Welcome to Eternal Path Musings, a weekly newsletter for the modern and curious Hindu, featuring highlights around: religious texts, practice, history, politics, people, and ways to better our engagement and personal progress.
This issue features: Sanskrit resources, a Manipuri King, and an aesthetic
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Resource Highlight: Sanskrit
Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, holds a special status for Hindus. It is therefore fruitful for Hindus ideally to engage with and use the Sanskrit language daily. Here are some methods of growing your relationship with the language:
Learn Devanagari - While Sanskrit has been written in a variety of scripts historically, most modern resources use the Devanagari script (used for a number of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan languages). Pronouncing mantras correctly is essential for proper Hindu practice.
Integrate Mantras into Yoga practice - The surya namaskar is a popular exercise in yoga that benefits the body and mind through flexibility and breath control. Integrating these mantras into surya namaskar practice is an easy way to make your yoga practice more mindful.
Video lessons for learning Sanskrit - Advaita Academy Youtube Channel, The Sanskrit Channel
Self-Directed Learning Resources - AVG Sanskrit, IIT Madras, LearnSanskrit.org
Online Classes - Samskrta Bharati Distance Learning, OpenPathshala
Read Sanskrit Newspapers - Sudharma
Ruler Highlight: Ching-Thang Khomba
Ching-Thang Khomba (also known as Maharaja Bhagya Chandra) was a Meitei Hindu monarch of Manipur who lived from 1748-1799. His grandfather Pamheiba (also known as Gharib Nawaz) was one of the first Hindus in Manipur, having been influenced by Vaishnavite preachers and missionaries from Bengal.
He spent much of his childhood in the court of the Assamese ruler Suremphaa (Rajeshwar Singha), due to invasions from Burma which had weakened the Meitei Kingdom. His uncle, Khelei Nungnang Telheiba, attempted to lobby Suremphaa against him, alleging that Ching-Thang Khomba was an imposter to the Meitei throne. Suremphaa’s advisors suggested he test the boy. They suggested he tame a wild elephant to prove his royal credentials.
The annals state that the day before the event, Ching-Thang Khomba sat in meditation and saw the Lord Krishna in a dream, wearing the Raas-Leela dress of the Srimad Bhagavatam. In the dream he vowed to get a murti of Krishna made from a holy tree in Manipur and also to organize Raas-Leela festivals once he regained his Kingdom. The next day, almost akin to a Roman gladiator match, a crowd gathered to watch the young man. He managed to tame the elephant with little more than a flower garland, and cemented his alliance with Suremphaa.
Next he took back his Kingdom from his relatives and ruled over Manipur for decades. His rule was marked by general peace in Manipur and the restoration of Meitei power. During a time of warfare and religious decline in most of India, Manipur became a center for Vaishnavism attracting many pandits and religious scholars, who built the groundwork for widespread Meitei/Manipuri Hinduism. He also installed four idols from the log of the holy tree in various parts of Manipur, and one in Nabadwip in Bengal (the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu).
True to his word, he popularized and started the Raas-Leela festivals and dances celebrating the love of Krishna and Radha. Porbotialora on twitter has a good thread outlining the Raas-Leela dances here. It is a performance-based ritual theatre, one borne of careful study of the Puranas and other Hindu texts by Bengali, Assamese, and Meitei pandits. The Raas-Leela tradition prior to India’s independence involved many in the royal family themselves participating as actors/dancers in performances.
Aesthetic: Ching-Thang Khomba Stamp
