August 2016

08:14:00 , , ,
Nag Panchami (Devanagari: नाग पंचमी) is a traditional worship of snakes or serpents observed by Hindus throughout India ,Nepal and other countries where Hindu adherents live. The worship is offered on the fifth day of bright half of Lunar month of Shravan (July/August), according to the Hindu calendar.
Lord Vishnu 


Human beings soon after stabilizing from nomadic venture started the ritual of worshipping the nature and everything that was helpful to them in one or another way. It helped them construct a system that was derived from the beliefs in social organizations, local cults and deities. Humans thus started exploring nature and started sorting a culture to abide by. Things like sun, river, mountain and snake have been thought of as important element of simultaneous existence since then. Snake worship has also been a part of the culture of India ever since then. Naag Panchami is one of the most important festivals in India celebrated to commemorate the existence of the snake god.

Celebrated on the fifth day of the moonlit-fortnight in the month of Shravan according to the Hindu calendar, this festival falls in the month of July /August according to the Gregorian calendar. It is celebrated in various parts of the country among the community where it has been prevalent for long. The grandest celebrations can be seen in the southern India and in the states of Bengal and Maharashtra. The festival has religious significance too. It is believed that Snakes have been the savior of human race from the wrath of demons and also, that the earth is balanced on the head of on Shesh Naag. There are also several legends and stories associated with the festival, one of the most important one is given below.

Stories & Legends Of Nag Panchami
It is said that long before Aryans arrived in India, a clan named Nagaas lived in India. It was a highly developed clan. It is said that the snake-worship amongst the Nagas, was extremely popular and it can be proved according to the evidences derived from the Indus Valley civilization of 3000 B.C. After the Naga culture gradually got incorporated into Hinduism, the Indo-Aryans also gradually accepted many of the snake deities as their God too. The prominent Cobra snakes mentioned in the Puranas that are to be worshipped are Anant, Vasuki, Shesh, Padma, Kanwal, Karkotak, Kalia, Aswatar, Takshak, Sankhpal, Dhritarashtra and Pingal. However, some of the historians claim that they were not snakes but Naaga Kings of various kingdoms which were worshipped as Gods.

It is also a popular belief amongst people in Hindu religion that thousand-headed Shesh Nag who symbolizes Eternity holds the entire spherical earth on it head. Also, that it is the resting couch of Lord Vishnu, one of three most important gods of Hindu religion. In Jainism and Buddhism snake is regarded as sacred creature with divine qualities. It is because some ancient texts say that a Cobra snake saved the life of Buddha and the Jain Muni Parshwanath. 

Stories of snakes association with Hindu gods also enhance the stature of these reptiles in Hindu culture. A popular legend says that the elder brother of Lord Krishna, Balram was the incarnation of Seshnag on earth. Snake is also given due importance because it is considered to be the ornament of Lord Shiva around his neck. The celebration of Nag Panchami in the month of Shrawan (considered as the month of Lord Shiva in Hindu religion) also explains the deep association of Shiva and commemoration of snake as his companion.

It is believed that even the ancient architecture exhibit the evidence of the importance of snakes in the Indian culture. On the caves of Ajanta, the images of the rituals of snake worship have been found. Even Indian literature is full of stories of the virtue of snake. The famous author Kautilya, in his "Arthashastra" has given detailed description of the cobra snakes. It is said that it was also the wide belief of people in ancient India that if they worship snake, they won't cause harm to them and their family. So, there is no one specific legend to why the Naga Panchami started in India, it is being for too long due to the religious significance and social importance of this unique reptile.
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07:31:00 ,
Changes inside the mother’s womb during Pregnancy.


Garuda purana is one of the eighteen Purana, composed in 1st millennium CE. Most of the text deals with death, sin, description of hell and spine-chilling Vaitarni river, torture of sinful human. But the way development of embryo and fetus is described is incredible.
Translations for few verses of Garuda Purana
Viṣṇu said: I will tell you how the mortal is born when the male and female elements are bound together by the union of man and woman.
In the middle of the menstruation period, in the three days on which Indra incurs the sin of Brāmicide, the body of the sinful begins to form.
The creature, in obtaining a body, according to karma, the divine eye, enters the womb of a woman, which is the receptacle of a man's seed.
In one night it becomes a lump; by the fifth night round; by the tenth day like the fruit of the jujube tree, and after that an egg of flesh.
By the first month the head, by the second the arms and other parts of the body are formed; by the third occurs the formation of nails, hair, bones, skin, genitalia and other cavities;
By the fourth the seven bodily fluids; by the fifth hunger and thirst arise; by the sixth, enveloped by the chorion, it moves to the left of the womb.
The bodily substances are formed of the foods and liquids of the mother, and the creature at the time of birth lies in the disgusting hollow of the loins, amid feaces and urine.
All its limbs bitten constantly by hungry worms, it swoons away repeatedly through excessive pain, as they are very tender.
From the beginning of the seventh month, though he gains consciousness, he who is in the womb trembles and moves about because of the parturition winds, like a uterine worm
Now, in modern science, embryology is very vast . but in short it amazingly correlate whatever is written about child birth in Garuda purana.
  • 1st night it become lump - correlation =2 cells stage
  • 5th night become round - correlation =Blastocyst
  • 10th day Jujube fruit - Probably alot smaller than jujube fruit
  • 1st month head is formed - correlation =The various processes from which face develops can be identified at the end of 4th week
  • 2nd months arms and other part of body - correlation =by the 50th day the elbows and knees are esablished, and the finger and toes are free,
  • By 3rd month , formation of nail, hair, bone, skin, genitalia and other body cavities -correlation =the first hair to be produced by the fetal hair follicles, and it usually appears around 16 weeks of gestation, primary centers of ossification of long bone is seen around 8 weeks. Prostate begins to develop at the end of 3 month and vagina is canalized by 5 months.
  • By 5th month hunger - correlation =Does my unborn child feel hunger?
  • 7th month , fetus gain consciousness - correlation =the brain structures necessary for conscious experience of pain do not develop until 29-30 weeks, while the conscious processing of sounds is only made possible after the 26th week.
Sources-
Human embryology by Inderbir Singh
Human embryology and Development Biology by Beuce M Carlson
Internet Sources.
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