929
Ollett, Andrew, Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit and the language order of premodern India, UC Press, 2017
Olsen, Birgit Anette (editor), Tracing the Indo-Europeans: New evidence from archaeology and historical linguistics, Oxbow Books, 2019
Parpola, Asko, The Roots of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 96–7
Reich, David, Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past, OUP, 2018
Sen, Sudipta, Ganga: The Many Pasts of a River, Gurgaon, Viking, 2019
Shinde, Vasant, et al., ‘An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers’, Cell, Vol 179, Issue 3, Oct 17, 2019
Silva, Marina, et al., ‘A genetic Chronology for the Indian Subcontinent Points to Heavily Sex-biased Dispersals,’ BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2017
Singh, Upinder, Political Violence in Ancient India, Harvard UP, 2017
Thapar, Romila, Early India, Penguin, 2002
Thapar, Romila, et al, Which of Us Are Aryans?, Aleph, 2019
Research, script, and narration by Namit Arora. Producer: The Wire. Director: Natasha Badhwar. Camera: Ajmal Jami. Video editor: Anam Sheikh.
Made possible by a grant from The Raza Foundation and contributions to The Wire by viewers. Join The Wire's YouTube membership program and help fund many such initiatives.
Join The Wire's YouTube memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month: @thewirenews
Sri Lankan beauties walk around Pasadena in traditionally colorful garb (slday.com).
Climate change causes deadly floods in Sri Lanka, 100,000 displaced (theguardian.com)
Sri Lanka Day is on Saturday, July 15, 2017 in the City of Pasadena (slday.com)
.
Ancient artificial bridge to India
[Sinhalese] Sri
Lankans often refer to themselves as “Lions” or “The Lion Nation.” One of
the reasons they do so is due to the obvious lion symbol on the
country’s flag. [A better reason is that sinha means lion, and other non-Buddhist people on the island call themselves Tamil tigers, infamous for their separatist inclinations.]
Sri Lanka ("Sacred Land") is famous as a citadel of early Buddhist teachings preserved in the Pali language from India and Scythia (Gandhara and northwestern hinterlands around Afghanistan where the Buddha was born and first promulgated the Dharma). Sri Lankan Buddhists, in their recorded history called the Mahavamsa or "Great Chronicles" speak of coming from that land by boat to settle Sri Lanka. They are not Dravidians from South India like the neighboring Tamils of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India.
Thousands of years of Buddhism
The other reason is less known but much more meaningful.
The lion has frequently been linked to words such as courageous and
proud. The Sri Lanka Foundation is a foundation dedicated to the
preservation of Sri Lankan culture. It strives to exhibit courage and
pride in their charitable work and events.
One
of the foundation’s most significant events is “Sri Lanka Day.” Every
year the foundation works diligently to bring the sights, tastes, colors,
and the general feel of Sri Lanka to spectators who gather in one location
from all over California.
(The Guardian, May 28, 2017) Landslides and floods in Sri Lanka have killed at least 151 people and the country faces the risk of more mudslides as torrential rains [from global climate change] continue. More than 100 people are still missing after the worst rains in the
Indian Ocean island since 2003. The state-run National Building Research
Organization warned people in seven out of the country’s 25 districts
on Sunday to evacuate from unstable slopes if rains continued for the
next 24 hours. More
Last year in Pasadena for the second year in a row was a great time with delicious food.
.
Massive Buddha in Sri Lanka
It is an annual celebration and tribute to the
culture and heritage of the Sri Lankan people. In coordinating the
event the foundation seeks to inform the public about their country and
its customs. The foundation also aspires to bring generations of Sri
Lankans together as a community, to pass along history from one
generation to another. The event will take all who attend on a short
trip to Sri Lanka through traditional foods, music, dances, art, and
theater.
Colorful costumes of an island culture
Attendees hear the echo of handmade drums each with
its unique tone. They experience a visual feast of vibrant
island costumes, colorful clothing, and ornate jewelry. Participants explore
the sweets, spices, and aromas of curries and traditional foods while being
captivated by dancers and performers.
Children and adults alike revel in the Kandy Parade (Perahera), the famous Sri Lankan spectacle that features
theater elephants the size of real elephants. And all of these experiences
can be enjoyed without ever leaving California.
In
previous years “Sri Lanka Day” has attracted more than 100,000
visitors. The 2015 SL Day was special because it was the first
year the event was held in the City of Pasadena. It was also the first
year the foundation sponsored its own dance troupe to perform. Every
year the foundation works harder to reach new heights... More
The Andaman Islands lie off the eastern coast of mainland India (worldisbeautiful.net).
Andaman Islands below Burma, SE Asia
The uncontacted tribes of the Andaman Islands, known as the Jarawa, Great Andamanese, Onge, and Sentinelese are believed to have lived in their Indian Ocean home for up to 55,000 years, just like the aboriginal blacks in the United States. They are now vastly outnumbered by several hundred thousand East Indians or Dravidians, who have settled on the islands in recent decades. More
The first Americans were aboriginal BLACKS, not Indians or Asians
The core teachings of the Buddha are the Four Noble Truths. While this is how they are commonly referred to, a better translation of Catu Ariya Sacca might be the Four Ennobling Truths. For penetration of their profound message elevates one above ordinary being to a liberated, enlightened state.
The word ārya (Pāli, ariya) means "noble" or "exalted." It is very frequently used in Buddhist texts to designate a spiritual warrior or hero/heroine. Use of this term in this sense is much more frequent than in Hindu or Jain texts. The Buddha's Doctrine (Dharma) and Discipline (Vinaya) are the ariyassa dhamma-vinayo (Teaching and Conduct dear to the Noble Ones).
The Four Noble Truths are called the cattāri ariyasaccāni (Pali) or catvāry āryasatyāni (Sanskrit). The Noble Eightfold Path is called the Noble Path or Path to Nobility (āryamārga, ariyamagga). The Sanskrit breaks down as ārya Noble, āṣṭāṅgika Eightfold, mārga Path.
Buddhists who have overcome Samsara and suffering -- that is, who have become enlightened -- are called ariyapuggalas (Noble Persons). Buddhist monastics who have done so are referred to as the Ariya Sangha, part of the Three Jewels (Ti-ratana) Buddhists go to for guidance. In Buddhist texts, āryas are those vīrtuous individuals who follow the Buddhist path. Conversely, those who despise the Dharma are often called "anāryas."
Those who spiritually attain to at least "stream entry," the first stage of enlightenment, are the true ariayas or arya-puggala. In Chinese Buddhist texts, ārya is translated as ("holy" or "sacred," pinyinshèng, on'yomisei). The spiritual character of the term can also be seen in the Mahāvibhasa and in the Yogācārabhūmi.
The Mahavibhasa states that only the Noble Ones (āryas) realize all four of the Four Noble Truths and that only this noble wisdom leads to complete liberation. The same text describes the āryas as the ones who "have understood and realized [the truth of] suffering, (impermanence, emptiness, and no-self)" and who "understand things as they [truly] are."
In the Yogacarabhumi (Taishō 1579, Vol. XX, 364b 10-15), āryas are described as being free from misconceptions (viparyāsas). Buddhist texts illustrate that the Ennobling Doctrine (ārya dharma) was taught to everyone -- āryas, Dasyus, Devas, Gandharvas, and Asuras.
The Bhaiṣajyavastu (from the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya) recounts a story of the Buddha teaching the Dharma to the Four Great Sky Kings (Catvāraḥ Mahārājāḥ), corresponding to the four cardinal directions. In this story, the guardians of the East (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) and the South (Virūḍhaka) are āryajatiya (āryas) who speak Sanskrit, while the guardians of the West (Virūpākṣa) and the North (Vaiśravaṇa) are dasyujatiya (Dasyus) who speak Dasyu languages.
In order to teach them the Dharma, the Buddha has to deliver a discourse in Aryan and Dasyu languages. He teaches āryas and Dasyusalike. The Karaṇḍavyūha (a Mahāyāna sūtra) describes how Avalokiteśvara (the "holy" lord and bodhisattva of Heart Sutra fame) taught the ārya Dharma to Asuras, Yakṣas, and Rakṣasas.
To this day, in many parts of the south India, if someone new is to be addressed respectfully, the prefix "Ayya" (derived from Ārya) is used. Aryans are thought to have migrated from northern India to the Dravidian south, where they influenced the culture, traditions, languages, and were called Ayya.
This video shows how the British (and Germans) cultivated an inferiority complex among the colonized people of the United Kingdom. Indians, already distraught by more recent Moghul invasions, were fed an Aryan Invasion theory to convert them to European standards of culture and religion (Christianity).
An enormous body of work preserved in ancient Vedicliterature agreew with more modern scientific findings. They also reveal a highly developed technological outlook. The great cultural wealth of this ancient body of knowledge remains relevant. The modern techniques used to debunk the Aryan invasion theory include:
Marine archaeology at underwater sites (such as Dvaraka)
Satellite imagery of the Indus-Saraswati river systems
Carbon/thermoluminescence dating of archaeological artifacts
Scientific verification of scriptural statements
Linguistic analysis of scripts found on archaeological artifacts
Study of cultural continuity in all these categories. (devavision.org)
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