Iigal

The eagle [iigal] is the largest of the birds who are able to fly. The emu, ostrich, etc. are bigger than the eagle but they are unable to fly. Of course, not all eagles are equally large. There are thirty-two different varieties of eagle. Some of them are equal to or greater in length than human beings while others are like the vultures of this country.

The garuda bird as described in the Puranas and the vátávii bird described in the Mahábhárata are types of eagles. However the homá bird from the stories is not an eagle but rather a giant owl [bhutum peiṋcá]⁽¹⁾ – in some parts of Bihar it is called durgum. In the village areas of Burdwan some of the old people still call the giant black owl the homá bird. Their numbers are fast diminishing due to the scarcity of large trees and pervasive poaching by hunters greedy for the large amount of meat they can get from them. Some provisions should be made to ensure their survival.

The large migratory bird that one finds in the fields of northern India during the winter harvest at the beginning of the cold season is also called the garuda bird in the village areas of Bihar. However this bird is neither a garuda nor an eagle, but rather a very large variety of flamingo. They come to the winter harvest fields and eat the newly-sprouted pulse seeds.

In Bengal one normally finds five varieties of owls: bhutum owl – large in size and black in colour – the author of the Hutumpeiṋcár Naksá was most likely referring to the bhutum owl; (2) lakśmii owl – medium in size and white in colour; (3) black owl – medium-sized and black; (4) kut́ure owl – small-sized and catechu coloured; (5) shmashán owl (found mostly in burial grounds) – small and black.

The original home of the eagle was the mountains of the Alps in central Europe. Originally, different varieties of eagles lived in different portions of these mountains. Later, they spread to other areas due to natural causes, pressure from human beings and in search of food. Eagles cannot build nests like other birds due to their large size. Generally they place rocks and branches and twigs in mountain caves in order to protect themselves from the adversities of nature. This kind of eagle’s nest is called an “aerie”.

The condor is the biggest member of the eagle family. In ancient times they used to live in the southeast region of the Alps. Today there are very few left. They can see objects clearly five miles away; thus any entity with very sharp or penetrating vision is said to have “condor-eye” or “condor-vision”.

The monkey-eating eagle that is found in south and southeast Asia is quite large and very strong. They are also becoming very rare nowadays. A hundred years ago this monkey-eating eagle could also be seen from time to time in the Philippines but no longer.⁽²⁾

Although it differs somewhat in size and shape, the Indian vulture also belong to the eagle family. It’s Sanskrit name is grdhra or shakunta bird. The meaning of the verbal root shak is “to be able to” or “to be firm”.⁽³⁾ The vulture has an uncommonly powerful beak, thus it is called shakunta. In Sanskrit literature, Shakuntalá is the name of the girl who was abandoned by her mother when she was a baby and raised by a vulture out of its sense of deep affection (hence the name Shakuntalá, in the sense of one who is raised by a shakunta bird).

At one time a good number of golden eagles used to be found in western Europe. Today they are on the verge of extinction. Approximately a hundred years ago the last of the British variety of golden eagle died. Today the British golden eagle no longer flies in the earth’s skies. Like the dodo bird, they have disappeared forever. The British golden eagle is one of the victims of humankind’s death-sacrifices. Similarly, the Indian leopard can only be seen nowadays in pictures; it can no longer be seen in the Indian jungles. The Indian leopard, along with the leopard-cat, used to be found in good numbers in the Duars of northern Bengal, but today the Indian leopard is no longer to be found and the leopard-cat is also rarely seen anymore.⁽⁴⁾

Yes, talking about the eagle brought up the subject of the Indian vulture. At one time there were many sub-species of the Indian vulture. Nowadays, basically three varieties can be found: the big black vulture, the white vulture and the red-throated vulture.⁽⁵⁾ Among them, the white vulture has virtually disappeared and few people ever have an opportunity to see a red-throated vulture. In ancient India the white vulture was considered to be a symbol of misfortune. Thus in the Vedic era, if a white vulture sat on anyone’s house they would perform the shakunta yajiṋa [vulture sacrifice] to chase away misfortune. King Shyámala Varmmańa brought Brahmans versed in the Vedas from north India to Bengal in order to perform the shakunta yajiṋa.

Although birds of the eagle group are meat-eaters and ferocious by nature, they are not very clever. Often it is seen that vultures meet their death in fights with crows because of their lack of intelligence. Most likely, the popular tale of old Jaradgava [a senile vulture] was based on the vulture’s lack of intellect.

Ajiṋátakulashiilasya váso deyo na kasyacit;
Márjáradośena hatah vrddhah jaradgavah.

[A completely unknown person should never be given shelter; old Jaradgava was killed due to the fault of the cat. ]

Iid́ya

The meaning of the verbal root iid́ is “to eulogize”. Iid́a means “one who eulogizes” or “that which is eulogized”. Iid́ya means “worthy of respect or eulogy or worship”. It is said in the shruti:

Tamiishvaráńáḿ paramaḿ maheshvaraḿ
Taḿ devatánáḿ paramaiṋca daevatam;
Patiḿ patiináḿ paramaḿ parastád
Vidáma devaḿ bhuvaneshamiid́yam.

[You are Maheshvara, the Controller of the controllers; You are Mahádeva, the Lord of the lords. You are the King of the kings, the greatest of the great, you are worshipped by the entire universe. So, Shiva, whether I know You or not, You are the Controller of all, You are the Supreme Controller, Maheshvara.]

Iiti

The meaning of the verbal root ii is “to move rapidly”, “to arrive suddenly”, or “to depart abruptly”, etc. Someone who falls victim to an unexpected natural disaster, such as tempest, flood, earthquake, falling meteor, or volcanic eruption, we call iita (ii + kta). Similarly, an unexpected calamity or natural disaster is called iiti (ii + ktin). In ancient literature iiti was also used for any sudden or unexpected battle or epidemic or plague of locusts.

Occasionally you will find a sudden swelling in the small rivers and rivulets of Rarh. It remains for a short time, causes some damage, and then disappears just as quickly. This suddenly appearing, suddenly disappearing flood is called haŕká in Rarhi Bengali. This haŕká is also a type of iiti.

Iip

By adding the suffix iip to any masculine word ending in a, the word becomes feminine. For example: cákśuśa – cákśuśii; shravańa – shravańii; shrávańa – shrávańii; ashvina – ashvinii; áshvina – áshvinii (the constellation is ashvinii, but the full moon is áshvinii).

Iipsá

This word comes from the verbal root áp (ápnoti) which means “to get”. The meaning of the word iipsá is “the desire to get”. The meaning of iipsu is “desirous of getting” or “that which has a propensity for getting”.

Iishitá

The word iishii comes from the verbal root iish which means “to rule”, “to control”, “to govern”. Iishii means “supremacy” or “comparative supremacy”. Iishitá means “supremacy when judged comparatively”. For example, “Among these four cooks, so-and-so has iishitá in comparison with the rest.” The word iishitá is pleasing to the ear and feminine in gender. Girls can be given the name iishitá. Similarly, by adding the suffix tvac we get the word iishitva which carries the same meaning but is neuter in gender.

Iishiká/Iiśiká

The meaning of the word iishiká/iiśiká is “the pupil of an elephant’s eye”. That is, iishiká/iiśiká means the eyes, particularly the pupils of the eyes, of those animals which are very large in size, but whose eyes are comparatively small. Because the eyes of elephants and rhinoceri are small in comparison with the size of their bodies, they were iishiká in old Sanskrit.

Iishidanta/Iiśidanta

This word means “tusk”. The two long teeth that extend out from both sides of the mouth of the male elephant are not used for mastication; nowadays they are purely for show. Previously. however, elephants used to use these tusks for digging up the ground. The tusks of the elephant’s ancestor, the mammoth, were even bigger – both longer and thicker. They used to attack and kill other animals with their tusks.⁽⁶⁾ In comparison with younger elephants, the tusks of older elephants are relatively yellowish. Needless to say, elephants also have ordinary teeth inside their mouths for chewing food just like other creatures. Those female elephants that have visible tusks we call várańii (not vánarii).

In olden times the ivory craft of Bankura and Murshidabad in Bengal was of a very high standard. This craft depended on the patronage of royalty and the wealthy. Nowadays it has nearly disappeared.

The teeth of the hippopotamus are even stronger and whiter than those of the elephant, but there are fewer hippopotami. Today the hippopotamus is no longer found in India. It disappeared from India approximately a thousand years ago. Human beings were most probably responsible for this evil deed, acting out of greed for their extremely firm, white teeth, much as they have nearly brought an end to the rhinoceros by killing them out of greed for their horns. It is in the last one hundred years or so that the rhinoceros has disappeared from the Sundarbans. The two hundred or two hundred fifty rhinoceri still surviving somehow in eastern India should be in protected reserves, otherwise humans, greedy for their hides, flesh and horns, will bring their final day even closer. Hippopotami teeth should also be considered ivory for the same reason that elephant tusks are. In prehistoric times, both hippopotami and giraffes were found in Rarh, but they disappeared about ten thousand years ago thanks to the capriciousness of human beings.

Speaking of tusks, an old incident comes to mind from the days just after independence when the influence of the British could still be felt everywhere.

I had gone to Ranchi for a few days in relation to an idea I had that the civilization of the Koyel River-valley found in the west of Ranchi District was a branch of the Rarhi civilization of central Gondwanaland. To the east of Ranchi was the Suvarnarekha River-valley, which in terms of language, culture and heritage belonged to Rarh. Each day I would go to one or two different spots in the Suvarnarekha River-valley in search of archaeological artifacts of ancient Rarh.

One day, while searching in a spot near Muri in the Silli area, I came across a fossilized fragment of a mammoth jaw with part of the tusk still attached. I knew I had found something important. There was no doubt that it would add lustre to the cultural heritage of Rarh.

All day long I travelled like a whirlwind from village to village in Ranchi District’s Silli area and the Jhalda and Jaipur areas of what was at that time Manbhum District, just adjacent to it. This region is also worthy of being recognized by archaeologists as the cradle of Rarhi civilization. Here the Suvarnarekha River-valley, Kamsavati River-valley and Damodar River-valley (Alkushi, Kupai, Uttará or Chot́ki Guyai and Dakśińá or Baŕki Guyai) are all close to each other and I was able to discover many things there.

I was quite pleased with the prospect of presenting the land of Rarh in a new way to people. And I was especially pleased, looking at the straightforward faces of these dark-complexioned, Austrico-Scythian-Negroid people of Rarh, to think that, though they are neglected today, at one time they were perched at the summit of civilization. They were the forefathers of human civilization and the trumpets of Bengali civilization.

It was 8:00, I noticed, when I made ready to return to Ranchi after having spent the entire day moving from place to place. If I started then, I thought, it would be nearly 10:00 before I made it back to the house in Ranchi, which would be quite late for my bath and spiritual practices, so I decided to complete them in the Jhalda dak-bungalow. Afterwards I would return to the house in Ranchi no matter how late it might be.

After arriving at the Jhalda dak-bungalow I finished my bath and spiritual practices, took a light snack and then told my travelling companions: “So much walking has left me a little tired. I want to lie down for a bit. When you have the car packed and are ready to leave, then you let me know and I’ll come to the car.”

I took some rest. After a while the room began to seem as if it was under an enchantment. Something was definitely out of place. Suddenly, the door near the foot of the bed cracked open and a gentlemanly-looking young man in his early twenties stepped in. He greeted me with a very sweet and courteous smile and said: “Oh, I’ve waited a long time for a chance to see you.”

“Who are you?” I replied. “Why did you want to see me?”

“I’ve been here for a few days with the Silli royal family; we are very close. I am greatly interested in the archaeology of Rarh. In fact, I am from Rarh. My home is in the Bundu area of Ranchi District.”

“Go ahead and tell me what you wanted to say.”

“I am extremely interested in the archaeology of Rarh,” he replied, “but I have never had an opportunity to meet anyone who was as interested in the matter as I am. I heard that you were in the area going around to different villages, and that you had managed to gather many facts. I also heard that you discovered in the house of a certain Siḿmuńd́á in the village of Mardu, an intact statue of the state goddess of Bengal, Dákśáyańii, from the beginning of the Shur dynasty. I went out to try to find you but you were moving so fast from village to village that it was impossible to catch up with you. I got tired and sat down under a mango tree near the Silli royal palace. Then it popped into my head that you were staying in the Jhalda dak-bungalow, so I rushed here and managed to find you.

“During the rule of the Shur dynasty,” he continued, “our Bengal extended from the Suvarnarekha River-valley to the Naaf River-valley. Although nowadays there are twelve dialects of Bengali spoken over this huge area, in those days there were even more because there wasn’t any good transportation between the different areas. It was due to the impassability of traffic that so many dialects arose. Roughly speaking, the Bengali language of that time was a related form of Oriental Demi-Mágadhii. We can also call it old Bengali. We can find this Oriental Demi-Mágadhii-related form of Bengali in the Caryápada and the Caryácaryavinishcaya of the Buddhist era. From this we can easily conclude that the Bengali language is at least 1500 years old – not a bit less. There are older languages among the world’s modern living languages, but very few.

“In that era the influence of Shiva on the Bengali people was immense. Dákśáyańii, the daughter of King Dakśa and the wife of Shiva, was the state goddess of Bengal. Statues of this Dákśáyańii have been found in a good number of the villages of our Suvarnarekha River-valley. Most of them have been carved from stone and some bear inscriptions in the Dalma script. You went to the village of Mardu in the Silli area of Ranchi District – that village is very close to Jhalda; the Suvarnarekha River runs through it.

“During the Buddhist and Puranic eras, indeed, even during the Pathan era as well, the Dákrás⁽⁷⁾ used to gather gold particles from the sand of this river which they would then melt down to remove the base metals and extract the pure gold. During that time many of the archaeological artifacts made in this Suvarnarekha valley were fashioned of pure gold, but they fell into the hands of thieves so they are no longer found today. During the time of Varddhamana Maháviira there was a great influence of Jainism in this region especially in our Suvarnarekha and Kamsavati river-valleys and to a lesser extent in the Dhalkishore⁽⁸⁾ , Damodar, Ajay and Mayurakshi river-valleys.

“You certainly must have discovered a large-sized Jain Shiva in the broken Shiva temple in Mardu village. This type of Shiva-liuṋga has been recovered in excavations elsewhere in Rarh and more will be in the future. Some of them can also be seen above ground, in some of the temple ruins. At the end of the names of these Jain Shivas the word iishvara was used, not nátha. For example, Khadgeshvara, not Khadganátha. In Bengal the word iishvara was used at the end of Shiva’s name from the end of the Buddhist era until the appearance of Shankaracharya. These Jain Shiva-liuṋgas were quite large in size and the gaorii pat́t́as were very large as well.

“The old Jain Shiva-liuṋgas had the same radius from top to bottom. Later, during the time of Shankaracharya, those people of Rarh who accepted Shankara’s Shaeva doctrine gave them the name jyotirliuṋga. But alongside the Jain religion, váńaliuṋgas were also prevalent in Bengal, chiefly in Buddhist Bengal. This váńaliuṋga has no relation to the Jain Shiva, thus, in olden times, the jyotirliuṋga and váńaliuṋga were worshipped with different mantras. Khadgeshvara of Birbhum, Jhaŕeshvara of Midnapore, and Tárakeshvara of Hoogly are all from the Jain era, but while some of their temples are quite old, many are less so and some are quite contemporary.

“If you go into the villages upland of the Suvarnarekha River-valley region you will notice that the indigenous people of these areas (for example, the Singhmundas) are completely different from other Bengalees in their behaviour, practices, culture and women’s style of dress. Their spoken languages are the Páinc-Parganiya,⁽⁹⁾ or Patkumi, or Golawári branches of Rarhi Bengali. Their skin colour is also not black; one can say that it is darkish. Light-skinned people are also found among them. This illustrates the fact that while the Bengali people are a blend of the Austric, Mongolian and Negroid races, the amount of Negroid blood in them is significantly less. There is very little Negroid influence on body-size and structure as well, though it cannot be denied that there is some influence.

“The mixture between the Dravidian people and the Mongolian race is greatest in the land of Bengal, thus the inborn tendency towards sentimentality found in the Mongolian race is also innate to the Bengali people. This can be considered a positive quality just as much as it can be considered a defect. This sentimentality has enabled the Bengalees to pass through many fiery ordeals and it will do so in the future as well.”

“You are still a young lad,” I said to him. “How is it that you know so much about archaeology?”

“I don’t know anything at all,” he replied. “I was just articulating what you were thinking.”

“It heartens me to see young men like you,” I told the young man. “Go ahead and rescue Rarh’s archaeological artifacts from the ground and reconstruct the history of Bengal. Remove the defects from India’s historical record. Make the history of humankind resonate with the great message of humanity.” His face began to glow. “What is your name?” I asked.

“Shrii Nityanarayan Singhdeo,” he replied.

From the door at the foot of the bed I heard the knock of the iron handle. “Who is it?” I asked.

My travelling companion and close acquaintance, Amulyaratan Sarangi, entered the room. “We are all ready,” he said. “Will you get up now?”

“Let’s go,” I replied. I looked towards where Nityanarayan had been standing but there was no one there.

Now let me move ahead a few days. I was crossing the Ganges in the Sahebganj steamer, heading for Siliguri via Maniharighat and Kishanganj. It was a large steamer and very crowded. The Farakka Bridge-Barrage had not yet been built and the people of south Bengal used to take this route to go to north Bengal. It was also the shortest route for people travelling from north Bengal to Calcutta. My eyes fell upon a young man in his early twenties with a bright face standing in the steamer crowd. While I was looking at him he walked slowly over to me and greeted me with folded hands, saying: “Please don’t mind, but it seems as if I have seen you somewhere before.”

I smiled and said: “Think for a moment and see if you can remember or not.”

“I remember something but it’s not very clear.”

“Whatever it is you remember, tell me.”

“Not long ago I was in Silli for a few days. One day I heard that a certain gentleman had come to Ranchi who was very interested in the archaeology of Rarh and who was doing research in the Silli area. I went here and there looking for him but I didn’t know his name or what he looked like; I wasn’t even able to discover when he had gone to what village. Finally I sat down under a mango tree. I fell asleep there and had a dream. I dreamed that I went into the Jhalda dak-bungalow and there I found this gentleman lying down on a cot. Beside him was a part of a mammoth’s tusk. I stood next to this mammoth’s tusk and this gentleman looked at me and spoke to me as if I was his very close friend. I also felt as if he was very near and dear to me. We talked for a long time and then I woke up and the dream fled away.”

“And then?” I asked.

“Why, you are the same gentleman I visited that evening in the Jhalda dak-bungalow!”

I smiled and said; “Can you kindly tell me your name?”

“Shrii Nityanarayana Singhdeo,” was his reply.

Iishiiká/Iiśiiká

The meaning of this word is “paintbrush” – a brush for painting pictures. The word is feminine and can be used as a girl’s name.

Iishvara

Iish + varac = iishvara. Generally the suffix varac is used to indicate something which is inherent. The verbal root iish means “to rule” or “to control”. Thus, one whose intrinsic nature is to rule or to control is iishvara. That which perishes according to the law of nature is nashvara (nash [perish]+ varac); “that from which light is diffused” is bhásvara (bhás [luminosity]+ varac). About iishvara it is said:

Sa iishavara anirvacaniiyah paramapremasvarúpah.

[He is the Supreme Controller, the inexplicable one, the very embodiment of supreme love. ]

The unit being is only partially able to express its inner feeling. The amount of inner feeling that exists in the initial stage is greatly decreased when it is translated into language, that is, when it enters the second stage, because language’s capacity is limited in comparison with thought. Rasagolla, rasamalai and coconut ladu are three types of sweets. When we taste them we can easily understand the difference between them, but when expressing it in language we cannot explain just what the sweetness of each is like. The capacity of language fails. This is the case with all worldly feelings, in other words, in comparison with feeling, our expressive capacity is significantly smaller. If we stick ourselves with a pin we say “ooh”; if we are stung by a wasp we also say “ooh”; and if we are stung by a scorpion we still say “ooh”. Yet the feeling in each case is not the same, nor is the intensity. In this case the feeling in its initial stage cannot be expressed at all in either language or intensity in the second stage, thus we say that it is inexplicable.

About Iishvara, it is said that He is inexplicable, that is, He exists but He cannot be expressed, cannot be manifested; language is completely unable to express Him. Thus He is called Vákpathátiita [beyond language]. About that which is the essence of an adjective, we say that it is the embodiment of that adjective. For example, one who is very noble we call the embodied symbol of nobility. One who possesses great erudition we call the embodiment of erudition. Regarding Iishvara, it is said that He is the embodied image of love – the embodiment of divine love. No matter how much a person remains engaged in unjust actions, he always hopes that Parama Puruśa will forgive him, that He will wipe the dust off him and take him on His lap. Although he forgets Parama Puruśa at the time of committing injustice, after he has committed it, when he remembers Parama Puruśa, he thinks to himself: “O Lord, you know the condition I was in when I committed this injustice. Please forgive me.” Or else he says: “O Lord, why did you give me such a nature that I could commit this type of injustice? Save me.” That is, under all circumstances the living beings are dependent on Parama Puruśa, whether they know it or not. Parama Puruśa is such an entity. No matter how much a person may be frightened of Parama Puruśa, he is much more filled with hope by Him. Therefore it is said about Parama Puruśa or Iishvara that He is Parama Premasvarúpah [the embodiment of divine love“].

It is also said about Iishvara – Bhagaván eva Iishvarah [“God alone is Iishvara”]. Bhaga + matup = Bhagavat. In the first person, masculine singular it becomes Bhagaván – feminine Bhagavatii. The meaning of the word bhaga is:

Aeshvaryaiṋca samagraiṋca viiryaiṋca yashasah shriyah;
Jiṋána-vaerágyashcaeva śańńáḿ bhaga iti smrtah.

[Bhaga is a collection of six attributes: aeshvarya, viirya, yasha, shrii, jiṋána, and vaerágya.]

Aeshvarya: ańimá, mahimá, laghimá, iishitva, vashitva, prápti, prakámya, and antaryámitva (in some people’s opinion káyavasáyitva) – these eight supernatural powers are known as aeshvarya (in English “occult power”). In the ordinary living being, in the unit mind in its natural state, these qualities are not manifest. The living being cannot enter another’s mind (ańimá). It cannot penetrate into another’s physical structure or wander at its will in the stratosphere (laghimá). It can not make itself all-pervading (mahimá). The unit cannot pervade all the strata of existence and control them (iishitva). It cannot bring either itself or others completely under its control (vashitva). An impassable distance lies between what it wants and what it gets (prápti). The living being cannot give shape to all sorts of desires in all different spheres (prakámya). It cannot know or understand the thoughts of another’s mind or of the Cosmic Mind (antaryámitva), nor can it maintain control over another person’s physical structure or any other physical structure (káyavasáyitva). These things are called occult powers or aeshvarya.

Viirya: Viirya means “seed form of strength”. In spoken Bengali it means “extreme force” or “extreme power”. Thus, that by which absolute power is created is viirya.

Yasha: One who is praised by the world for his or her uncommon virtues or else is continually slandered by those blinded by jealousy, is called yashasvii. His or her essential quality is known by the name yasha (yashas).

Shrii: That special quality which attracts everyone in one direction, the “one” of that attractive power, is said to have shrii. It is also called shriipati (tirupati). In other words, shrii means “the power of attraction” or “charm” or “fascination”.

Jiṋána: The spiritual meaning of the word jiṋána is “profound knowledge” or “supreme spiritual knowledge” – that is, hidden spiritual knowledge in molecular form. This knowledge draws the awareness of matter towards the awareness of existence. It diffuses the limitless effulgence of existence in every pore and cavity of matter.

Vaerágya: Vi – rańj + ghaiṋ = virága. The state of virága is vaerágya. Virága means “to go beyond colour” or “to be uncoloured”. To remain completely engaged in the world yet uncoloured by the world is called vaerágya.

The collective name of these six attributes, the eight occult powers [aeshvarya], viirya, yashah, shrii, jiṋána, and vaerágya, is bhaga. That vast being in whom this bhaga exists, or that vast being who is the master of this bhaga, while being part of the world also remains beyond it. Another name of this Bhagaván is Iishvara.

Klesha-karma-vipákáshayaeraparámrśt́a puruśavisheśa
iishvara.

[That Entity who remains unassailed by klesha (afflictions), by the bondages of karma, by vipáka [reactions] and áshaya (saḿskáras) is called Iishvara.]

The living being is worn out by hardship, ravaged by the thought of troubles. He is not the master of action but is turned into the slave of action. He is not able to treat adverse circumstances as a joyful sport. When calamity befalls him he is subject to it. He is not above the reactions of his saḿskáras, rather he is subject to them. But that being who is not affected by hardship, action, misfortune and fate, who remains unassailed and unaffected, is Iishvara.

Iishvaro sah jagatkarttá. Gam + kip gives us the word jagat which means “that which naturally goes on moving”. The play of creation is itself moving. Everyone and everything moves by its power of motion; there is no question of stopping. One cannot remain static even for a single moment. Like it or not, one will have to move, in body, mind, feeling and intellect, that is, everyone and everything goes on moving naturally in this supreme arising and dissolution. This movement is the intrinsic nature of existence. Matter moves, mind moves, thought moves… towards consciousness, towards the nucleus of the universe… it rushes towards the condensed state. There is nothing besides this movement; it is inherent in everything. The world is sustained by this mobility. He who is the doer of this world is Iishvara – in every facet of existence exists the sequence of doer, doership and effect. He whose role is the ruler of this doer, doership and effect is Iishvara.

The nádabindu mark (৺) that is used before the name of a dead person is also read as iishvara. Take, for example, a person named Shubhamanas Sarkar. While he is alive, we write and read Shrii Shubhamanas Sarkar, but once he is dead then this nádabindu mark is used just before the first letter of his name.⁽¹⁰⁾ This nádabindu mark is not the same as the candrabindu. In the first place, the candrabindu is placed just above the head of the letter and the nádabindu is placed near the head of the letter – just before the head of the letter, rather than above the upper stroke of the letter. Secondly, the tail of the crescent of the nádabindu is drawn up more towards the top than the crescent of the candrabindu. At any rate, we write this nádabindu mark before the name of the deceased Shubhamanas Sarkar and we read it as Iishvara Subhamanas Sarkar. Here the word iishvara is equivalent to the English word “late”.

It is improper to use the word shrii with a word that has the nádabindu, pronounced iishvara, attached to it, that is, while living we say Shrii Shubhamanas Sarkar and after death we say Iishvara Shubhamanas Sarkar, not Iishvara Shrii Shubhamanas Sarkar. Many people, when they write oṋḿkára also put a candrabindu over the o⁽¹¹⁾ but this is incorrect. There is no scope for a candrabindu when oṋḿkára is written.

Iiha

The meaning of the verbal root iiha is “to go on trying tirelessly”. For example, “to speak without stopping”, “to move without stopping”, “to drive a car without stopping”. There is a beautiful Sanskrit word for a person who keeps on putting forth efforts without stopping – iihásana (ihásana means “in this seat”). Iihá means “effort”. That person who works tirelessly in society to establish his or her ideology and establishes that ideology is called iihaketana, the feminine form is iihaketaná. Both words are pleasing to the ear, so both can be used as names – Iihaketana for boys and Iihaketaná for girls.

Iikśa

The meaning of the verbal root iikś is “to scrutinize”. Iikś + ac = iikśa. Iikśa means “one who scrutinizes” or “that which is scrutinized”. The prefix pari is used to indicate “having attained completeness” or “filled to the brim”. Thus the word pariikśá [test] (pari – iikśá) is used for “to scrutinize thoroughly”. Similarly, “to scrutinize exhaustively” is sam - iikśá = samiikśá (to observe, to survey); someone who is coming from a different direction, that is, thinking of someone who is coming from the opposite direction or to remain looking in that direction, is prati – iikśá = pratiikśá [awaiting]. Upa means “nearby”, thus “to disregard” will be upa – iikśá = upekśá. Actually, iikśá in this sense is pra – iikśá = prekśá [observation] (prekśágrha means “cinema hall”).

Iikś + lyut́ = iikśańa. Iikśańa also means “scrutinizing” or “that which is scrutinized”. Vi – iikśańa = viikśańa (ańuviikśańa) [careful observation]. Pra – iikśańa = prekśańa [observation].

Tanvii shyámá shikharadashaná pakvabimbádharaośt́ii;
Madhyakśamá cakitaharińaprekśańá nimnanábhih.

Iikśańaka/Iikśańika/Iikśańiká

Both iikśańaka and iikśańika mean “astrologer” or “one who foretells the future”. In old Sanskrit iikśańaka, in the later language iikśańika – in feminine gender iikśańiká (female astrologer). The science of astrology or astronomy that is based on the position and movement of the stars and planets, however, is not the science of iikśańa. Those who predict the future by scrutinizing a particular individual’s mode of living, conversation, the letters of their name, certain solar or lunar dates, traditional ideas, etc. based on certain processes, or else those who are able to give some hint of the future after having visualized it by dint of a little concentration of mind, are called iikśańaka or iikśańika. This science of iikśańa has yet to become a fully developed science, even today. It is still in the research stage. In other words, it sometimes gives results and sometimes does not. Really speaking, the science of iikśańa is still like a child tentatively taking their first steps. Fingernail gazing, crystal gazing, numerology, science of breathing, black-magic killing, enchantments, magic incantations, stupefying, hypnosis, wards – directly or indirectly all of these come within the scope of iikśańa-vidyá. At one time people used to think of the so-called Dákini Tantra (witchcraft) as a part of iikśańa-vidyá. That misuse of Avidyá Tantra that comes within the scope of iikśańa-vidyá cannot be used on those who are firm believers in Vidyá Tantra, or if used will prove fruitless – this the sages and knowers of the truth have said since ancient times.

Iikśańa means “to scrutinize”. The etymological meaning of the word Iikśańaka/iikśańika/iikśańiká is “one who scrutinizes”. In olden times people from the intelligence branch or spies were also sometimes called iikśańika, although generally the masculine word gahapuruśa and the feminine word viśakanyá were more widely used.

There is a story that at one time during the Buddhist era some friction arose in the political relations between Kashmir and Bengal. At that time the capital of Bengal was Mahasthan,⁽¹²⁾ on the banks of the Karatoya River. One day, an unknown man arrived unexpectedly in the city. Sometimes he worked as an astrologer, sometimes he sold fruit and sometimes he sold woollen clothes. The state intelligence people had doubts about him but after conducting their secret investigations they could find nothing to accuse him of. Through their efforts arrangements were made for a dance performance in the capital. That unknown man also attended and was seated a short distance from the king, the royal princes and the king’s officers [rájapuruśa].⁽¹³⁾ During the dance, when the dancers would approach the king and his retinue with a gold pot that they would extend in a certain mudrá, they would give the dancers some coins. It was observed that when the dancers approached that unknown man he began to lift his hand to give something and then pulled it back. The king’s intelligence people or gahapuruśas then understood that this aquiline-nosed man was the son of some royal family. And because he belonged to the Mediterranean⁽¹⁴⁾ branch of the Caucasian race, they had no doubts that he was from Kashmir, that is, he was a member of the Kashmiri royal family and he had come there for the purposes of spying. The intelligence people then arrested that iikśańaka.

Footnotes

(1) I have seen this bird also in Kachar District.

(2) The Philippines’ Sanskrit name is Mahárliká or Mahárliiná which means, etymologically, “small in size but great in qualities”. After the Spanish took possession of the country they gave it the name “Philippines” after their King Philip.

(3) The word shaktu is used in the sense of “that which makes the body strong”. Its colloquial meaning is “corn-meal” or “gram-meal”.

(4) The plains at the edge of the Himalayas are called terai in northern India and duyár in Bengali. Thus the name of the city of Alipur located in that region is Alipurduar, and the one that is not located in the duyár, but rather adjacent to Calcutta, is just called Alipur. Until the Mughal era its name was Alinagar.

(5) In old Sanskrit they used to be called grdhra and in north India, gidha.

(6) In English we use the word “tusk” for the Bengali word gajadanta and the adjective “ivory” is used for the material which is made from these tusks. In other words, when I show someone an elephant’s tooth [gajadanta] I call it a “tusk”, and when I show a bangle made from the tooth of an elephant I call it an “ivory bangle”.

(7) A local indigenous tribe. –Trans.

(8) The name of the first part of the river is Dhalkishore. After it joins the Gandheshvari River in Bankura, the name of the combined flow is Dvarakeshvar. When this Dvarakeshvar River reaches the far border of Hoogly District it joins the Shilavati (Shilai) River coming from the west and thereafter flows towards the southwest under the name of the Rupanarayan River, dividing Midnapore and Howrah; thereafter it joins with the Bhagirathi. At its end, Howrah District’s Shyampur area is on the left bank and Midnapore District’s Tamluk is on the right bank.

(9) The far western fringe of Rarh, where the Suvarnarekha, Kansavati and Damodar River-valleys come together, we can call the cradle of both Rarhi and human civilization. As regards the spoken language, the branch of Rarhi Bengali that is prevalent in the area lying on the right bank (south) of the Suvarnarekha River is called Páinc-Pargańiyá Bengali. The spoken language found on the left bank of the Suvarnarekha River and the right bank (south) of the Kansavati River is the Patkumi branch of Rarhi Bengali. And the language spoken on the left bank of the Kansavati and the right bank of the Damodar is the Golawárii branch of Rarhi Bengali. Gola is a famous place of this area from which the name Golawárii has come. The spoken language of the area lying on the left bank of the Damodar, that is, north and west of the Pareshanath Hills is called Dakśińii Khotta Bengali. The closer one gets to the Pareshanath Hills the more the influence of Rarhi Bengali increases in this Dakśińii Khotta Bengali and the nearer one gets to the Tilaiya Reservoir, the more the influence of southern Magahii or Gayáli Magahii increases. The Páinc-Pargańiyá branch of Rarhi Bengali is spoken in Ranchi District’s Bundu, Arki, Tamar – 1, Tamar – 2, Sonahatu, the southern part of the Silli area, and the southern part of the Angara area. The Patkumi branch of Rarhi Bengali is prevalent in Purulia District’s Jhalda and Tulin areas, the northern part of Ranchi District’s Silli and Angara areas, and in certain parts of Hazaribag District’s (now Giridi District) Kasmar and Petarwar areas. The Golawárii branch of Rarhi Bengali is spoken in Purulia District’s Jaipur area, Dhanbad District’s Chas, Chandankeyari, Bokaro Steel City and Jeridi, and in certain portions of Hazaribag District’s (now Giridi District) Kasmar, Petarwar, Gola and Ramgarh areas. The spoken language of Hazaribag District’s (now Giridi District) Gomoh, Nuyadi, Bermo, Dumri, Chandrapura and Bokaro (Thermal) areas is also a variety of this Golawárii Bengali.

(10) It is not placed above the head of the first letter but just beside the head of the letter.

(11) A candrabindu (candrabindu is ṋ in romanized Bengali) above an o appears as ওঁ in Bengali script. –Trans.

(12) Mahásthán or Mahásthángarh is located in the present-day Bagura District.

(13) In Sanskrit rájapuruśa does not mean “members of the royal family”; it means “government officers”.

(14) People of the Alpine or Nordic branch of the Caucasian race do not live in India.