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Re: REQUEST : Partholan, Indian & Celtic?
Okay, you suggest that the movement was from outside in.
But don't you think that it is probable that there could have been
movement from in to outside?
Think along the lines of the Gypsies, who are now regarded as Europeans,
but who still affiliate themselves with their Indian Ancestors...
I'd like to know where you got the idea that these Aryans came from the
north.
Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote:
>
> Lowell McFarland <mcfarlan@nai.net> wrote in article
> <ghenDzABpH.L59@netcom.com>...
>
> > I would like to know more about Partholan of the Mahabharata.
> > I was unable to find anything on the Internet.
> > Are there standard reference works about Partholan in the US
> > (and in English).
> > Are the Indian and Celtic Partholan related or the same?
> > Any other comments.
>
> Judging by the title, the book by Dhanraj Singh is not likely to be of much
> historical worth. Arjuna one of the major characters of the Mahabharata is
> called Partha but beyond the vague resemblence in their names there is no
> reason to connect him to the celtic Partholan.
>
> There is however some connection between Indian and Celtic mythology. Note
> much of the "scientific facts" concerning this are little more than
> scientific guesses but here is what they've managed to come up with. At one
> point (estimated to be somewhere around the third millenium BC) there were
> a group of nomadic people who lived somewhere in central Asia. (opinion
> ranges anywhere from just south of the Arctic circle to India itself. The
> consensus seems to be somewhere in the Caucausus Mountains area.)
>
> These people spread out from their homeland and quickly managed to conquer
> most of Europe and Asia. At one time the theory was they conquered and
> destroyed the indigenous cultures but while there was probably fighting
> here and there, it now seems their superior technology (inventions such as
> the chariot and iron implements) were more responsible for their success.
>
> These people called themselves Arya or noble (which is the meaning of Arya
> in Sanskrt to this day.) Echos of their name survives in Iran and Erin.
> Note there is no evidence to suggest there was such a thing as an "Aryan
> race" as the Nazis suggested. Aryan is used mostly to describe a
> socio-linguistic group nowadays. Alongside Gaelic, Sanskrt (ancestor of
> the modern North Indian languages), and Persian, Greek, Latin, Gothic, the
> Scandinavian languages and Lithuanian are important languages of the Aryan
> group. This gives you an idea of how far they spread.
>
> One interesting feature of the various Aryan cultures is the concept of two
> factions of divine beings. One of these groups is "good" and the other
> "evil" but otherwise there is not much difference between them. For
> instance the Greeks have Olympians (good) and titans (evil) but Prometheus
> was a good Titan. Similiarly Hindus have Devas (good) and Asuras (evil)
> but Bali was a good Asura. I'm sure you can find a parallel in Irish
> mythology. Another thing of interest is that the identity of the "good"
> group is switched in various cultures. I believe the Celtic gods are
> called the Tuatha De Deanan or children of Danu. But in Sanskrt Danava
> (which also means child of Danu) referes to a demon. The other Sanskrt
> word for demon is Asura but in Zoarastrianism Ahura which is cognate is a
> title of the highest Gods. (See also the Norse Aesir.) Similiarly the
> Sanskrt word for Gods, Deva is cognate with the Greek and Latin deos and
> deus from which we get English words like deity.
>
> There were similiarities in religious rituals too. To quote just one
> Halloween is a Christian version of the Celtic Samhain which occurs roughly
> the same time as the Hindu Shraddha. The chief ceremony of Shraddha
> involves feeding the worshippers dead ancestors -- the ancient prototype of
> the modern American Halloween custom of trick or treating!
>
> So while it would be a stretch to say India has a version of Celtic legend
> (or as Dhanraj Singh would put it Ireland has a version of a Hindu legend
> :-) there are some similarities between the two cultures over and above
> what can be attributed to mere coincidence.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas [jaldhar@braincells.com] o- beable .-_|\
> Consolidated Braincells Inc. / \
> http://www.braincells.com/jaldhar/ Perth Amboy-> *.--._/
> "Witty quote" - Dead Guy finger me for PGP key v McQ!
>
>
>
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