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Aswins
The Ashvins (, ), also known as the Ashvini Kumaras and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu twin gods associated with medicine, health, healing, sciences, and the twilight. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described as youthful divine twin horsemen, travelling in a chariot drawn by horses that are never weary, and portrayed as guardian deities that safeguard and rescue people by aiding them in various situations. There are varying accounts, but Ashvins are generally mentioned as the sons of the sun god Surya and his wife Sanjna. In the epic ''Mahabharata,'' the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva were the children of the Ashvins. Etymology and epithets The Sanskrit name ' (अश्विन्) derives from the Indo-Iranian stem ''*Haćwa-'' (cf. Avestan ''aspā''), itself from the Indo-European word for the horse, ''*H1éḱwos'', from which also descends the Lithuanian name ''Ašvieniai''. Lubotsky, Alexander. "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon". ''Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Deities
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. Lipner (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd edition, Routledge, , p. 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu." The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati. The deities of Hinduism have evolved from the Vedic era (2nd millennium BCE) through the medieval era (1st millennium CE), regionally within Nepal, Pakistan, India and in Southeast Asia, and across Hinduism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deva (Hinduism)
''Deva'' (, ) means 'shiny', 'exalted', 'heavenly being', 'divine being', 'anything of excellence', and is also one of the Sanskrit terms used to indicate a deity in Hinduism.Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 492 ''Deva'' is a masculine term; the feminine equivalent is ''Devi (Hinduism), Devi''. The word is a cognate with Latin ''deus'' ('god') and Greek Zeus. In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called ''Devas''George Williams (2008), A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, , pages 90, 112 and ''Asuras''. The concepts and legends evolved in Indian literature#In archaic Indian languages, ancient Indian literature, and by the late Vedic period, benevolent supernatural beings are referred to as ''Deva-Asuras''. In post-Vedic Hindu texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas of Hinduism, the ''Devas'' represent the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakula
Nakula () is a major character in the ancient Indian epic, the ''Mahabharata.'' He is the elder twin brother of Sahadeva and the fourth of the five Pandava brothers. He is the son of Divine twins, twin physician gods, Ashvins, and Madri, the second wife of King Pandu of Kuru kingdom, Kuru dynasty. In the epic, Nakula is described as the most handsome man of his lineage, and was renowned for his skill in swordsmanship and horse keeping. He was married to Draupadi, as were his four brothers. He was also married to Karenumati of Chedi Kingdom. He had two sons Shatanika and Niramitra from his two wives respectively. During the Rajasuya of his eldest brother Yudhishthira, he conquered the kings of the Sivis, the Rohitakas and other dynasties. After Yudhishthira lost all his possessions to his cousin Duryodhana in a dice game, the Pandavas and Draupadi were exiled for thirteen years. During the Pandavas' year of incognito exile, he disguised as a horse trainer named Granthika, and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandava, Pāṇḍavas. It also contains Hindu philosophy, philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the ''Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha (sage), Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an Ramopakhyana, abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyasa, Vy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castor And Pollux
Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. The pair are thus an example of heteropaternal superfecundation. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. In Latin, the twins are also known as the Gemini ("twins") or Castores, as well as the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids. Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire. They were also associated with horsemanship, in keeping with their origin as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea (mythology), Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe (mythology), Hebe, and Hephaestus.Hard 2004p. 79 At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione (Titaness/Oceanid), Dione, by whom the ''Iliad'' states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the ''Theogony'', Zeus's first wife was Metis (mythology), Metis, by whom he had Athena.Hesiod, ''Theogony'886900 Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dievas
Lithuanian Dievas, Latvian Dievs and Debestēvs (" Sky-Father"), Latgalian Dīvs, Old Prussian Diews, Yotvingian Deivas was the primordial supreme god in the Baltic mythology, one of the most important deities together with Perkūnas, and the brother of Potrimpo. He was the god of light, sky, prosperity, wealth, ruler of gods, and the creator of the universe. Dievas is a direct successor of the Proto-Indo-European supreme sky father god *Dyēus of the root ''*deiwo-''. Its Proto-Baltic form was *''Deivas''. Dievas had two sons Dievo sūneliai (Lithuanian) or Dieva dēli (Latvian) known as the Heavenly Twins. Since the conversion of Latvia and Lithuania to Christianity and continuing in modern times, this word refers to the Christian God. In English, Dievas may be used as a word to describe the God (or, the supreme god) in the pre-Christian Baltic religion, where Dievas was understood to be the supreme being of the world. In Lithuanian and Latvian, it is also used to descr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyaus
Dyaus (Vedic Sanskrit: द्यौस्, ) or Dyauspitr (Vedic Sanskrit: द्यौष्पितृ, ) is the Rigvedic sky deity. His consort is Prthvi, the earth goddess, and together they are the archetypal parents in the Rigveda. Nomenclature stems from Proto-Indo-Iranian ''*dyā́wš'', from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) daylight-sky god , and is cognate with the Greek Διας – ''Zeus Patēr'', Illyrian '' Dei-pátrous'', and Latin ''Jupiter'' (from Old Latin Dies piter ''Djous patēr''), stemming from the PIE ''Dyḗus ph₂tḗr'' ("Daylight-sky Father").' The noun (when used without the 'father') refers to the daylight sky, and occurs frequently in the Rigveda, as an entity. The sky in Vedic writing was described as rising in three tiers, , , and or . Literature Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́ appears in hymns with Prithvi Mata 'Mother Earth' in the ancient Vedic scriptures of Hinduism. In the Ṛg·veda, ''Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́'' appears in verses 1.89.4, 1.90 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Netherlands of today. During the Dutch Golden Age scholars from around Europe were attracted to the Dutch Republic for its climate of intellectual tolerance. Individuals such as René Descartes, Rembrandt, Christiaan Huygens, Hugo Grotius, Benedictus Spinoza, and later Baron d'Holbach were active in Leiden and environs. The university has seven academic faculties and over fifty subject departments, housing more than forty national and international research institutes. Its historical primary campus consists of several buildings spread over Leiden, while a second campus located in The Hague houses a liberal arts college (Leiden University College The Hague) and several of its faculties. It i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Lubotsky
Alexander Markovich Lubotsky, also known as Sasha Lubotsky (; born 16 April 1956), is a Russian-Dutch linguist and Indologist who specializes in the study of Indo-Iranian languages. He is the editor-in-chief of the Leiden ''Indo-European Etymological Dictionary'' project. In 2011, he published ''The Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon'', a list of inherited Old Indo-Aryan words along with their Proto-Indo-Iranian ancestor forms. Biography Alexander Lubotsky was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR. His father was the violinist Mark Lubotsky. He studied linguistics at Lomonosov University (now Moscow State University) between 1973 and 1976, then Indo-Iranian languages at Leiden University from 1976 to 1980. He earned a BA in Indo-Iranian in 1978, a MA in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics in 1980, then in PhD in Linguistics from Leiden in 1987, following a thesis on the "Nominal accentuation in Sanskrit and Indo-European" under the supervision of Robert S. P. Beekes. Since 1999, he has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Indo-European Language
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. Far more work has gone into reconstructing PIE than any other proto-language, and it is the best understood of all proto-languages of its age. The majority of linguistic work during the 19th century was devoted to the reconstruction of PIE and its daughter languages, and many of the modern techniques of linguistic reconstruction (such as the comparative method) were developed as a result. PIE is hypothesized to have been spoken as a single language from approximately 4500 BCE to 2500 BCE during the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age, though estimates vary by more than a thousand years. According to the prevailing Kurgan hypothesis, the original homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans may have been in the Pon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avestan
Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old Iranian period ( – 400 BCE) by the Arya (Iran), Iranians living in the Avestan geography, eastern portion of Greater Iran. After Avestan Language death, became extinct, its religious texts were first transmitted Oral literature, orally until being collected and Sasanian Avesta, put into writing during the Sasanian empire, Sasanian period ( – 500 CE). The Avesta, extant material falls into two Variety (linguistics), groups: Old Avestan ( – 900 BCE) and Younger Avestan ( – 400 BCE). The immediate ancestor of Old Avestan was the Proto-Iranian language, a sister language to the Proto-Indo-Aryan language, with both having developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian language. As such, Old Avestan is quite close in both grammar and lexi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
