Ostrich does not hide its head in the sand

It is a myth. An ostrich does not bury its head in the sand. This myth had been created by the early travelers in Africa. They were responsible for the statement that the ostrich buries its head because it thinks it cannot be seen if it cannot see others. As a matter of fact these great birds are very cautious, careful and watchful and they run away at top speed when they think they are in danger. It is reported, indeed, that if it is accompanied by its chicks, an ostrich sometimes throws itself to the ground in such a way as to give the impression that it is hurt. It does so in order to divert the attention of the hunter from its chicks. Still, even under such circumstances, it does not bury its head in the sand.

Effects of Nuclear weapons

 

Nuclear weapons (effects)

The effects of a nuclear explosion are so awesome that they are difficult to imagine. In 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed most of the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and killed or injured more than half the people. A second bomb caused similar destruction in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Most of what people know about the effects of nuclear weapons was learned in these explosions and in tests conducted in isolated areas where no people live.

The effects of a nuclear explosion vary with the yield of the weapon. Scientists are still unsure of all the effects, but they know that a powerful nuclear explosion causes destruction in several main ways.

Blast. The enormous release of energy in a nuclear explosion heats the air very quickly. The hot air expands rapidly, creating a shock wave (or blast) that travels out from the site of the explosion. This blast accounts for half the energy released by the explosion. It can flatten buildings near the explosion site and cause damage for miles around. The force of the explosion can also produce a large crater in the ground.

Heat. A nuclear explosion creates a fireball with temperatures of millions of degrees. The temperatures are high enough to instantly destroy almost anything near the site of the explosion. Heat accounts for about a third of the energy released in the explosion.

 

lotus-eaters

What is the legend of the lotus-eaters?

Lotus flowers have a long, rich history spanning thousands of years. Naturally occurring in many countries in Southeast Asia and Australia, they're also found in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as folklore in ancient Greece.

The ancient Greeks told of a strange people that dwelt on the northern coast of Africa. They were called lotus-eaters because they loved to eat the sweet fruit of the lotus tree. This fruit made them lazy; they dreamed away their days. Strangers who ate the lotus fruit also became lazy, and forgot their homes and kindred; they longed to remain in this pleasant land.

In Homer's Greek epic poem the ODYSSEY, it is said that Odysseus and his men came to this wondrous land. Some of the crew ate freely of the lotus fruit and it had upon them the usual effect. They were so unwilling to depart that Odysseus had to have them dragged away to their ships by force.

Among the poems there is a lovely version of this legend, THE LOTOS-EATERS, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Nowadays we call a person who gives himself up to daydreams and idles and sleeps  the days away a lotus-eater.

It is generally thought that the lotus tree, which was so famous in Greek fable, was a shrub that grows rather freely in the western Mediterranean area. It is called Zizyphus lotus; it has a pulpy fruit.

The lotus flower and bud were favorite designs in Egyptian and Hindu art and architecture. We sometimes spell lotus in the Greek way -lotos.

Lotus also grow in the lakes. Nelumbo nucifera, also known as Indian lotus, sacred lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two surviving species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often refers to members of the family Nymphaeaceae. 

For centuries, the lotus flower has been depicted in different religions and countries around the world. Miraculously growing in the murkiest of conditions, the lotus is a lucky symbol that's revered for its strength, spirit and of course, its beauty.

The lotus flower appears on some of the earliest Buddhist and Jain imagery we have in South Asia, going as far back as the time of Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. lotuses were also used in Buddhist stupas (spherical shrines) as early as 180 BCE, "as a source and support for a goddess who is eventually known as Lakshmi." Because the lotus was also popular among the Indo-Greeks (an ancient nomadic people of Eurasia), it's "unclear geographically where the image first arose," but by the first few centuries of the Common Era, "it is well established to see the Buddha, Jinas, and Hindu gods and goddesses emerging from lotus flowers." Today, the lotus is the national flower of both India and Vietnam.

 

 

 

 

What were the enchanted islands?

 

What were the enchanted islands?

Las Islas Encantadas-the enchanted or be witched islands was the name that Spanish sailors gave the Galápagos Islands when they were first discovered in 1535. The Spaniards were mystified by the desolate, volcanic islands, with their strange forms of animal life. They thought that the islands were not real, but only "shadows" of is lands. Although the islands then were uninhabited, evidence later was found of earlier settlement by South American Indians.

The name Galápagos (from the Spanish for "tortoises") was adopted by mapmakers, based on descriptions of the many giant tortoises, or land turtles, found on the islands. The islands' other distinctive animals include rare flightless cormorants (fish-catching sea birds), penguins, land and marine iguanas (large lizards), and numerous species of finches and other birds.

The animals were of special interest to the British naturalist Charles Darwin, who visited the islands in 1835. The many varieties of finches, in particular, provided Darwin with a clue to his theory of evolution.

The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds.  Passerine birds relate to or denote birds of a large order distinguished by feet that are adapted for perching, including all songbirds. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colorful plumage.

Since 1832 the islands have been administered by Ecuador, which first colonised them. They are a province of Ecuador, officially known as the Archipelago de Colón. The dwindling number of animals on the islands are protected by the Ecuadorian Government.

 

The "invisible hand

 What is the amazing "invisible hand"?

Sham Misri

The life in most important cities with millions of inhabitants require huge amounts of a variety of goods and services to meet their wants and needs. Do people lie awake at night worrying that the goods and services they need might be unavailable when they need or want them? In market economies, people take it for granted that the things they need or want will be available. But, the fact that most things are usually available when people want them is a remarkable achievement.

Suppose a person decides to have fish, cheese, and sliced tomatoes for dinner. Even though he may not have purchased these items for months, he can be almost certain that he will find them at the nearest supermarket. The fish may have come from a faraway ocean or lake and the cheese and tomatoes from a distant farm and shipped to the local supermarket at just the right time for eating. None of the many people involved in producing and marketing these products knew you were going to want them on a particular day, yet they were there at the very time you needed them.

As amazing as it may seem, there is no government agency, business, or individual responsible for ensuring that the economic needs and wants of people are met. It is the economic system-its market economy-that sees to it that products of the right type and in the right quantity are available when most people want them. Some economists say that the economy works like an "invisible hand" in meeting the needs of the people.

The principle of the invisible hand was first reported by the economist Adam Smith in 1776 in his book Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Smith said that in a market economy, if individuals were allowed to pursue their own self-interests without government interference, they would be led, as if by an invisible hand, to achieve what is best for the society. The idea of letting economic problems work themselves out with no government interference is known as laissez-faire, a French term meaning "let do" or "let things alone." Al though the  economies today are very different from the type of economy described by Adam Smith, the principle of the invisible hand still applies to some extent.

Businesses work to maximize their profits, workers seek higher wages, and consumers attempt to get the maximum value for their money. To maximize their profits, businesses must provide the goods and services that most consumers want at the right time and in the right places. In this, the economy operates as way, if it were regulated by an "invisible hand."

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723 90) is generally considered to be the founder of economics. Born in Scotland, Smith became a professor of logic and moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow at age 28. His studies led him to the conclusion that people always act in their own best interest. He argued that if individuals were allowed to pursue their interests free from government interference, they would promote what was best for society as a whole.

Adam Smith revolutionized economics with the publication of Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Because of the ideas in this book, Smith is given credit for promoting the economic freedom, the industrialization, and the prosperity that characterized the Western world during the 1800's.

 

 

Achilles' heel

Sham Misri

What was wrong with Achilles' heel?

Achilles was a mythical hero of ancient Greece, the perfect of youthful strength beauty and courage. He was the son of Peleus, a mortal, and Thetis, one of the lesser goddesses. Achilles was King of the Myrmidons and a powerful warrior.

According to the legend, while Achilles was still a babe his mother dipped him in the River Styx, which protected his body forever against any weapon-with one important exception. The river water did not touch the heel by which his mother held him.  That was his weak spot; and he died at Troy from an arrow wound in that heel. Nowadays, if we know that an otherwise strong person has a weakness, we call it his Achilles' heel.

Tavernier A French Traveller

 

Tavernier A French Traveller

Baron Jean Baptiste Tavernier

Baron Jean Baptiste Tavernier of Aubonne, was the famed 17th century French traveller and expert gem trader, and is located in what used to be his fiefdom. Tavernier was among the many merchant travelers who bridged the gap between the Orient and the Western hemisphere.

Undertaking extensive and often dangerous journeys to the great empires of the East, Tavernier navigated much of Safavid Iran and Mughal India, serving as an integral cog in early modern global trade. His sense of enterprise, combined with his keen eye for gemstones, brought him in close proximity to many pivotal personalities, events, and objects of the time including becoming the conveyor of one the most famous diamonds in history.

Ever Eastwards

Tavernier made his first journey to the East in 1631, at the age of 26, accompanying two French clergymen on their travels to the Levant and Persia. Making their way through Constantinople (now Istanbul), Tavernier got as far as Isfahan in Iran. He returned to Europe in 1633 -'34, having spent about three years travelling and trading in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Over the next 30 years, Tavernier would make five more such excursions via land and sea — going as far east as Vietnam.

Much of what we know about his journeys come from his own accounts, published in 1676 as two books, Six Voyages and Travels in India. Both sold widely and by the middle of the 18th century had already gone through 21 editions in French as well as other languages (they are still in print today).

Tavernier was a discerning writer who kept meticulous notes – but arranged them by theme rather than chronologically. It is believed he did this in order to minimize repetition, but for those of us looking back on his travels nearly 400 years on, it means we often don't know exactly when he was in the places he mentions. What we do know is that in 1640, on his second journey, he made his way to India.

Travelling overland to Persia, and then via ship across the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, Tavernier arrived in Surat-a route he would repeat in all his successive journeys. Arriving in the middle of March 1640, Tavernier was at once infatuated by this new land.

Apparently, he did not think too highly of Surat itself, considering it to be a city of "indifferent bigness, defended by a pitiful fortress", but as he explored the great plains of Hindustan, he became fascinated. Over five visits to India, he would travel through most of the Mughal Empire, visiting Agra, Golconda, Patna, Goa, Dhaka and Machilipatnam, among other cities.

The sheer abundance he encountered of everyday and extraordinary fare deeply fascinated him, and is something he wrote of repeatedly in his travelogues. Tavernier noted how "even in the smallest villages, rice, flour, butter, milk, beans and other vegetables, sugar and sweetmeats, dry and liquid, can be procured in abundance". Most supreme for Tavernier, however, was the court of the Great Moghuls. He attended court in Agra during the reigns of Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58) as well as Aurangzeb.

Tavernier describes the many customs often very elaborate that were followed by the Mughal Emperors. The weighing of the Emperor against an equivalent amount of jewelery on his birthday; the 80-elephant processions in which Shah Jahan proceeded on every mosque visit; Aurangzeb's fortnightly hunts that featured thousands of men, even if you counted just the beaters. All this was otherworldly and intriguing for Tavernier.

What instilled the most awe in him, naturally, were the jeweled riches of the Mughals. In his travelogues, he takes great pains to describe each of the seven imperial thrones. Chief among them was the Peacock Throne, on which Tavernier said he counted nearly 108 rubies (none below 100 carats), 160 emeralds (none below 30 carats), and a great number of diamonds and pearls. Atop the canopy of the throne, sat the jeweled peacock, "consisting all of sapphires... the body is of beaten gold, encased with several jewels; and a great ruby upon its breast, at which hangs a pearl, that weighs fifty carats".

Tavernier was in India at the time of the disputed hiatus between Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, and describes in great detail the fratricidal war of succession that was unfolding before him. Having come from Europe, where primogeniture or the rule of the first-born child was the norm, the idea that all male relatives could lay claim to a throne baffled him. Tavernier's graphic account of the nearly confused Shah Jahan yelling curses upon his son Aurangzeb, after being imprisoned by the latter, is just one of the many episodes he recounts, as these famed figures revealed their very human vulnerabilities.

Another was Aurangzeb's reaction to the death of Dara Shikoh, his elder brother and main rival for the Mughal throne. It was Aurangzeb who sentenced Dara Shikoh to death, after defeating him in battle. But when he was presented with his severed head as evidence of his command being carried out, Aurangzeb fell to his knees weeping. Grief-stricken, he ordered the remains of his brother to be buried in Humayun's Tomb.

When Aurangzeb finally ascended the throne, Tavernier describes the lavish coronation he staged, stretching over months. He makes special mention of the variety of ambassadors and other ambassadors and envoys who arrived to pay their respects and establish ties with the new emperor. These included representatives from Tartar kingdoms in Uzbekistan, the Ethiopian Empire and the Sharif of Mecca. More presciently, Tavernier noted the attendance of the factory chiefs of the Dutch and British East India Companies, who needed to ensure warm ties with the Mughal court in order to trade. Apart from the larger historical events Tavernier also took note of the Mughal Empire, and after the porticos of the subcontinent at large. In the coming decades, they would play an emergent role in the downfall of the Mughal Empire, and alter the politics of the subcontinent at large. For now though, Tavernier was witnessing one of the grandest empires of the time at its apotheosis.

Apart from the larger historical events, Tavernier also took note of the more trivial but intriguing rumors and stories that emerged from the Mughal harem. Tales of poisonings by rival mistresses, the murder of illicit lovers, and the intense political conspiracies to gain imperial favor allowed the traveller to paint a rich caricature of the lives of the Mughals at the height of the Empire. He surveyed the Mughal court at its very finest from a point of view few others could ever access.

Tavernier, however, was ultimately a merchant and had to profit from these long trips. Over his many journey's to India, he became extremely well-versed with one commodity that would ensure handsome rewards: diamonds. Until the mid-18th century, the mines of Golconda in the Deccan were the sole source of diamonds in the world. Stones originating here were highly prized, and the word 'Golconda' was synonymous with extreme extravagance even in the great courts of Europe.

Tavernier visited the mines himself, in order to purchase gemstones of the finest quality. It was on one of his final visits to the famed Kollur Mine, right on the banks of River Krishna, that Tavernier acquired a diamond like no other. Though only 112 carats (Tavernier saw numerous diamonds above 500 carats, he records), it had perfect clarity, a rare pristine blue tint, and was "the size of a grown man's fist". The Tavernier Blue, as it came to be known, sealed the merchant traveler’s place in history.

Upon returning to France in 1668, he was received in court by Louis XIV. The king bought a number of diamonds from him, including the Tavernier Blue, paying a staggering total of 3 million French livres. In addition to this vast sum, a patent of nobility was granted to Tavernier, making him Baron of Aubonne (then part of the Kingdom of France) and vesting with him the lands that came with the baronetcy.

The Tavernier Blue turned out to be the finest gemstone in the French Treasury, and was cut and placed in the insignia set of the French Crown Jewels. It was not to remain for very long. During the French Revolution (1787-99), it was stolen, along with the rest of the crown jewels, and would reappear in London — recut and now known as the Hope Diamond.

After passing through numerous hands, famed American gem merchant Harry Winston finally donated it to the Natural History museum in Washington DC in 1958, where it resides today. Its rich origin and provenance is not without its own 'diamond curse' adage, and a number of its owners fell upon hard times after acquiring it.

As for Tavernier, after spending over 40 years travelling and trading in kingdoms so distant from his own roots, he retired to his peerage on the shores of Lake Geneva. He at once began working on his travelogues, and much to our benefit, spent considerable time recounting all that he had seen and experienced. Rather ironically, it has been his literary works, rather than the scores of gemstones he bartered and esteemed so highly, whose value has stood the test of time, becoming vital resources for scholars of Mughal India.

Tavernier's own story ends tragically, in dwindled prosperity and a violent death. Having lavished his riches on a number of questionable business ventures by 1689, Tavernier- now 84 — decided to once again set out towards Persia, via Moscow, on a trading expedition. He would never complete it. He died somewhere near Smolensk, allegedly torn apart by a pack of wolves. The curse, perhaps, of the rare blue diamond he was the first to trade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parasitic plants

 

Parasitic plants

Some parasitic plants can be beneficial to the ecosystem they live in. The most well-known parasitic plant is the mistletoe, the plant that has been part of Christmas celebrations in western cultures for hundreds of years. A branch of mistletoe is hung at the top of a doorway or suspended from the ceiling. Couples who “happen” to cross each other’s paths under the mistletoe are permitted a kiss. For each kiss, a berry is plucked off the branch. When the berries run out, so do the kisses. You didn’t know mistletoe was a parasite? Most people don’t. The name “mistletoe” (originally “mistiltan”) most likely comes from the Anglo-Saxon words “mistel” meaning “dung,” and “tan” meaning “twig.” So that makes the real name for this plant “dung-on-a-twig.” The dung in question comes from birds. Birds eat the berries, and some of their dropping fall on tree branches. Mistletoe seeds happen to be very sticky, so they quickly adhere to the branch. When the seeds germinate, they can grow for a while in the bird dropping, as if it was dirt. As quickly as they can, though, the baby mistletoe plants start putting out special “roots” called haustoria (hoe-STORE-ee-ah). The haustoria somehow grow their way through the tree’s bark and get into the sapwood where the living xylem and phloem tubes are. They put their thin root-like tubes into the tree’s xylem and phloem, as if putting a drinking straw into someone else’s glass. The mistletoe slurps away, sucking water, minerals and sugars from the tree’s vascular system. Thus, the mistletoe is permanently attached to a tree, instead of growing in the ground. The mistletoe is what botanists called a hemiparasite (“hemi” meaning “halfway”). The leaves can still do photosynthesis, so it is not completely reliant on the host tree. At first, the tree hardly notices the mistletoe and isn’t especially bothered by it. If rainfall is adequate, there is enough water for both plants. However, as the mistletoe grows larger and larger, there is a greater possibility that the tree won’t be able to keep up with the increasing demands the mistletoe places on it. Some trees do eventually die from mistletoe invasion, and, in general, gardeners see mistletoe as a threat. They usually prune off any tree branches that show mistletoe infestation.

Platypus-The mammal that lays eggs

 

Strange mammals that lay eggs

1.      Platypus

Platypus has little-tiny eyes, a flat head and silky-smooth looking short hair. It belongs to the great class of mammals, the furry or hairy animals. These  strange mammals that do not give birth to young, but lay eggs! All animals (or almost all) begin life the same way, as an egg-cell formed by the union of cells from two parents. This egg-cell may develop in the mother's body, nourished and protected by her, as in most mammals, or it may be made up into a package with all the food material it will need to develop and pass out of the mother's body as an egg. In this case it is hatched by the heat of the sun or kept warm by the mother. Some members of egg-laying classes, many sharks and some snakes, retain their eggs inside the mother's body until the young hatch and are born.

Of all the mammals living in this world today, only those of one order, the Monotremata (found in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea), lay eggs. When this fact of egg-laying mammals was first reported, it was not believed by the scientists. So many strange tales turned out to be false that it is best to accept stories only after careful study of the evidence.

 

In 1884, however, a scientist named Caldwell went to Australia from England, especially to gather full and reliable information about the duckbill and echidna, or spiny ant eater, two types that belong in this strange order. He discovered beyond shadow of doubt that both really do lay eggs and after the eggs have hatched, the mother feeds her babies with milk, as other mammal mothers do.

 

Platypus is a delicate animal and very hard to keep in captivity out of its natural surroundings. However, a number of duckbills have been kept alive and watched carefully by many people.

 

These animals lay eggs and after the eggs hatch, nourish the young with milk. They are of two distinct kinds: the velvet-coated duckbill, or platypus; and the spiny an eater or echidna.

 

When the first stuffed specimens of the duckbill, or platypus, were brought to Europe they were thought to be frauds, like the "mermaids,"

Velvety fur like a mole: short, flattened tail like that of a beaver, all four feet webbed; a bill like a duck and no teeth – no wonder people found the duckbill hard to believe!

 

And when the collectors reported that the Australian men said this astonishing creature laid eggs like a lizard or turtle, that was going too far!

The scientific names the duck bill was given indicate how people felt-it was first called Platypus, or duck-like flat-foot," and then Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, which means puzzling bird-snout." And a curious puzzle he is.

 

Duckbills feed on snails, crayfish, earth-worms, water-living insects and insect larvae. Most of this food they capture by probing about in the mud at the bottom of the ponds in which they live. To assist in keeping the food caught under water, there are large cheek pouches, in which the prey may be stored. Duckbills can remain under water for six or seven minutes at a time.

Duckbills are found only in southern and eastern Australia and in Tasmania, where they live in the small rivers, streams and ponds. They cannot build dams as the beaver does, so they have to choose water that never goes dry. Even in places where they are common, duckbills are not often seen, for they come out of their burrows only rarely during the daylight hours. They are shy animals, especially the old males.

The duckbill is a thick, heavy-bodied mammal; the males reach more than twenty inches in length and may weigh nearly four pounds, while the females are several inches shorter and a pound lighter in weight. In color platypuses are deep, rich brown above, grayish or white below. The limbs are short. Unlike those of most mammals, the upper arm and thigh project  at right angles to the body, parallel to the ground, like the limbs of a reptile. The feet have broad webs which aid in swimming. The webs of the forefeet are especially large, extending far beyond the claws. Duck bills, at home in the water, swim very well indeed, but walk on land clumsily. Males have a long, sharp, horny spur on the heel; this spur is hollow and connects with poison glands in the leg. The duck like bill is covered with blackish, naked skin and, although the young platypus has several teeth, these are lost before the animal becomes adult. In their place are developed horny plates or ridges on the jaws and across the palate.  The eyes are small and bright, while the external ear is only a hole. No ear-shell, such as mammalian ears usually have, is developed in duck bills. If one is alarmed it makes a warning "splash-plunge" in the water and all other duckbills hearing the noise sink below the surface and swim to their burrows or to some distance from the threatened danger.

 

The home burrows are quite ambitious projects. A long tunnel is dug into the bank of a pond or stream from below the water level, sloping gently upward. This tunnel may extend for as much as fifty feet. It ends in a rounded chamber. Sometimes several tunnels are dug to other chambers,

and the entrance to one of the tunnels is usually on the bank above the water, hidden among bushes or by grass.

The duckbill is an expert digger, even though the webs on the forefeet project beyond the claws. There is a beautiful adaptation here, for the web folds back like a small umbrella into the palm, leaving the sharp claws exposed and ready for the work of digging.

The home of the platypus is a burrow dug far into the bank of a stream, from under the water. There is a very long, upward sloping tunnel, which leads to the "living-room." Here is a bed of moist leaves and the water plants, in which the mother lays her eggs. While the young are in this nest, their mother blocks the entrance with a ball of leaves and earth, so no other animal can enter. Even the father platypus does not enter the home during this period. When the babies are a little older, the ball is broken up and pushed aside, to leave the entrance clear. The duckbills, as they are also called, are very shy, and swim away, or to their burrows, at any warning of danger.

Fig. The burrow of Platypus

 

Despite their large quantity, little is known about the life cycle of the platypus in the wild, and few of them have been kept successfully in captivity. The sexes avoid each other except to mate, and they do not mate until they are at least four years old. Males often fight during the breeding season, inflicting wounds on each other with their sharp ankle spurs. Courtship and mating take place in the water from late winter through spring. Mating is a laborious affair; in one recorded session the male was seen tightly grasping the tail of the female with his bill as she led him on an exhaustive chase.

Duckbill eggs are about the size of sparrow eggs and have thin, flexible shells, like the skin on the inside of a hen’s egg, but tougher. The nest material is kept damp, which makes certain that the eggs will be kept moist, for otherwise they might easily dry up. Pregnancy is at least two weeks (possibly up to a month), and incubation of the eggs takes perhaps another 6 to 10 days. The eggs hatch after being incubated for a week to ten days. The young ones are very small at first, naked and with a short, fleshy beak. Baby duckbills do not for the first few days; then they begin e nourished by the mother's milk. There are no nipples, but the babies suck milk from the special mammary hairs and remain protected in the burrow, suckling for three to four months before becoming independent. Hatchlings, whose weight often increases by a factor of 20 during their first 14 weeks of life, possess vestigial teeth that are shed shortly after the young platypus leaves the burrow to feed on its own. Males take no part in rearing the young. Females construct specially built nursery burrows, where they usually lay two small leathery eggs.  The female incubates the eggs by curling around them with her tail touching her bill.

 

The story of Prithivi

The "Vishnu Purāna"9 gives the following account of her birth. There was a king named Venā, notorious for his wickedness and general neglect of religious duties. When the Rishis of that age could not bear with his wickedness and immorality any longer, they slew him. Now there was no king. But now a worse evil happened; chaos and lawlessness prevailed. The people felt that a bad king was better than none at all. Upon this they rubbed the thigh of Venā, and then there came out a black dwarf, resembling a negro in appearance.

Immediately after his birth the dwarf asked, "What am I to do?" He is told, "Nisīda" (sit down), and from this his descendants are called "Nisidis" up to this day. The corpse was now pure, as all sin had left it in the body of this black dwarf. The right arm was then rubbed, and from it there came a beautiful shining prince, who was named Prithu, and reigned in the place of his father. Now during his reign there was a terrible famine. As the Earth would not yield her fruits, great danger occurred. Prithu said, "I will slay the Earth, and make her yield her fruits." Terrified at this threat, the Earth assumed the form of a cow, and was pursued by Prithu, even to the heaven of Brahma. At length, weary with the chase, she turned to him and said, "Know you not the sin of killing a female, that you thus try to slay me?"

The king replied that "when the happiness of many is secured by the destruction of one evil being, the slaughter of that being is an act of goodness." "But," said the Earth, "if, in order to promote the welfare of your subjects, you put an end to me, whence, best of monarchs, will thy people derive their support?" Overcome at length, the Earth declared that all vegetable products were old, and destroyed by her, but that at the king's command she would restore them "as developed from her milk." "Do you, therefore, for the benefit of mankind, give me that calf by which I may be able to secrete milk. Make also all places level, so that I may cause my milk, the seed of all vegetation, to flow everywhere around."

Prithu acted upon this advice. "Before his time there was no cultivation, no pasture, no agriculture, no highways for merchants; all these things (or all civilization) originated in the reign of Prithu. Where the ground was made level, the king induced his subjects to take up their abode. . . . He therefore having made Swayambhuva Manu the calf, milked the Earth, and received the milk into his own hand, for the benefit of mankind. Thence proceeded all kinds of corn and vegetables upon which people now subsist.

By granting life to the Earth, Prithu was as her father, and she thence derived the patronymic nickname Prithivi."

Ref:

·       Muir, O. S. T., v. 18, v. 23.

·       "Vishnu Purāna," (9)

 

 

A beggar mocks Alexander the Great

 

A beggar mocks Alexander the Great

 Diogenes of Sinope (c. 404—323 B.C.E.) was a beggar who lived on a riverbank in Greece. He had a beautiful begging bowl, and he wore only a loincloth. He begged at the temple gates and ate whatever food he got. One day, having finished his food he was walking towards the river. From somewhere a dog came running and tried to attack him. The beggar ran into the river for safety. He swam a bit and came onto the bank. The beggar in a mood of ecstasy rolled around joyfully. He just looked at this and thought “Oh my god, my life is worse than that of a dog.” He was already ecstatic, but he was saying his life was worse than that of a dog, because many times, he had felt like just jumping into the river, but was worried about getting his loincloth wet and about what could happen if he left the beautiful begging bowl there. On that day, he threw away his begging bowl and loincloth and lived totally naked.

Diogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, eventually settling in Corinth.

Diogenes is reported to have “lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went about, ‘I am searching for a human being’.

When Plato is asked what sort of man Diogenes is, he responds, “A Socrates gone mad”

He had a reputation for sleeping and eating wherever he chose in a highly non-traditional fashion and took to toughening himself against nature. He declared himself a cosmopolitan and a citizen of the world rather than claiming allegiance to just one place. There are many tales about his dogging Antisthenes' footsteps and becoming his "faithful hound".

Diogenes made a good point of poverty. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar in the marketplace.

Once in Athens, Diogenes famously took a tub, for a home. In Lives of Eminent Philosophers, it is reported that Diogenes “had written to someone to try and procure a cottage for him. When this man was a long time about it, he took for his residence the tub in the Metroön, as he himself explains in his letters”. Apparently, Diogenes discovered that he had no need for conventional shelter or any other “delicacies” from having watched a mouse. The lesson the mouse teaches is that he can adapt himself to any circumstance. This adaptability is the origin of Diogenes’ legendary training.

Diogenes became notorious for his philosophical acts, such as carrying a lamp during the day, claiming to be looking for a man (often rendered in English as "looking for an honest man"). He criticized Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates, and sabotaged his lectures, sometimes distracting listeners by bringing food and eating during the discussions.

Another important episode in Diogenes’ life centers around his enslavement in Corinth after having been captured by pirates. When asked what he could do, he replied “Govern men,” which is precisely what he did once bought by Xeniades. The Xeniades’ learned to follow his ascetic example. One story tells of Diogenes’ release after having become a cherished member of the household, another claims Xeniades freed him immediately, and yet another maintains that he grew old and died at Xeniades’ house in Corinth. Whichever version may be true, the purpose is the same: Diogenes the slave is freer than his master.

Diogenes was also noted for having mocked Alexander the Great, both in public and to his face when he visited Corinth in 336 BC.

Now, one day Diogenes the beggar was lying down on the riverbank in an overjoyed state. It so happened that Alexander the Great passed that way.

Alexander who was riding his big horse, in his emperor’s clothes looked down at the beggar Diogenes who had his eyes closed and was rolling in the sand in great ecstasy. Alexander raised his voice and almost screamed at him, “You wretched animal. You do not have a piece of cloth on your body. You are like an animal. What is it that you are so ecstatic about?”

Diogenes looked up at him and asked him a question that nobody would have ever dared to ask an emperor. He asked, “Would you like to be like me?”

This struck Alexander so deeply and he said, “Yes, what should I do?”

Diogenes said, “Get off that ridiculous horse, take off those emperor’s clothes and throw them into the river. This riverbank is big enough for both of us. I am not conquering the whole thing. You can also lie down and be ecstatic. Who is stopping you?”

Alexander said, “Yes, I would love to be like you, but I do not have the courage to do what you are doing.”

Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) a historical, glamorous famous Macedonian ruler and conqueror has always been shown great by the history books for his courage. Yet Alexander admitted that he did not have the courage to do what Diogenes was doing. So, Alexander replied, “I will join you in the next life.” He postponed it to his next life and in his next life. Who knows about the next time?

Because of this incident, a certain dispassion and coolness dawned on him. He lost the passion for battle towards the end of his life, but he still fought out of habit. Once he lost the passion, he lost his energy and he died. Just before his death, he gave a very strange instruction to his people. Alexander said, “When they make a coffin for me, there must be two holes on either side so that my two arms are outside the coffin, just to show all of you that even Alexander the Great goes empty handed.” Alexander died at the age of 32 years.

References

1.      Diogenes Laertius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers Vol. I-II. Trans. R.D. Hicks. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979.

2.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes

3.     Sadhguru:

 

DATES (The bread of desert)

 

DATES (The bread of desert)

The dates tree is known as the tree of life. It is one of the favorite dry fruits, which has many benefits.

Date palms grow in a warm climate and are usually found near streams or springs. The date palm is grown primarily for its fruit, an important food in the Middle East. Dates grow in large clusters.

Dates may be an ideal midday snack. When dried they are chewy and sweet.

In Arab countries, dates are used to ward off many diseases. The benefits of eating dates can be seen in health as well as keeping hair and skin healthy.

Apart from preventing dandruff and scalp acne, date oil is also widely used for its moisturising benefits. The Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids contained in the oil helps control water loss so the hair's moisture is kept intact and the cuticles sealed. Dates contain fibre as well which can aid weight loss. Dates are an excellent gut cleansers. Consuming dates (two to three per day) can result in stronger hair in a short span of time. “Being rich in iron, dates improve blood circulation to the scalp which helps in faster hair growth.

They are a great source of protein for vegetarians and regular gym goers. Dates maintain energy throughout the day, especially during hectic days, fasting days or just before a workout. They can be consumed any time—breakfast, lunch or as an evening snack—and are a powerhouse of nutrients. Dates are an excellent source of Vitamin C vitamin D, and minerals. Dates can boost the immunity of the body.

Dates contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, which control inflammation linked to obesity and weight-related diseases. Being a good source of iron and calcium, they help maintain blood and bone health too.

Scientists say that consuming dates are useful in treating skin allergies .

Dates are the fruit of the date palm, a tree that has grown in the warmer parts of South west Asia and North Africa since prehistoric days. The date palm has a straight, un branched trunk crowned with feathery leaves up to 20 feet (6 meters) long. The tree may reach a height of 60 to 80 feet (18 to 24 meters). The fruit comes out in large clusters on stalks between the leaves. A cluster may contain more than 1,000 dates and weigh 22 pounds (10 kilograms).

The date is a berry with a single hard seed. Most dates are oblong in shape and are usually more than 1 inch (2.5 centimetres) long. When dates become ripe, they turn golden to reddish brown. A few kinds of dates are nearly black. Many dates are picked as soon as they are ripe and spread on mats to dry. The dried fruit contains some moisture, but more than half of the date is sugar.

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Can an Experiment Fail?

Sham Misri

Thomas Alva Edison was an inventor who revolutionised the way of life of humanity with his more than a thousand patents. Edison was a genius of his time who improved the bulb and who gave rise to automatic telegraphy and put the phone into operation and also gave us the opportunity to listen to the music through a phonograph. The man was a legend equal to the one that circulates about his birth and his Mexican origin. The story about the Mexican origin of Edison tells that he was born in  Zacatecas on February 18, 1848, and not in Milan, Ohio on February 11,1847 as claimed.

Thomas Edison believed that no experiment could be a complete failure. When he was developing the incandescent light, he searched for a substance that could serve as a filament for the light bulb. Edison tested thousands of different substances before he found one that he could use in a practical, long lasting light bulb. While Edison was still hunting unsuccessfully for a good filament, he was asked whether he considered the experiments to be failures. He answered that they were not failures because, as a result of the experiments, he knew thousands of substances that could not serve as the filament of an incandescent bulb.

Edison was right. You can learn something from every experiment, including those that seem to "fail."

Banabhatta- A great Sanskrit prose writer and poet in 7th-century in India

 

Banabhatta

Sham Misri

Banabhatta was a Sanskrit prose writer and poet in 7th-century in India. In the court of King Harshavardhana, he was the Asthana Kavi. His parents were Chitra Bhanu father and Raja Devi, the mother. Banabhatta was born in a Bhojakas family of Vatsyayana gotra. He was born in the village of Pritikuta on the banks of the Hiranyavahu (now Chhapra, Bihar). His mother died when he was small. He was raised by his father. His father died when he was 14. For some years, he traveled adventurously with a colorful group of friends, visiting various courts and universities. His group of friends included  his two half-brothers by a lower-caste woman, a snake-doctor, a goldsmith, a gambler, and a musician. After loitering a lot, he returned home and married. One day, he received a letter from Krishna, cousin of King Harsha. He met King Harsha, who was camping near the town of Manitara. After the first meeting, Banabhatta became the favorite of King Harsha. Banabhatta wrote one of the most popular and most initial novels, known as Kadambari. It is a biographical work of Harsha and Kadambari. 

The story of Kadam Bari is interesting for several reasons. It is a  standard example of. classical prose; it has enjoyed a long popularity as a romance; and it is one of the comparatively few Sanskrit works which can be assigned to a  certain date, and so it can serve as a landmark in the history of Indian literature and Indian thought. Banabhatta, its author, lived in the reign of Harsha- Vardhana of Thrineyar, the great king mentioned in many inscriptions,- who extended his rule over the whole of Northern India, and from whose reign (a. d. 606) dates the Harsha era, used in Nepal.

Banabhatta, as he tells us, both in the Harsha-Carita  and in the introductory verses of Kadam Bari ,' was a Vatsyayana Brahman. His mother died while he was yet young, and his father's tender care of him, recorded in the Harsha-Carita,' was doubtless in his memory as he recorded the unselfish love of Vaicampayana's father in ‘ Kadambari.

In his youth he travelled much, and for a time ' came into reproach (criticism),' by reason of his unsettled life ; but the experience gained in foreign lands turned his thoughts homewards, and he returned to his kin, and lived a life of quiet study in their midst. From this he was summoned' to the court of King Harsha, who at first received him coldly, but afterwards attached him to his service; and Bana in the Harsha-Carita ' relates his own life as a prelude to that of his master.

Bana himself died, leaving * Kadambari ' unfinished, and his son Bhushanabhatta took it up in the midst of a speech in which Kadambari's sorrows are told, and continued the speech without a break, save for a few introductory verses in honour of his father, and in apology for his having undertaken the task, as its unfinished state was a grief to the. good.' He continued the story on the same plan, and with careful, and, indeed, exaggerated, imitation of his  father's style.

The story of  Kadambari' is a very complex one, dealing as it does with the lives of two heroes, each of whom is reborn twice on earth. A learned parrot, named Vaicampayana, was brought by a Candala maiden to King (Cudraka, and told him how it was carried from its birthplace in the Vindhya Forest to the hermitage of the sage Jabali, from whom it learnt the story of its former life.

Jabali's story was as follows :

Tarapida, King of Ujjayini, won by penance a son, Chandrapeeda, who was brought up with Vaicampayana, son of his minister, Kukanasa. In due time Chandrapeeda was anointed as Crown Prince, and started on an expedition of world-conquest.

At the end of it he reached Kailasa, and, while resting there, was led one day in a vain chase of a pair of kinnaras to the shores of the Acchoda Lake. There he beheld a young ascetic maiden, Mahacaveta, who told him how she, being a Gandharva princess, had seen and loved a young Brahman Pundarika; how he, returning her feeling, had died from the torments of a love at variance with his vow ; how a divine being had carried his body to the sky, and bidden her not to die, for she should be reunited with him ; and how she awaited that time in a life of penance. But her friend Kadambari, another Gandharva princess, had vowed not to marry while Mahacveta was in sorrow, and Mahacveta invited the prince to come to help her in dissuading Kadambari from the rash vow. Love sprang up between the prince and Kadambari at first sight ; but a sudden summons from his father took him to Ujjayini without farewell, while  Kadambari, thinking herself deserted, almost died of grief.

Meanwhile news came that his friend Vaicampayana, whom he had left in command of the army, had been strangely affected by the sight of the Acchoda Lake, and refused to leave it. The prince set out to find him, but in vain; and proceeding to the hermitage of Mahacveta, he found her in despair, because, in invoking on a young Brahman, who had rashly approached her, a curse to the effect that he should become a parrot, she learnt that she had slain Vaicampayana. At  her words the prince fell dead from grief, and at that moment Kadambari came to the hermitage.

Her resolve to follow him in death was broken by the promise of a voice from the sky that she and Mahacveta should both be reunited with their lovers, and she stayed to tend the prince's body, from which a divine radiance proceeded; while King Tarapida gave up his kingdom, and lived as a hermit near his son.

Such was Jabali’s tale ; and the parrot went on to say how, hearing it, the memory of its former love for Mahacveta was reawakened, and, though bidden to stay in the hermitage, it flew away, only to be caught and taken to the Candala princess. It was now brought by her to King Cudraka, but knew no more. The Candala maiden thereupon declared to (Cudraka that she was the goddess Lakshmi, mother of Pundarika or Vaicampriyana, and announced that the curse for him and Cudraka was now over. Then Cudraka suddenly remembered his love for Kadambari, and wasted away in longing for her, while a sudden touch of Kadambari restored to life the Moon concealed  in the body of Chandrapeeda, the form that he still kept, because in it he had won her love. Now the Moon, as Chandrapeeda and Cudraka, and Pundarika, in the human and parrot shape of Vaicampayana, having both fulfilled the curse of an unsuccessful love in two births on earth, were at last set free, and, receiving respectively the hands of Kadambari and Mahacveta, lived happily ever after- wards.

Banabhatta was the Court Poet of King Harshavardhana. The principal works of Banabhatta include:

Novels like Harshacharita, Kadambari, Candikasataka, and Parvatiparinaya. It is said that he died before he could finish Harshacharita and his son, Bhushanabhatta, finished his work. Harshacharita, is a biography of Harsha.

Kadambari is one of the first novels. Banabhatta died before finishing the novel and his son Bhushanabhatta completed that novel. Banabhatta gets praised as “Banochhistam Jagatsarvam” meaning – Bana has described everything during this world and zip is left.. His Writing Style- After examining his major works, it is clear that his grammar was excellent. He uses a lot of figures of speech in his work. His prose was usually harmonious and rhythmical. His unique style was to use longer verses, comprising of short and crisp words. The sharpness in his writing style and his controlled use of the figure of speech has inspired many writers after his time.

References:

Harsha-Carita ' by Professor Cowell and Mr. Thomas

Kadambari ' (Bombay Sanskrit Series, 1H89) deals fully with Bana's place in literature.

Miss C. M. Duff, the MS. of her 'Chronology of India.'

For Bana's early life, V. * Harsha-Carita,' Mr. F. W. Thomas.

Peterson, • Kadaiuban,; and * The SubhaBbUnvaU,*edited by Peterson (Bombay Sanskrit Series, 1886).