This book is about one of the last unresolved riddles of Indology. It is a search for the mythical Vedic Soma. What was this Soma? It was defined as a Deva-a god in the Vedic pantheon.The entire 9th Mandala of the Rig Veda is devoted to this magical Soma. Soma, however, is like the Beeja mantras (Aum, Hum, Sreem etc) of the Vedas. It was a meta-concept of extraordinary elegance and beauty. It encompassed a whole spectrum or range of meanings in that one word. In this book, the author examines in detail the Botanical aspect of Soma as a psychotropic plant; studies the biological aspect of Soma as an endogenous elixir-which he personally experienced in meditation; examines the Soma of Senses-of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell-and the Soma of Action as defined in the Geeta. The highlight of this book is the Quantum Mechanical approach to understanding the Atman and the act of seeing that generates this cosmos. This book analyses the Vedic Mahavakyas in the light of latest discoveries in Quantum Physics and neuro-biology; and the correspondences are simply amazing and revelatory. "General Bakshi explores Soma extensively in neurobiology and mind body medicine and depth psychology, and ultimately its connection to the subtle body and chakras & Agni/Kundalini, weaving modern science with yogic meditation. All these many types of Somas are part of a greater integral and universal view of the infinite and eternal reality, the Atman that is Brahman. His explanation of Soma in terms of Vedantic Mahavakyas like Tat Tvam Asi is most notable."Dr. David Frawley, Author, Vedic Acharya

This book is about one of the last unresolved riddles of Indology. It is a search for the mythical Vedic Soma. What was this Soma? It was deified as a Deva--a god in the Vedic pantheon. The entire 9th Mandala of the Rig Veda is devoted to this magical Soma. Soma, however, is like the Beeja mantras (Aum, Hum, Sreem etc) of the Vedas. It was a meta-concept of extraordinary elegance and beauty. It encompassed a whole spectrum or range of meanings in that one word. In this book, the author examines in detail the Botanical aspect of Soma as a psychotropic plant; studies the biological aspect of Soma as an endogenous elixir--which he personally experienced in mediation; examines of the Soma of Senses--of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell--and the Soma of Action as defined in the Geeta. The highlight of this book is the Quantum Mechanical approach to understanding the Atman and the act of seeing that generates this cosmos. This book analyses the Vedic Mahavakyas in the light of latest discoveries in Quantum Physics and neuro-biology; and the correspondences are simply amazing and revelatory.

Three thousand years ago, deep inside the forests of India, a great 'thought revolution' was brewing. In those forest labs, the brightest thinker–philosophers contemplated the universe, reflected on ancient texts called the Vedas and came up with startling insights into questions we still don't have final answers to, like: • What is the universe made of? • How do I know I'm looking at a tree when I see one? • Who am I? And where did they put those explosive findings? In a sprawling body of goosebumpy and fascinating oral literature called the Upanishads! Intimidated? Don't be! For this joyful, fun guide to some of India's longest-lasting secular wisdoms, reinterpreted for first-time explorers by Roopa Pai, is guaranteed to keep you turning the pages.

This is the Military History of the Mohyals - an Indian clan of fighting Brahmins. They are Saraswat Brahmins who dwelt on the banks of the ancient river Saraswati - that once flowed from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. As such they came in the path of each and every invader who came to loot or subjugate India. The warrior sage, Parshuram, had militarised them in the early epic period. From priests these Brahmins had morphed into Mohyal fighting Brahmins, brave and tenacious fighters with a great tradition of soldiering. After Alexanders invasion, Chanakya recruited the Maurayan Army from this region. They became the Bhumiar Brahmins who later settled in Bihar and UP, and helped unify India for the Maurayan empire. Surprisingly, a Mohyal clan fought in Iraq on the side of the Shias' in the famous Karbala war. The Mohyal Shahi rulers of Afghanistan stopped the world conquering Arab armies on the Hindu Kush and gave them their first taste of defeat and held them off for 300 years. They fought the Arab invasions of Sindh, Mehmood Ghaznavi and Muhammad Ghori. When the Mughal empire turned tyrannical under Aurangzeb, they flocked to the banner of the Sikh Gurus to overthrow this evil tyranny. Baba Paraga, Bhai Mati Das and Banda Bairagi were great soldier saints of the Sikh military tradition. They were all Mohyals who played a major role in the Indian military revival that took place with the Sikhs and the Marathas. This book is an invaluable record of all the military invasions of India from the third century B.C. onwards. The soldiers and scholars of History will find it an invaluable document about Indian Military History per se - right from the Vedic times to the present era. These fighting Brahmins have maintained their military traditions. Post-independence, 2/Lt Puneet Datt won the Ashok Chakra - the highest gallantry award in the land. Four Mohyal officers won the Mahavir Chakra and other four, the Vir Chakra. Six Mohyals have risen to the rank of Army Commander and equivalent in the Indian Army and Air Force, and three became the governor of states. 10 became Lt Generals and 15 Maj Generals - all from a miniscule community - just 6 lakh strong. They are like the Samurai of Japan - great patriots, scholar-warriors and erstwhile feudal lords who have made enormous sacrifices for their country. They have been the guardians of it's gates.

Deep in lost history, did high civilizations and advanced knowledge thrive? The ancient Vedic literatures of India describe a worldwide civilization that flourished at a time when modern historians insist that humans like us existed simply as hunter-gatherers. This Vedic civilization, centered in India, employed technologies based on a scientific under­standing of the physical elements and forces we know today, as well as more subtle conscious elements. Devamrita Swami, who has spent a lifetime in his own search for Vedic India, takes us on a journey of intellectual discovery through the history of the remarkable Vedic civilization and its knowledge, locked in the ancient literatures of India. His wit and wisdom combine to make our search for Vedic India not only illuminating but entertaining. He tells us not only the truths of Vedic India, but how they are again coming to be. Searching for Vedic India thus takes us not only into the past, but into the future.

Description: The book is an epoch-making work - a paradigm-shift in Vedic studies, which identifies soma as electrum (gold-silver metallic compound). Soma is referred to in the Rgveda as the soul of the yajna (atmayajnasya). The path-breaking identification is based on textual evidence and a penetrating analysis of the Indian alchemical tradition, spanning nearly five millennia. The author is also the discoverer of the integrating role-played by the mighty Sarasvati river adored in the Rgveda as the best of mothers, best of rivers and best of Goddesses. Sarasvati and soma are no longer mythology but relevant to present-day children, respectively, as the repository of groundwater sanctuaries in North-West India and the metallurgical tradition starting with the bronze age civilization, c. 3000 BC. Sarasvati and soma are the symbols of the great Indian traditions of Devi worship and personification and deification of natural, material phenomena. The Tirthas along the rivers are reminders of the critical nature of water management problems all over India and soma as an integral part of the yajna process, is the embodiment of the scientific, technological and materialist temper of ancient India. Contents Preface Introduction 1. Gold and the Grammar of Money in Antiquity 2. Indus : Roots of Alchemy 3. Yaksa : Alchemical Potential and Transmutation 4. Soma and Alchemy 5. Brahmanas : Aurifiction 6. Alchemy as a State Enterprise 7. Political Economy of Alchemy 8. Siddha and Tantric Alchemy 9. Apparatus, Terms, and Symbols Conclusions A Survey of Sources for History of Alchemy

To know how to live do we need God and religion, or, does religion only produce wars, hatred, intolerance and unhappiness? Does giving up God mean giving up morality, or, can we finally live a peaceful and fulfilling life as atheists by following science and reason instead? The anthropologist Christopher Hallpike has spent a lifetime's research on the morality and religion of different cultures around the world, and shows that trying to base a moral life on atheism and science actually has some very nasty surprises in store for us.