Buddhist Gems 75
Dharmadeva
Udbuddha
Ut - budh + kta = udbuddha. Buddha means "to be aware of", "to be
enlightened". If someone becomes enlightened or aware in any matter, or if
his or her blood circulation quickens due to some thought process, some
inspiration or strong inspiration, then this is called udbuddha haoya', in
English "inspired".
Upadevata'
The etymological meaning of upadevata' [demigod] is "nearly a god", that is,
not quite a god or worthy of being meditated upon, but venerable and worthy
of respect. In many cases people are devoted to upadevata's out of fear and
sometimes they are worshipped in the hopes of obtaining something. ... In
Sanskrit they are all classified as upadevata's because they are not Parama
Purus'a (Supreme Consciousness), the object of meditation in the spiritual
world. ... Upadevata's are also called folk [laokik] gods and goddesses.
Some of them have dhya'na mantras and some do not; some of them also have
dhya'na mantras in the local or state language and some do not have that
either. In many cases the gods and goddesses of the Buddhist and Jain eras
came or are coming to be worshipped as upadevata's in the post-Buddhist and
post-Jain eras. Those spiritual aspirants who follow the paths of knowledge,
action and devotion, of course, do not bow their heads to upadevata's. They
practise the sa'dhana' (spiritual practice) of the singular Parama Purus'a
(Supreme Consciousness).
...
I went there to do archaeological research on Angadesh, in the Lachmiipur
jungle area by the eastern border of the Khirkhiriya (Ks'iiraks'irika')
Hills. I found there many cave paintings from the Buddhist era. I even came
across some artifacts that dated back to the beginning of humankind's
history in old Angadesh. In these hills humankind depicted its existence
through many different varieties of drawings. From these it can be
understood just how far back Angadesh's history goes.
If Karna is accepted as Anga's first king, then Anga's political history is
over 3500 years old, but these cave paintings are signs of the first stage
of prehistoric humans' ascension through the annals of history. They are
approximately twelve thousand to fifteen thousand years old. No writings are
found with them because at that time humankind had not yet invented script.
This Lachmiipur jungle was even bigger during Buddha's time. At that time it
extended south to Grdhraku't' (Gidhaor). To the west and south of this
jungle was Magadha and on the north-east border was Angadesh.
...
"If you maintain a relationship of ruler and ruled in individual or social
life then it will surely lead to disaster. Whenever the kings of former
days gave excessive weight to the ruler-ruled relationship, it resulted in
the strong devouring the weak, and that led to revolt by the people -- it
happened during the time of King John; it happened at the time of Louis XIV;
it happened during the Buddhist era in the time of King Devapal the Second.
Understood, bodiless one! Be careful, `Go softly, softly in the night'; ka'
kasya parivedana'."*
* The quote comes from Shankaracharya, from a passage which describes the
transitory nature of existence. -- Trans.
...
Upasampada'
Buddha, employing philisophical language, used to call the Supreme Principle
sampada or sampada'; that which brought a person close to the Supreme
Principle was called upasampada'. Buddha used to use the word upasampada' to
mean taking initiation into the path of sa'dhana' (spiritual practices).
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
SHABDA CAYANIKÁ PART 2
DISCOURSE 9
UI TO ULUKA
10 November 1985, Calcutta
---
Hence we find that in the Mahabharata age, there was surgery, ayurveda,
vaedyaka shastra, visa cikitsa, and homeopathy; and people were not
unacquainted with mesmeric treatment either. This proves that medical
science was not underdeveloped.
You can pose the question -- if medical science was developed so much, why
was it destroyed? The main reason was that touching the dead body, learning
about the physical structure of the skeleton of the dead body, etc, was not
considered to be lowly by the people of the early Buddhistic age; but after
Buddha, people began to take it as lowly. Touching the dead body was
considered to be most undesirable. This affected medical science a lot.
Surgery especially was much effected, and because of this all medical
science was affected.
Six or seven hundred years after Buddha, Buddhists once again discussed
medical science a lot and tried their best to develop it. But immediately
after Buddha it was completely discouraged, and medical science in India had
its downfall. Moreover, when people did start to develop medical science,
sometime after Buddha, there was simultaneously an invasion from outside
India, due to which ayurveda, vaedyaka shastra, visa cikitsa and surgery
were discouraged in India and the unani ( hakimii ) System of medicine began
to take root. Because the hakimii system was not much cultivated in this
country, the downfall of India as far as medical science is concerned
occurred.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
17 September 1967, Ranchi
THE MEDICAL SCIENCE OF THE AGE
Discourses on the Maha'bha'rata