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South Asian Martial Arts
Indian martial arts refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent. A variety of terms are used for the English phrases “Indian martial arts”, deriving from ancient sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines (e.g. archery, armed combat), by Classical times they were used generically for all fighting systems. Among the most common terms today, '' śastra-vidyā'', is a compound of the words ' (weapon) and ' (knowledge). ''Dhanurveda'' derives from the words for bow (') and knowledge ('), the “science of archery” in Puranic literature, later applied to martial arts in general. The Vishnu Purana text describes dhanuveda as one of the traditional eighteen branches of “applied knowledge” or upaveda, along with ''shastrashastra'' or military science. A later term, ''yuddha kalā'', comes from the words ''yuddha'' meaning fight or combat and ''kalā'' meaning art or skill. The related term ''śastra kalā'' (lit. weapon art) usually refers specifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial Arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. Etymology According to Paul Bowman, the term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term '':wikt:martial art, martial arts'' itself is derived from an older Latin (language), Latin term meaning "arts of Mars (mythology), Mars", the Roman mythology, Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s. The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedic Period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the end of the urban Indus Valley civilisation and a second urbanisation, which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain BCE. The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in the Kuru Kingdom, a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan tribes. The Vedas contain details of life during this period that have been interpreted to be historical and constitute the primary sources for understanding the period. These documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred. The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-Aryan language who had migrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudradaman
Rudradāman I (r. 130–150) was a Śaka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. He was the grandson of the king Caṣṭana. Rudradāman I was instrumental in the decline of the Sātavāhana Empire. Rudradāman I took up the title of '' Maha-kshtrapa'' ("Great Satrap"), after he became the king and then strengthened his kingdom. Reign As a result of his victories, Rudradāman regained all the former territories previously held by Nahapana, except for the southern territory of Poona and Nasik. The indigenous Nagas also were aggressive toward Śaka kshatrapas. Sātavāhana dominions were limited to their original base in the Deccan and eastern central India around Amaravati: War with the Yaudheyas Rudradāman conquered the Yaudheya tribes in present day Haryana, as described in the Girnar rock inscription of Rudradaman. Rudradaman refers to the Yaudheyas as a militant republic of kshatriyas that confronted him as opposed to submitting: However, the Yaudheyas soon r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic ( sa, śramaṇa). After leading a life of begging, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes meditation and instruction in Buddhist ethics such as right effort, mindfulness, and ''jhana''. He died in Kushi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kshatria
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: ''brahmin'', kshatriya, ''vaishya'' and ''shudra''. History Early Rigvedic tribal monarchy The administrative machinery in the Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary. The king may have been elected in a tribal assembly (called Samiti), which included women. The Rajan protected the tribe and cattle; was assisted by a priest; and did not maintain a standing army, though in the later period the rulership appears to have risen as a social class. The concept of the fourfold varna system is not yet recorded. Later Vedic period The hymn ''Purusha Sukta'' to the ''Rigveda'' describes the symbolic creation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaunaka
Shaunaka ( sa, शौनक, ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the and six Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the Rigveda. He is claimed as the teacher of Katyayana and especially of Ashvalayana, and is said to have united the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda. In legend, he is sometimes identified with Gritsamada, a Vedic rishi. Literature According to the Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada and invented the system of the four levels of human life. Sūta mahamuni narrated mythological stories to a group of sages headed by Shaunaka maha muni. is attributed to Shaunaka who taught it to others in a satra-yajna (a 12-day very large scale collective yajna) held in Naimisha according to Vishnumitra of Champa town, the commentator of 's commentary of (Hindi)Virendrakumar Verma, Rgveda-prātiśākhya of Śaunaka Along with ; Chaukhambha Sans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manusmṛti
The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote their ideas on how society should run in the manuscripts. It is believed that the original form of ''Manusmriti'' was changed as many things written in the manuscript contradict each other. Over fifty manuscripts of the ''Manusmriti'' are now known, but the earliest discovered, most translated and presumed authentic version since the 18th century has been the "Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary". Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of ''Manusmriti'' discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of its authenticity, insertions and interpolations made into the text in later times. The metrical text is in Sansk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, South America and some African countries. Two extant types of water buffalo are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria: the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans, Egypt and Italy and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east. The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee'') most likely represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo. Results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the river-type water buffalo probably originated in western India and was domesticated about 6,300 years ago, whereas the swamp-type originated independently from Mainland Southeast Asia and was domesticated about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bali (Ramayana)
Vali ( sa, वाली, nominative singular of the stem वालिन् (''Valin'')), also known as Bali, was a king of Kishkindha in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He was the husband of Tara, the biological son of Vriksharaja, the elder brother of Sugriva, and father of Angada. He was killed by Rama, an ''avatar'' of Vishnu. Vali was invincible during the''Treta Yuga''. Vali defeated some great warriors, only because he was blessed with the ability to obtain half the strength of his opponent. Rama killed Vali by shooting him in the chest. However, during his first attempt, Rama could not recognise between Vali and Sugriva due to their resemblance. Thus, during the next attempt, Sugriva wore a garland of red flowers and went to battle with Vali. This time, Rama could recognise Vali and shot an arrow that killed him. Early life Vali was the husband of Tara. As one myth goes, fourteen types of gem or treasure were produced from the churning of the ocean during the time of Kurma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jambavan
Jambavan (Devanagari: जाम्बवान्), also known as Jambavanta (Devanagari: जाम्बवत्), is the king of the bears in Hindu texts. He emerges out of the mouth of Brahma when the creator deity yawns. He assists the Rama avatar of Vishnu in his struggle against the rakshasa king Ravana. In the Ramayana, he helps Hanuman realise his potential, just before his famous leap over to the island of Lanka.Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter. ''Dictionary of ancient deities''. 2001, page 248 Jambavan was present at the Churning of the Ocean, and is supposed to have circled Vamana 21 times in a single leap, when he was acquiring the three worlds from Mahabali. Jambavan, together with Parashurama and Hanuman, is considered to be one of the few to have been present for both the Rama and the Krishna avataras. His daughter Jambavati was married to Krishna. Nomenclature Jambavan is also known as: * Jambavantan * Jambavanta (জাম্বৱন্ত, Assam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhishma
Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the only character who witnessed the entirety of the Mahabharata, beginning from the reign of his father, King Shantanu of the Kuru kingdom. Bhishma was the step-brother of Vyasa, the grandfather of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom. He was born as the elder son of the illustrious King Shantanu and Ganga. Originally named Devavrata, he was made the heir-apparent of his kingdom. However, he ceded his throne for his father's happiness and took the vow of lifelong celibacy. Owing to this selfless decision, he came to be known as Bhishma and was blessed to live as long as he wanted, by his father, Shantanu. He played a major role in the political affairs of the Kuru kingdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasurama
Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjivi, Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will appear at the end of the ''Kali Yuga'' to be the guru of Vishnu's tenth and last incarnation, Kalki. Born to Jamadagni and Renuka, the Brahmin Parashurama was foretold to appear at a time when overwhelming evil prevailed on the earth. The Kshatriya class, with weapons and power, had begun to abuse their power, take what belonged to others by force and tyrannise people. He corrected the cosmic equilibrium by destroying the Kshatriya warriors twenty-one times. He is married to Dharani, an incarnation of Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu. He is present in the Ramayana due to the conflict with Rama (the protagonist of the Ramayana) over Shiva's broken bow. He is mentioned in the Mahabharata as the guru of Bhisma, Drona, Rukmi, and Karna. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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