जीण जीण भज बारंबारा, हर संकट का हो निस्तारा !!

जीण जीण भज बारंबारा, हर संकट का हो निस्तारा !!

जयपुर बीकानेर मार्ग पर सीकर से ११ कि.मी. दूर गोरिया से जीण माता मंदिर के लिए मार्ग है | १७ कि.मी. लम्बा यह मार्ग पहले अत्यंत दुर्गम व रेतीला था किन्तु विकास के दौर में आज यह काफी सुगम हो गया है | सकरा व जीर्ण शीर्ण मार्ग चोडा व काफी हद चिकना हो चुका है |

मंदिर के पास बिना दरवाजों की अनेकों धर्मशालाएं शनि सिंगानापुर का स्मरण कराती हैं - जहां चोरी करना खुद की शामत बुलाना माना जाता है | मंदिर प्रवंध समिति की आधुनिक सुख सुविधायुक्त धर्मशालाएं भी यात्रियों के लिए हैं - जो नाम मात्र के शुल्क पर उपलव्ध हैं | वर्ष प्रतिपदा के एक दिन पूर्व सायंकाल ५ बजे सपरिवार कुल देवी जीण माता की शरण में पहुंचा | पहले दर्शन किये - फिर चल दिया हर्ष भैरव के दर्शनों को | जीण माता मंदिर के ऊपर १७ की.मी. सीधी चढ़ाई बाले हर्ष पर्वत पर स्थित १० वी शताब्दी का यह मंदिर, अनेक लोक श्रुतियों का जन्म दाता है | 

ओरंगजेब द्वारा किये गए विध्वंस के चिन्ह आज भी दूर दूर तक बिखरे हुए हैं | प्रस्तर पर उकेरे अनुपम पौराणिक आख्यान, अदभुत पुरातात्विक कलाकृतियाँ - जिसमें ना जाने कितने कलाकारों का अमूल्य परिश्रम लगा होगा - आज धूल धूसरित खंडित जहां तहां बिखरे पड़े हैं |

पुराने शिव मंदिर के स्थान पर नवीन मंदिर निर्माण हो चुका है, किन्तु खंडित ध्वंसावशेष बता रहे हैं कि पुराने मंदिर से उसकी कोई तुलना नहीं हो सकती | संगमरमर का विशाल शिव लिंग तथा नंदी प्रतिमा आकर्षक है | पराशर ब्राह्मण वंश परंपरा से उनकी सेवा पूजा में नियुक्त हैं | पास ही हर्षनाथ का मंदिर है जहां चामुंडा देवी तथा भैरव नाथ के साथ उनकी दिव्य प्रतिमाये स्थित हैं | सेकड़ों के तादाद में काले मुंह के लंगूर मंदिर पर चढ़ाए जाने वाले प्रसाद के पहले अधिकारी हैं | कोई आनाकानी करे तो वे जबरन लेने में संकोच नहीं करते |

हर्षदेव व जीण माता का अनुपम आख्यान भाई बहिन के दैवीय प्रेम का अनुपम उदाहरण है | लौकिक मोह किस प्रकार पारलौकिक स्वरुप धारण कर पूजनीय हो गया, यह कथा प्रदर्शित करती है | राज कुमारी जीण बाई को संदेह मात्र हुआ की उनके भाई हर्ष नाथ उनसे अधिक उनकी भाभी को प्रेम करने लगे हैं - उनका भव बंधन टूट गया | और वे देवाराधन व तपस्यारत हो गई दुरूह जंगल में और महामाया भगवती भ्रामरी मां की उपासना करते करते उनके दिव्य स्वरुप मय हो गयीं | राज कुमार हर्षनाथ भी घर द्वार छोड़कर शिवाराधन तल्लीन होकर भैरव के रूप में पूजित हुए |

एतिहासिक तथ्यों के अनुसार औरंगजेब ने मंदिर ध्वंस करने अपनी सेना भेजी, शिव मंदिर तो ध्वस्त हुआ किन्तु सेना पर विपत्तियों का पहाड़ टूट पड़ा | ना जाने कहाँ से भवरों के झुंडों ने सेना पर आक्रमण कर दिया | घवराई हुई सेना भाग खडी हुई | औरंगजेब ने भी सवामन तेल का दीपक अखंड ज्योति के रूप में मंदिर में स्थापित किया जो आज तक प्रज्वलित है | पहले शासन व्यवस्था करता था, आज भक्तो के द्वारा सुव्यवस्था है |

जीण जीण भज बारंबारा, हर संकट का हो निस्तारा !!

Ancient Indian wisdom-IDOL WORSHIP IS SCIENTIFIC

Ancient Indian wisdom-IDOL WORSHIP IS SCIENTIFIC

IDOL WORSHIP IS SCIENTIFIC

Modern science, besides throwing new light on the psychic power hidden in temples, has also proved conclusively that idol worship too is scientific. The ideal material for moulding of the idols, according to our rishis, is 'Panchloha', a combination of five metals. Robert Pavlita, a Czech metallurgist, has concluded from his experiments on 'Panchloha' that it is an ideal combination of metals for storing 'psychotronic energy', and that this energy can exert a strong influence on water, which is sprinkled on the devotees.

Ancient Indian wisdom-MACHHA- YANTRA : THE ANCIENT INDIAN MARINER'S COMPASS

Ancient Indian wisdom-MACHHA- YANTRA : THE ANCIENT INDIAN MARINER'S COMPASS

MACHHA- YANTRA : THE ANCIENT INDIAN MARINER'S COMPASS

A contrived mariner's compass was used by Indian navigators nearly 1500 to 2000 years ago. This has in fact been the suggestion of a European expert, Mr. J. L. Reid, who was a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and Shipbuilders in England at around the beginning of the present century. This is what Mr. Reid has said in the Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xiii., Part ii., Appendix A.

"The early Hindu astrologers are said to have used the magnet, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word Maccha Yantra, or fish machine, which Molesworth gives as a name for the mariner's compass".

It is significant to note that these are the words of a foreign Naval Architect and Shipbuilding Expert. It is quite possible that the Machha Yantra was transmitted to the west by the Arabs to give us the mariner's compass of today.

Ancient Indian wisdom-INDIA'S MARITIME HISTORY

Ancient Indian wisdom-INDIA'S MARITIME HISTORY

INDIA'S MARITIME HISTORY

Ancient India was a prominent maritime power. History reveals that India was the foremost maritime nation 2,000 years ago. India's maritime history predates the birth of western civilization. The world's first tidal dock is believed to have been built at Lothal around 2300 BC during the Harappan civilization, near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast.

Traders took merchandise by overland caravans to the sea-ports of Broach or Surat in the west, Kaveripumpatnam (Pukar) in the South or Banga in the East. Indian-built ships, laden with Indian manufactures, sailed to Ceylon, Egypt, Greece, Babylon, China or the countries of South-East Asia or Far East. The Sanskrit text, Yukti Kalpa Taru, explains how to build ships. It gives minute details about ship types, sizes and materials, including suitability of different types of wood. The treatise also elaborately explains how to decorate and furnish ships so they're comfortable for passengers.

In ancient times the Indians excelled in shipbuilding and even the English, who were attentive to everything which related to naval architecture, found early Indian models worth copying. The Indian vessels united elegance and utility, and were models of fine workmanship. 

Ancient Indian wisdom-THE HELIOCENTRIC THEORY OF GRAVITATION

Ancient Indian wisdom-THE HELIOCENTRIC THEORY OF GRAVITATION

THE HELIOCENTRIC THEORY OF GRAVITATION

Bhaskaracharya, the ancient Hindu astronomer, in the Surya Siddhanta dated 400-500 A.D. states, "Objects fall on the earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellation, moon and sun are held in orbit due to this force." Brahmagupta, in the 7th century had said about gravity that "Bodies fall towards the earth as it is in the nature of the earth to attract bodies, just as it is in the nature of water to flow".

About a hundred years before Brahmagupta, another astronomer, Varahamihira had claimed that there should be a force which might be keeping bodies stuck to the earth, and also keeping heavenly bodies in their determined places. Thus the concept of the existence of some force of attraction that governs the falling of objects to the earth and their remaining stationary after having once fallen; as also determining the positions which heavenly bodies occupy, was recognised. Even in Vedic literature the Sun is referred to as the "centre of spheres" alongwith the term "Gurutvaakarshan".

Thus, we can see that the ancient Indian astronomers came close to the heliocentric theory of gravitation, which was, articulated by Copernicus and Galileo a thousand years later inviting severe reactions from the clergy in Rome. Isaac Newton only rediscovered this phenomenon approximately 1200 years later and called it the Law of Gravity.

Ancient Indian wisdom-IRON & STEEL MAKING PROCESS

Ancient Indian wisdom-IRON & STEEL MAKING PROCESS

IRON & STEEL MAKING PROCESS

Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology have resolved the mystery behind the 1600-year-old iron pillar in Delhi which has not corroded despite the capital's harsh weather. Metallurgists at Kanpur IIT have discovered that a thin layer of 'misawite', a compound of iron, oxygen and hydrogen, has protected the cast-iron pillar from rust. The protective film took form within three years of the erection of the pillar and has been growing ever so slowly since then. After 1600 years, the film has grown just one-twentieth of a millimetre thick. The protective film is formed catalytically by the presence of high amounts of phosphorous in the iron - as much as one percent against less than 0.05 per cent in today's iron.

The high phosphorous content is a result of the unique iron-making process practised by ancient Indians who reduced iron ore into steel in one step by mixing it with charcoal. Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in place of charcoal, yielding molten slag and pig iron that is later converted into steel.

In the ancient times Indian iron enjoyed good reputation internationally. Arabs and Persians yearned for swords made of Indian iron. The renowned metallurgist Prof. Anantraman has explained the iron-making process. Iron ore, wood and carbon powder were mixed and heated in earthen barrels up to a temperature of 1535 degrees centigrade and then gradually cooled for 24 hours to achieve iron with high carbon content. The British called it Butz. In the 18th century European metallurgists tried to manufacture iron like the Indians but they failed.

In his book "Indian science and technology in the eighteenth century" Shri Dharmpalji has mentioned the evidence given by the Europeans of the advanced method of manufacturing iron in India. In a report sent to East India Company in 1795 Dr. Benjamin Hayan describes that Ramnath Peth is a beautiful village around which there are mines and 40 iron making furnaces. The cost of iron manufactured in these furnaces is only Rs. 2 per mann, hence the company should think in this direction.

In another report James Franklin writes about steel manufacturing in Central India. He mentions iron mines in Jabalpur, Panna, Sagar, etc. and that charcoal was used in making iron all over India. A report by Captain J. Campbell in 1842 describes iron manufacturing in South India.

All these reports show that there were small furnaces all over India. Each furnace used to provide employment to nine persons and generated iron which was high in quality but cheap in price. While obtaining bar iron for railways, Campbell has emphasized that the bar iron of India is high in quality but low in cost. The best quality iron from England could not cope with the worst quality Indian iron.

90000 people worked in small iron furnaces in those days. The British established Bengal Iron Company in 1874 and started iron manufacturing on a large scale. Also more expensive iron was imported from abroad. As a result, the sale of the small furnaces went down and by the end of the 19th century the swadeshi iron industry was almost dead. The knowledge of this ancient technique is still possessed in few vanvasi families in Jharkhand.

Ancient Indian wisdom-DECIMAL SYSTEM

Ancient Indian wisdom-DECIMAL SYSTEM

DECIMAL SYSTEM

The discovery of zero and use of numerals has been the gift of India to the modern world. Even Bertrand Russell commented that we should stop the practice of calling them 'Arabic Numerals' as they are truly Hindu numerals. They were no doubt introduced to the European world as Arabic numerals, the Arabs having borrowed them from India.

The decimal system was in regular use among Indian astronomers in ancient India.