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Thread: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

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    Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste,
    I have passion for researching psychedelics and in one of the videos I have seen it's mentioned that Brahmins are prohibited from eating mushrooms in Mahabharata. This is probably why not even one Brahmin friend of mine eats mushrooms.

    Considering magic mushrooms give lots of insights into things which normal human mind can't think or comprehend, I wonder what politicking happened between mushrooms and Brahmins.

    Also Kalidasa used mushroom in Meghadutam

    कर्तुं यच्च प्रभवति महीमुच्छिलीन्ध्रामवन्ध्यां

    “You are capable of making that ground fertile and make mushrooms sprout from it.” (Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-w...at-is-sanskrit)

    I don't think a great poet like Kalidasa would use normal mushrooms in his poetry. They are not beautiful like flowers so he must be talking about magic mushrooms or something similar.

    Does anyone know such references to mushrooms in Mahabharata or any other work..even in some Puranas?

    Regards,
    realdemigod


    ॐ महेश्वराय नमः

    || Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya ||

    Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo Shankara

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~
    namasté

    From the website offered we see the following:
    The Purvamegha part of the poem is about the cloud’s journey to Alakapuri and has 66 shlokas. The Uttaramegha part of the poem is about the cloud’s return from Alakapuri and has 55 shlokas. The beauty of the poem is in the description of nature. What is the Sanskrit for a mushroom? There are several and one is शिलिन्ध्र​. Have you heard of any poet in the world bringing something like a mushroom into poetry? I haven’t. Here is the first part of shloka 11. कर्तुं यच्च प्रभवति महीमुच्छिलीन्ध्रामवन्ध्यां. “You are capable of making that ground fertile and make mushrooms sprout from it.”

    If I may let me add some additional ideas on this 11th verse; there are 2 roads one can go down:
    कर्तुं यच्च प्रभवति महीमुच्चिलीन्ध्रामवन्ध्यां
    It reads,
    kartuṃ yacca prabhavati mahīmucchilīndhrāmavandhyāṃ

    • kartuṃ = karma-kāra or doer, action, maker
    • yacca is ‘yad’ + ca = who , which , what , whichever , whatever + and
    • prabhavati = prabhā + vati = appears or seemingly appearing + under
    • śilindhra ( as shown in the article)
      • The word referenced in the article provided is शिलिन्ध्र śilindhra​; the closest term to this is a fish (śilinda) and that would not fit. So this term is slightly off the mark;
      • we find a correct spelling as शिलीन्ध्र śilīndhra. Yes a simple long ī makes the difference here between a word that is recognized one done that is not.
      • What is the definiton of śilīndhra ? First in its masculine gender use, śilīndhra = plantain tree.


    • mahīmucchilīndhrāmavandhyāṃ - when we take it apart it becomes this:
      • mahī + mud + cchilīndhra + āmavandhyāṃ
      • mahi = great; mahī is the earth and also is ‘waters’
      • mud = to mix, blend – when inserted back into the total compound word or sentence ‘mud’ becomes ‘mut’ by the rules of saṇdhi¹.
        Note too that ‘mud’ also means joy, delight, gladness and a few other things.
      • Now this cchilīndhra how does term end up looking like this ? When the last term ‘mut’ ends with a ‘t’ and co-mingles with the next term śilīndhra by the rules of sandhi t + ś = ‘cch’. Hence the word we are viewing is śilīndhra (note that t + ś = cch) that becomes cchilīndhra.
      • āma = unripe + vandhya = unfruitful , unproductive


    One way of viewing this verse (the power of this cloud)
    he who can ( ‘yad’ ) take (kāra - a maker or doer) an apparently (prabhavati) unripe, unproductive\unfruitful (āmavandhyāṃ) plantain tree (śilīndhra) and via the earth (mahī) blend with it (mut) via ‘waters’ (mahī) and make it ( the plantain tree) joyful (mud) again i.e. bear fruit once again.

    Another view
    Can I get ‘mushroom’ from this verse? Yes. Mushroom would be ucchilīndhra = sprouting with mushrooms

    mahīmucchilīndhrāmavandhyāṃ

    Yet here is the pickle... if that is the case what then is mahīm ? By the rules of grammar a word can end with a long i (ī) so I have no word for this
    mahīm that applies. I lose mahī which is earth and water, hence the sentence and the rules of grammar ( saṃdhi or saṇdhi¹) are compromised.

    Can I get some form of ~magic mushroom~ out of this? Yes. A 3rd derivative of 'mud' is an intoxicant, a species of drug.

    The reader will need to choose how to view the verse as the wise always have multiple levels to offer the reader .



    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ



    1. saṇdhi - junction points; the combination of letters/sounds from one word to another' their junction or 'togetherness' fore vowels, consonants, and visarga.
    Last edited by yajvan; 30 July 2016 at 07:36 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by realdemigod View Post
    Considering magic mushrooms give lots of insights into things which normal human mind can't think or comprehend.....
    The insinuation that a stoned person can get lot of insights into life is disgusting.
    Why do we need highly evolved spiritual Rishis/Acharyas to interpret the scriptural knowledge when we can just get stoned and "see" everything for ourselves?
    Where does this type of thinking come from?
    What is the purpose of espousing such trashy ideas in the forum?
    Why don't we burn all the holy books and just smoke or snort something to get all the insights?

    Pranam
    Last edited by Believer; 25 July 2016 at 11:26 PM.

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~
    namasté



    कर्तुं यच्च प्रभवति महीमुच्चिलीन्ध्रामवन्ध्यां
    It reads,
    kartuṃ yacca prabhavati mahīmucchilīndhrāmavandhyāṃ

    he who can ( ‘yad’ ) take (kāra a maker or doer) an apparently (prabhavati) an unripe, unproductive\unfruitful (āmavandhyāṃ) plantain tree (śilīndhra) and via the earth (mahī) blend with it (mut) via ‘waters’ (mahī) and make it ( the plantain tree) joyful (mud) again i.e. bear fruit once again.

    If the reader would give me a bit of leeway on this matter there are 2 other extended views & ideas one can offer regarding the notion of the cloud, its water, and an unproductive tree (śilīndhra).


    Some terms
    • First the cloud is the holder of water. A holder is known as dhātā (dhā = holding, possessing, giving, bestowing).
    • The water that is held and then given\sprinkled is abhiṣeka (ablution, anointing by sprinkling);
    • an unproductive tree is the notion of being insentient or acetana (without consciousness , inanimate);
    • a live and productive tree is the notion of being sentient or cetana ( with consciousness ).


    Now we visit two śastra-s. Let’s begin with the the chāndogya upaniṣad 5.2.3

    यद्यप्येनच्छुष्काय स्थाणवे ब्रूयाज्जायेरन्नेवास्मिञ्छाखः
    प्ररोहेयुः पलाशानीति ||
    5.2.3
    yadyapyenacchuṣkāya sthāṇave brūyājjāyerannevā smiñchākhaḥ
    praroheyuḥ palāśānīti ||

    This says, ( without me getting too zealous on the matter)
    If one where to tell this (wisdom/knowledge) even to a dried up stump , for sure branches would shoot forth and leaves (would) spring from it... || 5.2.3

    We have to ask, what wisdom is being offered? In section 5 of the chāndogya upaniṣad, prāṇa is being discussed. It is life giving and in the 1st verse of chapter 5 it is called out as the oldest and the best. It ( this chapter) is aligning prāṇa to brahman. It does this by calling out among the organs of seeing, hearing, speaking, thinking, etc. who is vasiṣṭhaḥ ? Vasiṣṭhaḥ here in the 2nd verse ( 5.1.2) is not calling out who is the ṛṣi named vasiṣṭhaḥ but who is the best, most rich, most excellent; this is the definition of the term vasiṣṭhaḥ.
    This section comes to the conclusion that prāṇa ‘is the best amongst us’ say all the other organs ( hearing, seeing, thinking, smelling, speaking, etc). He then (prāṇa) is the giver (dhātā) and is the ‘seeing’ behind sight, the ‘hearing’ behind the heard, the ‘speech’ behind speaking, etc. It is prāṇa that enables all of these things to occur.
    It is the giver, the enabler (dhātā), none other than brahman - the oldest and the best.

    This wisdom is so fruitful that ‘If one where to tell this (wisdom/knowledge) even to a dried up stump , for sure branches would shoot forth and leaves (would) spring from it...’

    Here is the code
    It is this prāṇa / brahman / pure consciousness that makes the insentient or acetana (without consciousness , inanimate) sentient or cetana ( with consciousness ). If we look at our organs they are just a bundle of flesh, of nerves, blood and the like. It is by the power of prāṇa / brahman / pure consciousness that makes them alive and vital. It instills itself into these organs and makes them viable. It has taken a ‘dried-up stump’ ( code for non-conscious organs) and made it live and sprout branches (become conscious). It has made an unripe, unproductive\unfruitful (āmavandhyāṃ) plantain tree (śilīndhra) via its ‘waters’ (mahī) bear fruit once again. It is the intelligence behind ‘intelligent’ ( my teacher’s wording).

    If you look at the term prāṇa it is first defined as ‘full’ From its root ‘prā’ . Yet it has 5 forms: prāṇa , apāna , vyāna, samāna, udāna. Do you notice anything? ‘an’ is common to all the terms – ‘an’ is to live; hence prāṇa is full of life. This is the vedic view, and the orientation from this upaniṣad. Is there another that corroborates this notion? Yes, we see a similar idea in the spandakārikā-s and will offer that in another post.

    ...but yajvan, where is the water here in this example of prāṇa ?
    In verse 5.2.1 prāṇa asks, what will be my food (code for what will I consume/take in/ experience via all the senses) ? The verse says, everything that is here for all beings will be your food; ‘nothing’ the verse says will be non-food for the one that knows the secret of prāṇa’s food. This is saying all that one sees , hears, tastes, etc. is prāṇa’s food because it allows/enables all the senses to function properly.

    Now the water: In verse 5.2.2 prāṇa asks, what will be my clothing ( code for where shall I reside)? The verse says āpa ( water). We know water is life giving and life sustaining to our being human. Hence from this comes the tradition of ācamana for one to sprinkle water āpa on one’s food and also sipping it from one’s cupped hand – we are clothing the food. Yet too with one’s morning ablution one sprinkles water on the head, & giving water to the total body , running over all the senses. This is abhiṣeka (ablution, anointing by sprinkling).

    Last idea
    When one really knows the meaning , the knowledge behind this, it would even make a dried-up stump bear fresh leaves. When one is sprinkled with this knowledge = infusing more pure awareness/pure consciousness into one’s daily awareness, it would even make a dried-up stump (one's ignorance of their real nature) will bear fresh leaves ( will expand their awareness and come to know their own SELF).




    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ
    Last edited by yajvan; 30 July 2016 at 07:42 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  5. #5
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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste realdemigod,

    you asked for a references to mushrooms in Mahabharata or any other work

    I read about mushrooms in Harivamsa

    shADvalachChannamArgAsu shilIndhrAbharaNAsu cha |
    kandalAmalapatrAsu sravantIShu navaM jalam ||2-11-15

    On the paths, covered with green grass and decorated with mushrooms fresh water was dripping from the tender leaves of plants.

    Origin http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_011.html

    Greetings
    Indialover
    Dance with Shiva - live with Shiva - merge with Shiva

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste,
    I could not find this thread earlier for some reason and just saw the replies, hence such long delay.

    yajvan - thank you for the detailed explanation.

    Believer - you are calling something found in nature disgusting? A mushroom is as sacred as a medicinal plant if it has anything to do with life. Unlike most I don't take things at the face value till they align with my experience.

    Indialover - thanks for the reference



    ॐ महेश्वराय नमः

    || Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya ||

    Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo Shankara

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Hari Om!

    I believe you have mistaken, at least in my humble opinion, what is to be taken in part form Believerji's words.

    Think not so much of the mushroom here as the MIND on the mushroom. Being stoned in nature is not natural.

    Om

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste,
    If a plant called Soma can be extolled in Rig Veda which must have been experienced by Rishis, why should not anyone extol a mushroom after experiencing it? What is wrong in that?

    Don't Aghoris smoke cannabis profusely without degeneration in mental faculties or respect for their Gurus?
    ॐ महेश्वराय नमः

    || Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya ||

    Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo Shankara

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    Namaste realdemigod,
    in European myths and fairy tales the fly agaric plays an important role. Sometimes it is styled like a house where dwarfs or benevolent elfs live in. In nature it is a poisonous mushroom.

    https://www.google.de/search?q=zwerge+fliegenpilze&biw=1227&bih=605&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhhqKqyuPOA hVDSBQKHQqODUgQsAQIPw

    Regarding Soma read this ...
    http://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythology-folklore/fly-agaric/

    Pranam
    Dance with Shiva - live with Shiva - merge with Shiva

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    Re: Magic Mushrooms in Mahabharata and other works

    By my opinion, those who wish stay healthy and having a very blissful experience on their journey on The Living Earth, to be one with Mother Nature it's essential.


    Gratitude to Mother Nature, our Beloved Prithvi Devi, Gaia, PachaMama and any other name She can be called.

    Gratitude to Her precious gifts & holy medicines, that can facilitate detox & purification and wisely nourish the human gods and the human goddesses, as well as each and all together the holy sentient beings.



    Bright Blessings dear Awakening Divine Souls!


    Prem Avatara

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