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Ancient Mithila University
Ancient Mithila University was an Indian historical university famous for Nyaya, Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences. Background Gurukuls of the Vedic period in India can be called the ancient form of university because they had a system of higher education. Later, in the Upanishads and the Brahmanical period, we find the "Council" functioning as a university. These councils held conferences of scholarly teachers and students and were authorized to confer degrees. The Ancient Mithila University was gradually started from the philosophical conferences held by Janaka, the king of Mithila at his court. There was a council of philosophical Conferences in the Mithila know as Mithila Darshanik Sammelan Parishad. The council was founded by the King Janaka at his court. The council was holding philosophical conferences at the court of the King Janaka. These philosophical conferences led to the formation of a seat of learning and this seat of learning converted into the university of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithila (region)
Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothills of the Himalayas in the north. It comprises certain parts of Bihar and Jharkhand of India and adjoining districts of the Province No. 1, Bagmati Pradesh and Madhesh Province of Nepal. The native language in Mithila is Maithili, and its speakers are referred to as Maithils. The name Mithila is commonly used to refer to the Videha Kingdom, as well as to the modern-day territories that fall within the ancient boundaries of Videha. Till the 20th century, Mithila was still ruled in part by the Raj Darbhanga. History Vedic period Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Videha kingdom. During the Later Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha became one of the major political and cultu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ātman (Hinduism)
''Ātman'' (; sa, आत्मन्) is a Sanskrit word that refers to the (universal) Self or self-existent essence of individuals, as distinct from ego ('' Ahamkara''), mind (''Citta'') and embodied existence (''Prakṛti''). The term is often translated as soul, but is better translated as "Self," as it solely refers to pure consciousness or witness-consciousness, beyond identification with phenomena. In order to attain moksha (liberation), a human being must acquire self-knowledge ('' Atma Gyaan or Brahmajnana''). ''Atman'' is a central concept in the various schools of Indian philosophy, which have different views on the relation between ''Atman'', individual Self ('' Jīvātman''), supreme Self ('' Paramātmā'') and, the Ultimate Reality (''Brahman''), stating that they are: completely identical (Advaita, Non-Dualist), completely different ( Dvaita, Dualist), or simultaneously non-different and different (Bhedabheda, Non-Dualist + Dualist). The six orthodox schools ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Vedanta, Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to the idea that ''Brahman'' alone is ultimately Satya, real, while the transient phenomenon (philosophy), phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (''Maya (religion), maya'') of Brahman. In this view, (''jiv)Ātman (Hinduism), Ātman'', the experiencing self, and ''Ātman-Brahman'', the highest Self and ultimate Reality, Absolute Reality, is non-different. The ''jivatman'' or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular ''Ātman'' in a multitude of apparent individual bodies. In the Advaita tradition, ''moksha'' (liberation from suffering and rebirth) is attained through recogni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' ( sa, बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्, ) is one of the Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanisad'' is tenth in the Muktikā or "canon of 108 Upanishads". The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' is estimated to have been composed about 7th-6th century BCE, excluding some parts estimated to have been composed after the ''Chandogya Upanishad''. The Sanskrit language text is contained within the ''Shatapatha Brahmana'', which is itself a part of the Shukla Yajur Veda. The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' is a treatise on Ātman (Self), includes passages on metaphysics, ethics and a yearning for knowledge that influenced various Indian religions, ancient and medieval scholars, and attracted secondary works such as those by Adi Shankara and Madhvacharya. Chronology The chronology of ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', like other Upa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maitreyi
Maitreyi ( sa, मैत्रेयी) ("Wise one") was an Indian philosopher who lived during the later Vedic period in ancient India. She is mentioned in the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' as one of two wives of the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya; she is estimated to have lived around the 8th century BCE. In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'' and the Gṛhyasūtras, however, Maitreyi is described as an Advaita philosopher who never married. In ancient Sanskrit literature, she is known as a ''brahmavadini'' (an expounder of the ''Veda''). Maitreyi appears in ancient Indian texts, such as in a dialogue where she explores the Hindu concept of Atman (soul or self) in a dialogue with Yajnavalkya in the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad''. According to this dialogue, love is driven by a person's soul, and Maitreyi discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and their unity, the core of Advaita philosophy. This Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue is the topic of Sureshvara's '' varttika'', a commentary. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The ''Rigveda'' is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. The sounds and texts of the ''Rigveda'' have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the bulk of the ''Rigveda'' Samhita was composed in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent (see) Rigvedic rivers), most likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, although a wider approximation of 19001200 BCE has also been given. The text is layered, consisting of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmavadini
In Hindu philosophy, Brahmavadini ("women ascetics"), are women who strive for the highest philosophical knowledge of Brahman, that is, those who strive for greater universal consciousness. This is opposed to a ''Sadyovadhu'', who is normally a sage's wife, and dedicated to domesticity and the welfare of her family. The Sanskrit word ''brahmavadini'' is the female equivalent of ''brahmavadi''. According to Monier-Williams’s ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'', "brahmavādín" means ‘discoursing on sacred texts, a defender or expounder of the ''Veda'', one who asserts that all things are to be identified with Brahman’. It doesn't mean "one who speaks like God". Notable Brahmavadini Notable Brahmavadini include: Vak Ambhrini, Lopamudra, Vishwawara, Sikta, Ghosha, and Maitreyi. Lopamudra was the wife of the sage Agastya. A hymn in the Rigveda is attributed to her. Maitreyi, the wife of Yajnavalkya, is accredited with about ten hymns in Rig Veda. Two ''sukta''s (hymns) of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana ( sa, शतपथब्राह्मणम् , Śatapatha Brāhmaṇam, meaning 'Brāhmaṇa of one hundred paths', abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Śukla (white) Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the Vedas), it contains detailed explanations of Vedic sacrificial rituals, symbolism, and mythology. Particularly in its description of sacrificial rituals (including construction of complex fire-altars), the Shatapatha Brahmana (SB) provides scientific knowledge of geometry (e.g. calculations of pi and the root of the Pythagorean theorem) and observational astronomy (e.g. planetary distances and the assertion that the Earth is circular) from the Vedic period. The Shatapatha Brahmana is also considered to be significant in the development of Vaishnavism as the origin of several Puranic legends and avatars of the RigVedic god Vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmavidya Upanishad
The ''Brahmavidya Upanishad'' (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मविद्या उपनिषत्, IAST: Brahmavidyā Upaniṣad) is a Sanskrit text and one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. It is one of twenty Yoga Upanishads in the four Vedas. Two major versions of its manuscripts are known. One has fourteen verses that is attached to Atharvaveda, while another larger manuscript exists in the Telugu language which has one hundred and ten verses and is attached to the Krishna Yajurveda. The Upanishad mainly explains the structure of Om, aspect of its sound, its placement, its beginning and end, and the significance of the ''Laya'' (fading away of its sound). Om is Brahman (ultimate reality), asserts the text. The text is notable for stating that gods live inside human body as five Atmans, with Vishnu in the throat, Rudra in the middle of the palate, Shiva in the forehead, Sadashiva at the tip of nose, and the Brahman in the heart. The innermost Atman, states the text, is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yajnavalkya
Yajnavalkya or Yagyavalkya ( sa, याज्ञवल्क्य, ) is a Hindu Vedic sage figuring in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 700 BCE)., Quote: "Yajnavalkya, a Vedic sage, taught..."Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), ''A comparative history of world philosophy: from the Upanishads to Kant'', Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 9-11 Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman. Texts attributed to him include the ''Yajnavalkya Smriti'', ''Yoga Yajnavalkya'' and some texts of the Vedanta school. He is also mentioned in Brahma puran and various Brahmanas and Aranyakas. Setting The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' is dated at c. 700 BCE,. Staal notes that though the name Yajnavalkya is derived from ''yajna'', which connotes ritual, Yajnavalkya is referred to as "a thinker, not a ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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