Under Vaishnavagas Project

From Vedic time, references to different surgeries have been recorded in our texts, especially in the Ayurvedic texts by Suśruta, Caraka and Vāgbhaṭa. This book gives a glimpse of various surgical instruments used hundreds of years ago (with illustrations) by our ancients.

Ancient Indians excelled in many branches of mathematics and a glimpse of their expertise in this subject can be found in this book.

Yoga is one of the greatest contributions of India to the world. There are many branches of Yoga such as Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, Hatha, Laya, Mantra, and Kundalini. Svarodaya science of Yoga is very useful for the health of human being and also in predicting one's future. It is based on breathing pattern of each individual. Not many texts are available on this ancient science. The present project would help in knowing more about this forgotten branch of Yoga.

Ascribed to the legendary saint Gorakṣa, this text contains 201 verses dealing with many aspects of Haṭha, Rāja, Mantra Laya Yoga techniques.

Puranas devote quite a sizeable portion of the texts for the description of earth and its evolution (sarga-pratisharga). Puranas devote quite a sizeable portion of the texts for the description of earth and its evolution (sarga-pratisharga). Usually the technique adopted in giving even difficult concepts is by means of a story, symbolic representation or allegorical stories. The present project envisages to bring out such ancient knowledge on evolution of earth, climate changes, changes in earth surface due to passage of time, the concept of deluge (pralaya) etc. with the help of recently known scientific facts. An attempt will also be made to reconstruct the geological history of earth and divide it into geological ages based on Puranic information.

Starting from the Vedas many texts give us information on flora and fauna . This book book concentrates on details regarding Taxonomy, Morphology, Hydrophytes etc. as available in ancient Indian texts.

India celebrates innumerable festivals throughout the year which give us an idea of the rich culture, religion, myth, arts of this great country and all these are interwoven in such festivals.

Ancient Indians excelled in many branches of mathematics and a glimpse of their expertise in this subject can be found in this book.

Āyurveda, the Veda of long life first known from Brahma, the creator, is considered as an upaveda or upariga of Rgveda. Among manuscripts which cover a wide range of subjects pertaining to Vedas and other literature, Mss. on Āyurveda with its eight sections (aṣṭāṅga) like the characteristics of physician diagnosis, ailments and their remedies are all discussed on the lines of primary texts such as Caraka Samhita of Caraka, Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya of Vagbhata, Susrutasamhita of Susruta and others. Details regarding the symptoms of diseases, the commencement (of diseases with symptoms) and the remedies even for incurable diseases through the propitiation of respective divinities and other measures to quell the diseases are found in many manuscripts which remain unexplored.

A comparitive study of facts found in Valmiki Ramayana with the present day scientific and geographical theories.

This is a Mahakavya which throws much light on the empire of Vikramaditya and Salivahanaera.This is being critically edited for the first time

CRITICAL EDITION OF VIVEKAMĀRTĀṆḌA, YOGABĪJA AND YOGASŪTRA ABOUT THE WORKS: 1. VIVEKAMĀRTĀṆḌA: Vivekamārtāṇḍā is an excellent text on Yoga consisting of more than 600 verses divided into 6 prabodhas. The Author of the text is Viśrūpadeva. It has been published with 3 available manuscripts by K.Sambasiva Sastri under Trivandrum Sanskrit Series 119. But there are lacunae in this edition which need to be filled in with other manuscripts available at GOML Chennai, Adyar, Bhikaner, Baroda and Lonavla. The text deals with many aspects of Yoga including Haṭha Yoga, Nātha Yoga, Kuṇḍalinī Yoga, Rāja Yoga, Chāyāpuruṣa lakṣaṇam, Svara Śāstra, philosophy etc. The text contains many verses which are similar to Gorakṣa Samhitā. A critical edition with study of this text will be a great contribution in the field of Yoga. 2. YOGABĪJA: Yogabīja is an ancient popular Yoga text attributed to Gorakṣanātha available in Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai, Allahabad, Baroda, Govt. Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai, Jodhpur, Lonavala, Mysore, Udaipur, Kanpur and Mangalore which speaks about the popularity of this text. The text is quoted, to name a few, by Brahmānaṇḍa in his commentary on Haṭhayogapradīpikā by Sundaradeva in his Haṭhasaṅketacandrikā and by Śivānanda Sarasvatī in his Yogacintāmaṇī. There is one published text available, edited and translated by Dr. Brahma Mitra Awasthi, which is replete with errors. Yogabīja is an ancient text and had been a source of inspiration for many later Yogic texts. It is really an astonishing fact that with as little as two hundred and one verses, YB has been able to counter jñāna and expound in brief the principles of Yogic concepts in a fluent literary style embellished with similes and metaphors and at the same time ensuring that the intricate philosophical content is articulated in a lucid manner. 3. YOGASŪTRA This Yogasūtra is a different text from the traditional Yogasūtra of Patañjali. The whole text was dictated by a blind Pandit, Dhanraj and was written by Sri Bhagvan Das in 1910 at Benares. This is divided into four chapters containing 125,107, 130 and 139 sūtras respectively. But the colophon says, पातञ्जलीये योगसूत्रे चतुर्थोऽध्यायः । This manuscript also contains a brief autobiography of the author. This is available only in Adyar Library, Chennai.

Gold, precious metals and gems have always attracted the people. The very first mantra of R̥gveda refers to Agni and extols the god as “Ratnadhātman”. There are innumerable reference to gems in the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Itihāsas, Purāṇas and classical literature. Individual texts like Ratnapradīpa, Ratna Parīkṣā and others were also written on this subject. There are separate chapters which deal with gemology in Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya, Br̥hatsamhitā of Varāhamihira, Garuḍa Purāṇa, Skanda Purāṇa, Agni Purāṇa, Abhilaṣitārtha Cintāmaṇi (also known as Mānasollāsa) of Someśvara and other texts. A compendium of ‘nine gems’ gleaned from such important texts would be of great help to scholars and others who deal with jewels. An attempt is made here to present the salient features of different gems for the benefit of all.

Yogic study of several ancient and medieval Yogic texts dealing with Hatha Yoga,