what is wrong with Fashion parades- how hypocritical we are

There was a time in India when the self appointed cultural police vehemently opposed, especially through the media criticizing and condemning right left and center all genre of beauty contests like fashion shows, cat walks and especially the commercial advantage that the Miss INDIA contests had. It was not in the early 70’s or 80’s but in the late 90’s when the Indian films were actually portraying women as vulgar as possible. So , I found this to be really hypocritical. Therefore I wrote in Eves Touch Adam’s view column at that time. Quote the article as it appeared:-

How hypocritical can we get?!

Is there anything wrong with beauty? Or contests? Or both? Are we sure we object to cynosures? Or are we peeved at the parading of an ectomorphic entourage of long legs and perky breast in see –through dresses, transparent wrap-skirts, and pieces torn asunder sticking on the body like strings of noodles slipped from a fork? Because all these promote the vulgar portrayal of women and increase the pornographic voyeurism of our youth. And we would be right on all these scores to object to a romantic twaddle that passes for culture and spoils the young minds. But haven’t these very things been shown day in and day out in Indian films for decades? In fact , our films abound in all these and much more, from sexpressive clothes to suggestive gestures to uncompromising postures to an enormous amount of veiled vulgarity.

We never object to viewing these films with our children. But we make such a hue and cry about beauty contests, which have nothing to do with vulgarity. In a beauty contest, the judgment is not only on appearances but on many other aspects of the personality. The winner is expected, perhaps, have the face of Venus, the brains of Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of Macaulay, the figure of Juno, the voice of Cordelia. She is expected to be a Protean artist, a Triton among minnows, a Dulcinea to all, patient as Griselda and so on. Even if it were a mere test of beauty, what is wrong with it? Beauty may be skin deep, but it is at beauty that our eyes peep, our hearts leap, our memories want to keep, what haunts us in our sleep, so what if it is just skin deep? Once a father told his son, “Remember ,beauty is only skin deep”. The son replied, “deep enough for me, I am not a cannibal”. Our self- proclaimed , moralists will be satisfied if our winners in Miss India contests and Fashion parades declare as a woman once did when asked what gave her such a lovely complexion and what cosmetic she used, “ I use for my lips truth, for my voice prayer, for the eyes pity, for the hands charity, for the figure uprightness and for the heart , love”.

MOTHERS ARE GREAT

This I wrote after the death of my mother. So, unfortunately she was not there but her younger sister my aunt known fondly as Vishalam Chitti read this and wrote an excellent letter to me. This was published in EVE'S TOUCH MAGAZINE IN 1996 UNDER ADAM'S VIEW in my former name as v.karthikeyan.

THE UNSUNG HEROINES OF WOMANHOOD

In TVS Nagar Padi, a boy named Satish Kumar (18 years of age) stepped on a live wire. On seeing this, his mother rushed to his rescue. Unfortunately, she too died along with him.

Majorie Holmes, an expert on woman, writes,

“Motherhood is an instinct that rouses protective passion. We are very much like animals, we woman with our children. We will sacrifice our own comfort and safety for them. We will shield and shelter them, fight like tigers, if need be, on their behalf”. Tille Olsen says “motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, responsible” Satish Kumar’s mother was one among the millions of such mothers.

There is something special about everything, but everything is special about one thing, and that is MOTHERHOOD. In terms of sentimental significance and emotional depth, it is a word unparalleled in any language. It carries with it a very personal feeling of love and affection and it carries in it a personification of the basics of human culture, i.e. the humane nature of caring and sharing. An excellent unqualified love of total intensity and intense totality, it conveys at the same time a universal emotion of protection and growth, both physical and mental. So it is only appropriate that Mother’s day is celebrated in the month of May, named after the Roman goddess of growth, MAIA, the mother of HERMES.

 Mother’s day was initiated in America in 1907 by MS. Anna Jarvis and was first commemorated in Philadelphia on 10th may.

There is a Yiddish proverb which runs, ‘God could not be everywhere so he made mothers’. It is true. Mother is someone very unique, not merely in terms of emotional and physical links but also in terms of indispensability. We can change, doubt, do away with or disown anything or anyone, but not our mother.

Even that great Adi Shankara renounced everything except his mother. The great saint Sri Ramana Maharishi accepted his mother’s culinary help in his cave. This eulogies on mothers, and euphoria about motherhood apart, there is something unique about the very word mother phonetically.

The syllable ‘Ma’ is suggestive of the burping of a suckling babe. After its raw cries and mute murmurs, the first sound a baby produces is ‘ma.’ That’s why I have found, during my polyglottal pilgrimage, the word indicating ‘mother’ in many languages either begins with the ‘M’ sound or has an emphatic and predominant ‘M’ sound. Mother[English], Mère [French],Madre[Spanish],Mutter[German], Mae[portugese],Mama[Swahili]Umame[Zulu],

Umm[Arabic],Imeh[Hebrew],Moeder[dutch],

Moder[Swedish]Man[hindi and Urdu],Mitir[greek],

Mam[welsh],Mor[Norwegian],Mat[Russian],Me[Vietnamese],Mu[Chinese],Amma[tamil],Ammai[Malayalam] and the only notable exception is Ha-ha in Japanese.

John Michelle, an expert in euphonics, goes on to suggest that the letter ‘M’ gets its very double arched shape from the mother’s eyebrows and breasts, the first pattern an infant experiences. The first sound it is likely to murmur or mutter is M, which seems a natural symbol of mammals and maternity. It we browse through the thesaurus of slang ,even there the colloquial words for mother start with M’.Mama, Mammy,Mam,Mater, Em,Moms,

Mootie,Motherkin,Mumsy,Mimsy,Mummy,Muzzy etc..

Kind motherly affection is devoid of any boiling ferment or partisan enthusiasm. It stands for bounteous nature. It is a symbol of protection, something natural and expressive, that is perhaps why we refer to nature as Mother Nature and earth as Mother Earth. The language that we naturally use from birth is termed ‘mother tongue’ and the most important protection of the most vital organ in the anatomy is termed’ hard mother’[duramater in Latin]i.e the outer membrane covering the spinal cord and brain, then we have ‘soft mother’[piamater Latin] is a thin vascular membrane closely investing the brain and spinal cord and proximal portions of the nerves.

We all owe a lot to our mother. Abraham Lincoln once said,"all that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother”. In fact, as an acronym, the word ‘mother’ can be expressed as, whoever we are ,each one of us Most Owe To HER.

In HINDUSIM, as early as Rig Veda, an earth mother ,Prithive Mater, is mentioned. The mother goddess is variously depicted and worshipped, bearing various names, as the wife of Lord Shiva: Uma [light], Parvathi[daughter of mountains], Annapurna [bestower of foods]Durga[inaccessible] Kali[black. The mother cult has been strong, in Tamilnadu and Bengal, where it gave its name to Calcutta [Kali-ghat, steps of Kali down to the Ganges]. In fact, the image of the mother Shakthi is more manifest in Tantrism. In terms of Samkya theory, Shiva is Purusha[soul]and shakthi is PRAKRITI [mother or energy]. It is the shakthi who creates, through GUNAs [goodness]Rajas[passion]and Tamas[darkness].Thus the world itself is a manifestation of the energy of the divine mother. The cult of Shakthi was so strong that Bankim Chandra Chaterjee interpreted the history of India in these stages: as Jagatohathri, riding a lion[India past];as dark Kali ,ignorant of herself, trampling her own god under her feet [India present];and as Durga, supported by the goddess of wisdom and wealth[India future]. There is a theory that the cult of Durga or Kali is a re-creation of Hittite goddess and,hence,she has remained the patron goddess of conquests and wars.

The First professional female poet in the US Lydia Howard Sigourney[1791-1865],while writing about the powers of the mother said ," we perceive mother to be first in point of precedence, in degree of power, in the faculty of teaching and in the department allotted. For in point of precedence, she is next to the creator; in power over her pupil, limitless and without competitor; in faculty of teaching, endowed with the prerogative of a transforming love, while the glorious department allotted is a newly created soul and its immortal destiny”.

The Hindu Slokas go a step further and goad us to give precedence to mother over everything else, as for instance we always say “Matha, Pitha, Guru, DAIVAM”. Even if we fail to worship her on the basis of the acknowledgement of the simple fact that we came into this world because of her, Even if we fail to give her respect she deserves for whatever she has done,[especially Indian mothers do a lot for their children, they become a new kind of women effacing their ego and individuality],we should remember what American writer kate chopin[1851-1904]says, "they were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels”.

We must at least realize that the A to Z of every Indian MOTHER is that she is basically an Affectionate,benevolent,caring,dedicated,encouraging,fondling,guarding,hospitable,intelligent,jovial,kind, loving, magnanimous, nurturing, omniprotective,

pampering, quenching, revitalizing, sharing, tender, unquestionable, virtuous woman x-raying into the need of her children and providing yeoman service. A zenithal being used.

As Majorie Holmes writes,”however tall and strong a child may become, or what heights he may attain, no child grows beyond the reach of his mother’s heart”.

On Mother’s Day, let us remind our mothers that however they are, wherever they are, alive or dead, they can never go away from our hearts and mind. The greatest gift that we can and should give to our mothers on Mother’s Day is to make a resolution to elevate ourselves not merely as great Personalities but as good persons, not as skillful social machines but perfect human beings.

Mothers do not have a trade union .On the contrary uniting [every individual at home] is their trade. So they never go on strike, they stick to their work like an automation. But unfortunately for all the excellent identity and enormous activity that motherhood has, it never gets the stardom or elevated social status it deserves. So let us use this occasion [Mother’s Day] to give them the rest and respect and reciprocate, at least in part and to the extent we can, all the love that our mothers have showered on us.

It is very unfortunate that most Magazines/periodicals which are meant to speak for the cause of women tend to improve the status of women as a cynosure of society, rather than project women as sure signs of improving the status of society. They tend to make a veiled suggestions, perhaps unwittingly, to treat women more as objects of admiration, caring more for their cosmetic embellishments, glossy and gorgeous garments, glittering jewels, or as objects of pity narrating their woes, marital problems, or recounting Mills and Boon types of romance, or narrating episodes to vindicate that women can do anything that men do or even better than them and project their victory in a competition of gender. These are probably inevitable commercial requirements. Unfortunately, what happens is that these things mask the other more excellent, extraordinary, aesthetic aspects of womanhood. In these periodicals, while women’s acknowledged competitive achievements are paraded and publicized, and certain cruel harsh realities and problems of women in general are discussed with the possible remedial measures, they fail to propagate the more precious virtues of womanhood.

The unquestionably pleasant and positive aspect of womanhood is motherhood. If motherly love and influence are used emotionally and psychologically in a proper way, perhaps as a dedicated socio academic endeavor I think we may even succeed in the actual practice of non-violence, efface terrorism or at least minimize it, because basically most individuals do respect their mothers. This may sound a cynical dogma for social betterment, but let us not forget that the evolutionary process in the genesis of social dogmas has no end.

WEST NEEDS TO CHANGE ITS OBSESSION TO MANIPULATE, HOMOGENIZE AND HEGEMONIZE

THE WEST NEEDS TO CHANGE ITS OBSESSION TO MANIPULATE, HOMOGENIZE AND HEGEMONIZE TO COME OUT OF RECESSION

Any new systems of operation, especially untested, if it is unleashed on a global scale for short time gains for the few and the mal intention of dominating the rest will slowly but surely cause unforeseen damage to everyone in some way or other. I am going to reproduce an article that I wrote in 1999 under my earlier name as V.KARTHIKEYN. This is about globalization.

It appeared as cover story in INDIAN CURRENTS 15-21^st MARCH 1999 titled ‘FREE MARKET-THE NEW FALSE RELIGION’

There is nothing wrong in it and it is also inevitable but its selective and clandestine operations to secretly favor the few and rob the rest through multiple financial operations across the globe has affected and shall affect economies across the globe first the very poor and undeveloped, then the under developed, then those blossoming economies unless the those in power there are interested in their own country’s economic welfare, then finally it would also affect even the top ,big developed nations. This is precisely what has happened with Globalization. Now that the initial beneficiaries, namely, the developed nations are at the receiving end they are making a noises about how globalization has drained their economies, how it has taken away their employment, how it has reduced their exports.

Though I would not like to particularize the general and generalize the particular or resort to oversimplifying a very complex issue, yet there are certain basic socio-cultural and psychological approaches that are further fuelled by constant media publicity which force the human race to gregariously believe that what is projected by constant publicity is truth, the only truth or at least the best possible way to lead life. Cutting the preamble short it is all the outcome of the incurable sick obsession of the western psyche, namely, Homogenization. If it works well then it would be easier to hegemonize and administer whatever they want. Now every business activity which is essential for human life resorts to this and it goes to any lengths to promote growth and spread its tentacles, a classic example is the pharmaceutical industry, they create a scare , develop a vaccine and make global publicity about the dangers of the disease and the importance of having a specific vaccine.

Time and again I have been repeating in my blogs on various subjects that most of the problems are because of this.

THE ARTICLE AS IT APPEARED IN MARCH 1999 quote

‘FREE MARKET-THE NEW FALSE RELIGION’

“Swadeshi or no swadeshi, do we need to embrace the false religion called free market? I am not scripting a virulent Green Group Manifesto or a Red Brigade propaganda pamphlet, but honestly trying to brush aside jargon laden economic theories churned out by the priest of free market, and prise open the clam-shell of Transnational Corporations and reveal the bogey of the entire operations of the false religion called free trade, with its well publicized mantra of globalization as a God given incontrovertible truth, is exploiting the poor and the environment to ruinous ends that we could be bequeathing a totally uninhabitable planet for our future generations.

This globalization mania is the product of that incurable sick obsession of the western psyche, namely, homogenization. If we glimpse through the annals of history, we can observe this and the several ways in which this has been carried out: by indoctrination, by force, by cultural invasions, by wars etc. Throughout history it has failed miserably. Be it the Roman Empire’s greed to spread its tentacles , be it the attempt to homogenize religion which failed with Spanish Inquisition, be it Nazism or Colonialism, all have failed. Once these attempts at homogenizing cultures, beliefs, political ideologies have failed, now, the West is trying it in Trade and Economy. As before, it is bound to fail. But what we must learn from history and guard ourselves against is the heavy price that humanity may have to pay for facing and overcoming these attempts emanating from a few individuals charged with fanatical obsession in terms of Religious wars, Nazism, Colonialism etc with all their destructive manifestations.

The impact of the previous obsession were restricted to specific geographical area as they collapsed before they could successfully spread everywhere. But the manifestations of the present obsession, read Globalization of trade and economy affects the lives of everyone on the globe, either directly or otherwise, and can cause irreparable environmental damage which can even render life miserable for future generations.

Now we need to carefully understand the entire structure of this new false religion called free market.

· 1] Who are the Gods of this false religion called free market and globalization?

· 2] Which are its temples?

· 3] What are the myths of this false religion?

· 4] What are its main scripturs?

· 5] Who are the priests who so vehemently recommend it as a panacea for all human ills?

· 6] What are the rituals that are cleverly used to attract the people?

· 7] Who are the followers?

1] The Gods are undoubtedly the giant Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Their presence is almost ubiquitous, their grip is strangling. Nearly 70% of all international trade is controlled by a mere 500 corporations.

The 10 largest TNCs have a total income of 100 of the world’s poorest countries.

As in every religion here too the gods are hidden behind the clouds of rituals and myths floated by clever priests, who alone have the benefits of transacting with these gods in secrecy.

2] The Temples where the gods of this false religion operate are International Trade and Global Financial Transactions.

International trade has grown faster than world’s economy; it has grown 12 fold in the post war period and is expected to grow 6% annually for the next 10 years.

Global Financial Transactions, the bigger temples, dominated by a small number of banks, most of them based in US have been growing faster than trade. Flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 1995 reached US$ 315 billion ,almost 6 fold increase over 1981-85 level. In the same period trade increased by a little more than half.

Between the mid 70’s and 1996 the daily turnover of the world’s exchange markets increased a thousand fold from around US$ 1 billion to US$ 1200 billion.

Being a bigger temple, it cannot be treated like other ordinary organizations. That’s why when Nobel Prize winning economist James Tobin mooted a tax on foreign exchange transactions it was dubbed as Tobin Tax and turned away.

3] The Myths:-

A] It narrows the gap between the poor and the rich. It has only created a class of very rich people in some countries and many people poor in most of the countries.

As per the Human Development Report 1996,UNDP, share of global income ratio between the richest 20% and the poorest 20% was in 1960 30:2 and in 1993 it was 61:1.

B] Creates more employment:

Liberalization, privatization and the entry of MNCs are said to increase employment. But in many countries it has created more unemployment, displacement of even the well-employed due to policies of redeployment and retrenchment and so on. This has been the obvious outcome as the TNCs want to make the maximum profit by cutting down on labor and be competitive in the international market. This leads to lesser distribution of massive profits garnered by TNCs. This has what made G.TYLER remark (in The Nation-State Vs Global Economy Challenge 1993) ‘viewed globally the ultimate effect of the strategies pursued by the global corporations in their immediate best interest is to convert the globe in to a Dickensian England…. A world of underpaid and unemployed people unable to buy what they produce.’

C] HEALTHY COMPETITION:

There cannot be a greater lie. The priests of this religion are always very selective about the protection they oppose and the competition they promote.

D] HELPS SOCIAL WELL BEING:

In fact no other religion has ever interfered so outrageously into a social fabric and got away with it, but this did so by overturning Thailand’s restrictions on smoking to open the way for U.S tobacco companies as reported by Tom Athanasiou in DIVIDED PLANET.

Safety standards are brushed aside as non-tariff barriers to free trade .

4) THE SCRIPTURES:

The main scriptures are the World Bank, IMF, some private banks, WTO and GATT. All these lay down in the perfect rule for monetary manipulations.

The salient features of these scriptures:

The vicious circle of monetary manipulation proceeds are pocketed by the big transnational corporations which would then be slashed in private banks. These funds earned by the exploitation of cheap labor and rape of the environment of the Third world would be made to enter back into the very same Third world countries as loans for structural adjustments. Some portion of it is distributed as bait to those non participants and hesitant participants to this false religion of free market.

Most of these funds are squandered on eco-unfriendly damn development schemes like construction of huge dams or destroying the rain forests. Part of the funds also go for destructive military expenditure , and, of course , most importantly, a large chunk of the THIRD WORLD DEPT gets into those secret accounts in the banks of Switzerland through corrupt political leaders, bureaucrats and corporate barons who are the vociferous priests of this false religion. That’s why these scriptures, especially world bank which is supposed to help developing and underdeveloped countries and push aside all barriers to trade has not bothered even once to pass a resolution banning the most unjustifiable and dubious secrecy laws of SWISS BANKS. At least the WTO can do this. But the question is will it do it?

5] The Priests:

They are the direct and indirect agents of IMF,WTO etc. in the form of high profile bureaucrats, ministers, corporate tycoons etc who operate as mass opinion molders of the MNCs.

6] The Rituals:

Collaboration with multinationals. Rituals are always attractive, elaborate, and meant to make you forget the reality. All the rituals are performed to please the gods and /or profit the priests.

For example India has been performing a ritual of lately with great pomp and parade. Many MNCs in the automobile sector have entered into collaboration with several local manufacturers at the bequest of the priests because they know that labor is cheap here, most of the people are either illiterate or ignorant and the so-called intelligent folks are indifferent and therefore cars can be manufactured cheaply without bothering about any environmental or human problem and can be exported to other parts of the world and MNCs can gain in the competition. Recently ,there was a huge auto fair in the capital in which we witnessed much media hypes and more models’ hips to bring tangible benefits to the public from the rituals, many small cars were paraded which are expected to flood the Indian market. Dear Indian souls, why all of you have forgotten the reality and eternal problem this can cause. These cars mean more expenditure for fuel, for deploying more police to man the traffic, for more road space etc. This can also produce more CO2, more accidents etc. This also blocks our vision to see the inevitable necessity to improve the public transport both quantitatively and qualitatively or spend government funds on expanding less polluting rail transport rather than draining the funds by buying diesel and petrol. Finance minister after finance minister, chief minister after chief minister are vying with one another to offer place and platform for automobile collaborators. These people have not bothered to notice that the enormous growth of our population in the last five decades has already increased number of individual vehicles on the roads. They have also not noticed the number of government and government aided schools and colleges and hospitals that they ought to have provided for the growth in population. Why?

The ritual of economic liberalization does not bother about the millions of children who die without food due to poverty, millions more who die to easily preventable diseases due to lack of medical facilities and millions more who lead life without even the barest minimum literacy.

7] Followers:-

From the gullible public to the discerning denizens everyone is a follower of this false religion. Even the supposedly unbiased, perceptive media which is meant to inform the public and take care of long term interest of human beings and environment is either a victim or willing participant in this mess.

For the media millions dying of hunger and poverty is like sun rise and sun set, a regular feature which does not warrant reporting ,unlike an eclipse[ like the shining cars with sliding doors exhibited with the ectomorphic entourage of long legs and perky breasts strutting about in transparent wrap skirts] which needs to be reported. The glow of richness and banalisation of human instincts. Bravo! The glow and banalisation of globalization, the great false religion”

End of the article published in 1999

post script

I must definitely change and accept the total inevitability of certain aspects which I have virulently criticized in the above article taking into consideration the inevitable economic trends not only to avoid being labeled as a luddite but also as a matter of honest realization of the inevitable. However the underlying intention is to make everyone see clearly that no single ideology, even in matters of economic development cannot be universally applied and many operations in the present time in history with lurking motives may recoil sooner than expected on the perpetrators of the operations. Now it is too late for US to regret their ugly deeds and uglier intentions. The recession must lead them to retrospect , more than that, respect that all nations on earth are populated with the same species called homo sapiens with just different cultures , value systems, religions etc but with equal rights on resources and reciprocal respect and right to reciprocate any disrespect .No single nation however powerful ,or group of nations, no single ideology, no single religion, no single way of life can be tested ,tried or thrust upon the whole world. So manipulation and homogenization cannot work in 21^st Century.

Know Thy Vedas- Vedic Physical Sciences and Scientific Temper

Know Thy Vedas- Vedic Physical Sciences and Scientific Temper

(a) Modern Physics is an exemplification and a refinement of old Hindu wisdom- contained in Vedas (Julius R Oppenheimer- Father of Atom bomb)
(b) After the study of Indian philosophy (derived from Vedas), some of the ideas of Quantum physics that seemed so crazy, suddenly made much more sense (father of Quantum Physics Werner Heisenberg).
© Science in the most advanced stage now is closer to Vedanta than ever before. (Alfred North Whitehead)
Modern science has yet to comprehend, Vedic spiritual and physical sciences.
Rtam, Satyam, Dharmam” (Rig Veda)- Cosmic laws of social, moral and physical order are eternal truths and following these laws (Rta) is Vedic Dharma. All human beings can discover these laws (Rta) by developingScientific Temper.
Subject: Vedic Physical Sciences and Scientific Temper
Dear Seekers of Vedic Knowledge,
What our ancient heritage scriptures Vedas say about physical sciences, role of scientists (ashvinaus) and scientific temper, a brief note is given below.
To get a feel of Vedic physical sciences, reference to a few hymns are given.
The Sun never sets or rises and it is the earth, which rotates (Sama-Ved 121). The gravitational effect of solar system makes the earth stable (R.V.1-103-2, 1-115-4 and 5-81-2). The axle of the earth does not get rusted and the earth continues to revolve on its axle (R.V. 1-164-29). The science of Time and its subtle nature is described in (R.V.1-92-12 and 1-95-8). The need to study the properties of water, air and fire for discovering and manufacturing aircrafts, ships and other vehicles capable of moving in the firmament, land and water are mentioned in Rig Veda 1-3-1,2, 1-34-1, 1-140-1 and many other hymns. Reference to infinite number of both gross and subtle atoms and the energy principle as spirit of God in each atom is given in R.V. 5-47-2 and Sama Veda 222. Atoms and sub atomic particles are not inert and have unsuspected vitality owing to this energy principle. Physical sciences relating to agriculture, medicine, astronomy mathematics particularly algebra, toxicology etc. are described in R.V.1-71-9, 4-57-5, Sama Veda 121 and many other hymns.
In the Vedas scientists are described as men and women of absolute self-control, truthful with scientific outlook and destroyers of miseries (R.V., 1-3-4). With the help of these scientists one could travel far on the earth and also in the sky through conveyances, which run and touch the middle region (R.V. 1-3-1, 6-22-2 and 1-22-2). Such scientists from both the sexes go across to distance places quickly like the mind and electricity (R.V. 1-71-9). In this hymn aircrafts and even space ships are hinted. These ashvinaus should be well versed in Physics, agricultural sciences (R.V. 4-57-5), medical sciences (R.V. 5-74-3), astronomy (S.V. 121) and other sciences. Ashvinaus have been advised to learn thoroughly about Prakrti (divine Nature), characteristics and various qualities of water, air, fire, electricity and heat and sound energy. Other sciences mentioned are Toxicology and use of various kinds of medicines and drugs (R.V 1-191-14), science of Time (Kala vidya) that starts with dawn (Usha). R.V. 1-95-2, and 10, refers to use of time for mathematics. There is a mention of infra red rays, study of Algebra (Rekha di ganit vidya), sound as a medium of knowledge for various sciences, diseases like bile, cough, jaundice and others and their treatment etc. The relevant hymns in this regard are in Rig-Veda 1-185-2, 1-12-1, 2, 1-22-1 to 4, 1-2-3, 1-95-1, 1-101-1 and many others.

However, the greater emphasis is on the development of Scientific Temper amongst the members of Society with a view to curb spread of blind faith, hypocrisy, miracle and ostentatious worship of God. Thus the knowledge of Vedic sciences is meant to save the human beings from falling into an utter darkness as Isa Upanishad and the last chapter of Yajur Veda caution us. The unity in diversity is the message of Vedic physical and metaphysical sciences. While matter is the cause of diversity owing to three primordial subtle particles of purity, activity and passivity present in it, the spirit (jiva) provides the necessary unity.
To encourage scientific temper Vedas advise, “O, Man Explore further.” Kindly see for more details on Vedic Science- about Earth, Sun, Gravitation, Moon, Eclipse, telegraphy, ships, aircrafts and many otherhttp://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org
The Vedas combine science with metaphysics and clearly mention that it is God who is the giver of knowledge of all sciences as "Sahstra sam " (R.V. 1-10-11). The scientists are advised to study cause and effect of all material elements and also how the objects are produced and there after utilize these properly (R.V. 5-47-3). By following these guidelines they can alleviate much suffering of the people (R.V. 5-77-4). Without the knowledge and practical application of physical sciences, it is not possible to eradicate poverty and attain prosperity (R.V. 1-34-1 to 5).
For more details on Vedic science and many other divine, spiritual and material Vedic subjects kindly see “Glimpses of Vedic Metaphysics” available on Internet for on line reading and even taking print at no cost. The website is http://www.sabhlokcity.com/metaphysics. Also the book can be accessed through google.com,yahoo.com, lulu.com. Search for the book or Vedic Metaphysics.
Kindly render divine social service and forward to other seekers of Vedic knowledge.
Kindly also feel free to improve this Vedic Message strictly based on Ved mantras, riks/hymns.
With kind regards,
Prem Sabhlok
P.S
Vedas say in regard to scientific temper “O: Man Explore further”
For more knowledge of Vedic Science as obtained from Arya Samaj Jamnagar
For movement of Earth refer to R.V 10-22-14, R.V 10-149-1 (Gravitational force of Sun), R.V 8-12-28 and 30, 1-6-5 for the power of Sun to hold the Earth and other planets, Moving planets do not collide R.V 1-164-13, Y.V 33-43, A.V 4-11-1
Eclipse
Rrefer to R.V 5-40-5---the earth gets scared by sudden darkness when O: Surya you are blocked by the one to whom you have gifted your own light (Moon).
On the science of Telegraphy and aircraft and ship building refer to RV 1-119-10, RV 1-116-3,4,5 and 6, 11-134-2 and 7, 1-148- 8
Kindly see original mantras at Websitehttp://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org
2. For Science of Good Governance in Secular Democracy, you may like to read and comment the latest Free e-book by an Ex I.A.S officer having over 27 years administrative experience in India and Australia. Website is http://bfn.sabhlokcity.com
The hard copy is available in Oxford Book Stores and also Lulu.com.

sanskrit help

Sanskrit Script Transliterater

Below is a tool is Transliterate Sanskrit in 19 Scripts (All Indian Languages including South East Asian Languages like Thai, Burmese & Cambodian). Grantha & Tamil with superscripted numerals is also supported

http://www.virtualvinodh.com/aksharamukha