scholarly journals Art. XVII.—The Nāgas. A Contribution to the History of Serpent-Worship

1901 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-473
Author(s):  
C. F. Oldham

It is well known that between the Vedic period, and that described in the epic poems, great modifications occurred in the religion and social customs of the Indian people. Since the Epic period, further changes have taken place; so that the orthodox Hinduism, of the present day, differs much from that represented in the Mahābhārata. Religious vicissitudes have also occurred outside the Brahmanic pale. The Buddhist religion has become extinguished in India. Vast numbers of the people, too, have been converted—many of them forcibly—to the faith of Islām. Notwithstanding all this, however, many of the old deities still live. The Nāga rajas are worshipped as demigods; the sun, the cedar, and the serpent are held sacred; and Indra and his Devas have still their worshippers and their temples, as they had in the days described in the Mahābharāta.

2019 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
NAZMUL S. SULTAN

This article theorizes the colonial problem of peoplehood that Indian anticolonial thinkers grappled with in their attempts to conceptualize self-rule, or swaraj. British colonial rule drew its legitimacy from a developmentalist conception of the colonized people as backward and disunited. The discourse of “underdeveloped” colonial peoplehood rendered the Indian people “unfit” for self-government, suspending their sovereignty to an indefinite future. The concept of swaraj would be born with the rejection of deferred colonial self-government. Yet the persistence of the developmentalist figuration of the people generated a crisis of sovereign authorization. The pre-Gandhian swaraj theorists would be faced with the not-yet claimable figure of the people at the very moment of disavowing the British claim to rule. Recovering this underappreciated pre-Gandhian history of the concept of swaraj and reinterpreting its Gandhian moment, this article offers a new reading of Gandhi's theory of moral self-rule. In so doing, it demonstrates how the history of swaraj helps trace the colonial career of popular sovereignty.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-s) ◽  
pp. 212-214
Author(s):  
S. B. Tiwari ◽  
S. D. Singh ◽  
Amit Kumar Verma ◽  
Divyank Awasthi ◽  
Arun Kumar Rastogi

Ayurvedic system of medicine is considered the most ancient system of the world. In the prehistoric times medicinal plants were used by the various tribes. Evidence suggests that the people of Indus valley civilization followed this system of medicines. The Vedic and post Vedic period saw the rapid development of Ayurveda supported by the efforts of Charaka, Susrutra and Vagbhata etc. Buddhist monks played important role in the propagation of Ayurveda. However, the invasion of Muslims after 10th century destroyed Ayurveda and Unani system of medicines flourished in the country. Pre independence period again saw the emergence of Ayurveda. After Independence it attains new height with its incorporation into the Drug and Cosmetic Act. The preparation of Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia helps in the standardization of Ayurvedic drugs to compete at global level with allopathic system of medicines. Keywords: ayurvedic system, Vedic and post Vedic period, Charaka, Susrutra and Vagbhata, Ayurvedic drugs


1987 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Kripa Shankar Shukla

Ancient Indian astronomy may be classified into two main categories: (1) the vedic astronomy and (2) the post vedic astronomy. The vedic astronomy is the astronomy of the vedic period i.e. the astronomy found in the vedic saṃhitas and brāhmanas and allied literature. The principal avocation of the people in the vedic times being the performance of the vedic sacrifices at the times prescribed by the śastras, it was necessary to have accurate knowledge of the science of time so that the times prescribed for performing the various vedic sacrifices could be correctly predicted well in advance. Astronomy in those times, therefore, was essentially the science of time-determination. It centred round the Sun and Moon and its aim was to study the natural divisions of time caused by the motion of the Sun and Moon, such as days, months, seasons and years, special attention being paid to the study of the times of occurrence of new moons, full moons, equinoxes and solstices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 118-134
Author(s):  
Aleksandr E. Kotov

The journal of Ksenofont A. Govorsky “Vestnik Yugo-Zapadnoy I Zapadnoy Rossii” (“South-West and West Russia Herald”) is known in the history of pubic thought as odious and reactionary. However, this stereotypical image needs some revision: the anti-Polish discourse on the pages of the magazine was not so much nationalistic as anti-aristocratic in nature. Considering the “Poles” primarily as carriers of the aristocratic principles, the editorial board of the magazine claimed to protect the broad masses of the people. Throughout its short history, the magazine consistently opposed both revolutionary and aristocratic propaganda. However, the regional limitations of the problems covered in the magazine did not give it the opportunity to reflect on the essential closeness of the revolutionary and reactionary principles. Yu.F. Samarin and I.S. Aksakov – whose conservative-democratic views, on the whole, were close to “Western Russianism”, promoted by the authors of “Vestnik Yugo-Zapadnoy I Zapadnoy Rossii”, managed to reach that goal.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 657-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm J. Wessels

The book of Jeremiah reflects a particular period in the history of Judah, certain theological perspectives and a particular portrayal of the prophet Jeremiah. Covenant theology played a major role in Jeremiah’s view of life and determined his expectations of leaders and ordinary people. He placed high value on justice and trustworthiness, and people who did not adhere to this would in his view bear the consequences of disobedience to Yahweh’s moral demands and unfaithfulness. The prophet expected those in positions of leadership to adhere to certain ethical obligations as is clear from most of the nouns which appear in Jeremiah 5:1–6. This article argues that crisis situations in history affect leaders’ communication, attitudes and responses. Leaders’ worldviews and ideologies play a definitive role in their responses to crises. Jeremiah’s religious views are reflected in his criticism and demands of people in his society. This is also true as seen from the way the people and leaders in Judah responded to the prophet’s proclamation. Jeremiah 5:1–6 emphasises that knowledge and accountability are expected of leaders at all times, but in particular during unstable political times.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-291
Author(s):  
Egor A. Yesyunin

The article is devoted to the satirical agitation ABCs that appeared during the Civil War, which have never previously been identified by researchers as a separate type of agitation art. The ABCs, which used to have the narrow purpose of teaching children to read and write before, became a form of agitation art in the hands of artists and writers. This was facilitated by the fact that ABCs, in contrast to primers, are less loaded with educational material and, accordingly, they have more space for illustrations. The article presents the development history of the agitation ABCs, focusing in detail on four of them: V.V. Mayakovsky’s “Soviet ABC”, D.S. Moor’s “Red Army Soldier’s ABC”, A.I. Strakhov’s “ABC of the Revolution”, and M.M. Cheremnykh’s “Anti-Religious ABC”. There is also briefly considered “Our ABC”: the “TASS Posters” created by various artists during the Second World War. The article highlights the special significance of V.V. Mayakovsky’s first agitation ABC, which later became a reference point for many artists. The authors of the first satirical ABCs of the Civil War period consciously used the traditional form of popular prints, as well as ditties and sayings, in order to create images close to the people. The article focuses on the iconographic connections between the ABCs and posters in the works of D.S. Moor and M.M. Cheremnykh, who transferred their solutions from the posters to the ABCs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-190
Author(s):  
Rajkumar Bind

This paper examines the development of modern vaccination programme of Cooch Behar state, a district of West Bengal of India during the nineteenth century. The study has critically analysed the modern vaccination system, which was the only preventive method against various diseases like small pox, cholera but due to neglect, superstation and religious obstacles the people of Cooch Behar state were not interested about modern vaccination. It also examines the sex wise and castes wise vaccinators of the state during the study period. The study will help us to growing conciseness about modern vaccination among the peoples of Cooch Behar district.   


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