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Indology-Studies in Germany Indology-studies in Germany With special reference to Literature, ãgveda and Fire-Worship By Rita Kamlapurkar A thesis submitted towards the fulfilment for Degree of Ph.D. in Indology Under the guidance of Dr. Shripad Bhat And Co-Guidance of Dr. G. U. Thite Shri Bal Mukund Lohiya Centre Of Sanskrit And Indological Studies Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune. December 2010. Acknowledgements : Achieving the ultimate goal while studying the Vedas might require many rebirths, as the ancient ãÈis narrate. In this scrutiny it has been tried to touch some droplets of this vast ocean of knowledge, as it’s a bold act with meagre knowledge. It is being tried to thank all those, who have extended a valuable hand in this task. I sincerely thank Dr. Shripad Bhat without whose enlightening, constant encouragement and noteworthy suggestions this work would not have existed. I thank Dr. G. U. Thite for his valuable suggestions and who took out time from his busy schedule and guided me. The constant encouragement of Dr. Sunanda Mahajan has helped me in completing this work. I thank the Librarian and staff of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, Pune and Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth for their help. I am very much grateful to Homa-Hof-Heiligenberg, Germany, its staff and Ms. Sirgun Bracht, for keeping the questionnaire regarding the Agnihotra-practice in the farm and helping me in collecting the data. My special thanks to all my German friends for their great help. Special thanks to Dr. Ulrich Berk and the Editorial staff of ‘Homanewsletter’ for their help. My sincere thanks to Mr. Ravi Dhavalikar of Fontasy Typesetters for his kind co- operation in preparing the Sanskrit texts. Finally, I thank all those who helped me directly and indirectly in the task of making this work a success-story. ... Rita Kamlapurkar. Declaration I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “ Indology-studies in Germany ( With special reference to Literature, ãgveda and Fire-Worship ) ” completed and written by me has not previously formed the basis for the award of any Degree or other similar title of this or any other University or examining body. Place : Rita Kamlapurkar Date : Research student CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled “ Indology-studies in Germany ( With special reference to Literature, ãgveda and Fire-Worship ) ” which is being submitted herewith for the award of the Degree of Ph.D. in Indology of the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune is the result of original research work completed by Mrs. Rita Kamlapurkar under our supervision and guidance. To the best of our knowledge and belief the work incorporated in this thesis has not formed the basis for the award of any Degree or similar title of this or any other University or examining body. Place : Date: Research Guide : Dr. Shripad Bhat Research Co-Guide : Dr. G. U. Thite Abbreviations : 1. AgniP --------- AgnipurÀõa 2. AiB --------- Aitereya BrÀhmaõa 3. AV --------- Atharvaveda 4. GA --------- Gaõapati AtharvaœirÈa 5. GoG --------- Gobhila GÃhyasÂtra 6. GoB --------- Gopatha BrÀhmaõa 7. JaiB --------- JaiminÁya BrÀhmaõa 8. Ka °r --------- KaÇha °raõyaka 9. MB --------- MahÀbhÀrata 10. Mu --------- Muõçak½paniÈad 11. ãV --------- ãgveda 12. SV --------- SÀmaveda 13. San --------- SaðyuttanikÀya 14. ŒÀB --------- ŒÀliki BrÀhmaõa 15. ŒivaP --------- ŒivapurÀõa 16. ŒB --------- Œatapatha BrÀhmaõa 17. Sutt --------- SuttanipÀta 18. Tai °r --------- TaittirÁya °raõyaka 19. TaiB --------- TaittirÁya BrÀhmaõa 20. Taitt Up --------- TaittirÁya UpaniÈad 21. ViÈõuP --------- ViÈõupurÀõa 22. WYV --------- White Yajurveda 23. YV --------- Yajurveda ... ... ... Index : Indology Studies in Germany (with special reference to Literature, ãgveda and Fire-worship) 1. Introduction 1 ... 8 1.1 Historical traces of Indian culture in the world 1.2 Aims and Objectives 1.3 Methods 1.4 Hypothesis 1.5 Conclusions 2. Indology and Germany 9 ... 49 2.1 Brief account of Indo-German relations 2.2 Definition: Indology 2.3 Survey of Indology Studies in Germany 2.4 Present situation of Indology Studies in various German universities 2.5 Limitations of this work 3. The ãgveda 50 ... 111 3.1 Fixing the date of the ãgveda 3.2 Method of preserving the Vedic knowledge amongst Indians 3.3 Division of the Vedas 3.4 The language of the ãgveda 3.5 Various commentaries on the ãgveda 3.6 The physical appearance of the ãgveda 3.7 The Deities of the ãgveda 4. Vedic sacrifices 112 ... 149 - 1 - 4.1 Classification of the Yajðas 4.2 Somayaga 4.3 Animal-sacrifice in the Yajðas 4.4 DarœapÂrnamÀseÈÇi 4.5 VyÀhÃatihoma 5. Agnihotra 150 ... 175 5.1 Procedure 5.2 Basic Religion 5.3 Three folded form of Agni 5.4 Significance of oblations 6. Yajða : A Scientific Perspective 176 ... 233 6.1 Purification of atmosphere 6.2 Importance of material used in Agnihotra 6.2.1 : Dried cow-dung cakes 6.2.2 : Clarified butter made out of cow-milk 6.2.3 : Rice grains 6.2.4 : Copper pyramid 6.3 : Chanting of Mantras 6.4 : Significance of time 6.5 : Significant Effects of Agnihotra on human mind 6.5.1: Homogeneous Effect on the mind 6.5.2 : Brain-waves 6.6 : Agnihotra and organic farming 6.7 : Agnihotra ash medicines 6.8 : Agnihotra and Radioactivity 6.9.1 : Measuring the effects with Kirlion Photography 6.9.2 : Measuring the effects with PIP Imaging 6.10: Research regarding the effects of Soma Sacrifice -2- 7. Interviews 233 ... 250 8. Conclusions 251 ... 281 8.1 Vedic Tradition 8.2 : Yajða - the original ritual of every religion 8.3 : Agnihotra 8.3.1 : Further Research Opportunities 8.4 : Summary 9. Bibliography 282 ... 292 10. Appendix 293 ... 296 10.1 Fire-worship around the world ... ... ... -3- Introduction : Since time immemorial, India has stirred the human imagination. Her ties with the world are keen and powerful. Various names and reasons can be acquired for the same, like trade, politics, religion or social causes, etc. The history regarding is not much known or is so deeply forgotten that these relations are almost unbelievable and are mere fairytales, while they were being elaborated by the historians. As in the middle-ages the narrow-minded social beliefs ruled the Indian society, nobody was allowed to travel across the seas. If anyone tried it, the penalty was severe. Even in the years of colonial rule the self-confidence was totally lost and Indians were made to believe that they cannot be having any enriched civilisation ages before. According to great philosopher Hegel, India was rich in natural wealth, natural resources and especially it was a treasury of knowledge and wisdom.1 At the same time, India’s geographical centre position in the Indian Ocean was matched by her spiritual stature. Hence there was a competition amongst the countries to experience this wealth of India. Therefore many businessmen, historians, religious travellers and diplomats visited India. Thus she was never aloof from the world, but exchanged various types of relations with rest of the nations and cultures. In India meet the opposites, the abstract and the all-too elemental. The mathematical symbol of the zero was gifted by Indian mathematicians, which turned out revolutionary. At the same time it provided food for the people’s nostalgic yearnings with its legends and fairytales. For a long time the people of the West regarded India as an entity serving generations of the Indologists as the inspiration source. These Indologists were co-operating each other in their research. India became the goal of scientific pilgrimage for them. 1 vide Leifer, Walter. Indien und die Deutschen. 500 Jahre Begegnung und Partnerschaft. - Kunst Dichtung Religion Philosophie Forschung Medizin Wirtschaft Politik, Horst Ermann Verlag, Tübingen und Basel, 1969, p. 9. -1- The traces of Indian culture and civilization have been found in every part of the world. The ancient Indians carried their civilized culture, wherever they went. Though they never used any force to acquire new followers for their culture, their civilized culture and noble behaviour attracted many followers. Another speciality of this culture is that it allows everyone to follow his/her own culture, religious beliefs and rituals instead of forcing Indian culture on them. They believed in co-operation and tolerance. Thus, if you examine closely the theory of the good secular Muslim/Christian/Marxist, versus the bad/dangerous/fundamentalist Hindu, you are bound to come-up against several deep contradictions. Firstly, historically, Hindus have been the least fundamentalist people in the world : Never trying to impose their creed upon others by the sward, like Christianity or Islam, or even by the non-violent means of preaching, like Buddhism. Hinduism has also proved over the ages is infinite tolerance towards other religions giving refuge to all persecuted minorities in the world whether Parsis, Syrien, Christians, Jews or Tibetans today.2 Famous french journalist ‘Francois Gautier’ of ‘Asian Age’ has expressed his opinions in this manner, while explaining he specialities of Indian culture and religion. Historical traces of Indian culture in the world :3 The architectural remains in the world narrate the history. Same is the case of Lothal in Saurashtra, Gujarat. Lothal was a rich, well planned port since 2450 B. C., approximately at the same scale as Harappa or Mohenjodaro. 2 Gautier, Francois. Hindus and India. In the Eyes of a Frenchman, The Pioneer, International Opinion, www.internationalopinion.com. 3 vide Mujumdar, R. C.(Ed.). The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. II- The Age of Imperial Unity, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 6th Edition, Bombay, 1990, pp. 629 -634. -2- The trade between Egypt, Mesapotemia, Persia, etc. was carried through its docks. It had a long pier, i.e. 734 ft. long and 126 ft. broad. The ships carrying 60 to 75 tonnes of goods visited this port. 90 to 100 ft.
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