PDA

View Full Version : Da Da Da



yajvan
20 September 2006, 11:13 AM
Hari Om Tat Sat
~~~~~~~~~~~

Namaste,
I noticed one of the members is named Dattapandya,
a wonderful name. At its root is Da. If you have
interest in this Da, and also wish to add more knowldege of this, here's the story [compressed a bit by me] from the Prajapatya Brahmana.

Three type of Sons lived with their father Prajapati (praja = creation and pati = lord, or the lord of this creation). The 3 were the devas or gods, men or mortals, and the demons. The three said to their father " O Lord do thou teach us".

Prajapati then said to them the single syllable 'da' . He then asked to the gods, do you understand? They said yes, we have understood. You have told us with 'da' to control the senses (the indriyas). Prajapati said yes, you have understood.

He then asked to the men do you understand? They said yes, we have understood. You have told us with 'da' to be charitable. Prajapati said yes, you have understood.

He then asked to the demons do you understand? They said yes, we have understood. You have told us with 'da' to be merciful/compassionate. Prajapati said yes, you have understood.

Prajapati said you have all understood that this very same instruction, this divine speech (vak) the thunder-cloud repeats da da da. Hence one should learn this 3 fold instruction; self-contol (damam), charity (dana) and compassion/kindness (dayam).

Arjuna
20 September 2006, 12:50 PM
charity (datta)

Charity is not datta, but dAna.

yajvan
20 September 2006, 08:52 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~

Namaste Arjuna,
you are correct and I corrected the typo. thank you,

sarabhanga
20 September 2006, 09:07 PM
Namaste,

datta is GIVEN or GRANTED, datta is PRESENTED or PLACED, datta is EXTENDED, and datta is a GIFT or DONATION.

dAna is the act of GIVING or GIVING UP, dAna is COMMUNICATING or IMPARTING, dAna is PAYING BACK or RESTORING, ADDING or ADDITION, and dAna is a GIFT or DONATION.

And equally, CHARITY is given out or presented as a gift or a donation.

datta is pure Charity, freely given, and so too is dAna (at its best); although dAna may also imply charity given in repayment for a debt owing.

Surely, Datta is perfectly translated as Charity.

saidevo
23 September 2006, 10:05 AM
The Waste Land, a modernist poem in 433 lines written by the famous 20th century American poet Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot) describes the modern civilization as a wateland of stark materialism. The poem has five sections:

1. The Burial of the Dead
2. A Game of Chess
3. The Fire Sermon
4. Death by Water
5. What the Thunder Said

The first four sections of the poem correspond to the Greek classical elements of Earth (burial), Air, Fire (passion), and Water. The fifth and last section is a direct reference to Prajapati's thunder-cloud advice to his three sons (who represented the three classes) in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, that Yajvan has started this thread with. Eliot has couched Prajapati's advice as the only means of survival for the modern man. He repeats the advice as the concluding lines of his modern epigramattic epic.



Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
Waited for rain, while the black clouds
Gathered far distant, over Himavant.
The jungle crouched, humped in silence.
Then spoke the thunder
DA
Datta: what have we given?
My friend, blood shaking my heart
The awful daring of a moment's surrender
Which an age of prudence can never retract,
By this, and this only, we have existed,
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
In our empty rooms
DA
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms his prison
Only at nightfall, aethereal rumors
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
DA
Damyata: the boat responded
Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar
The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands

I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
London bridge is falling down falling down falling down
Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina
Quando fiam uti chelidon--O swallow swallow
Le prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie
These fragments I have shored against my ruins
Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.
Da. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
Shantih shantih shantih