CULTURAL QA 10202329
Q1 Does New Zealand have wild parrots?
KR: New Zealand’s biodiversity is important for other reasons as well.
Our natural landscapes and unique native plants and animals have strongly
shaped our national identity. For many, our distinctive flora and fauna
contribute to our sense of belonging to this land. New Zealanders take
pride in calling themselves ‘Kiwis’ after one of the country’s most
well-known native birds.
Our native species are culturally important to Māori. For example,
Māori have traditionally used a variety of native berries, roots, and
fruits for food, for dyes and stains, and as medicines. The flowering and
fruiting of some native species guided traditional planting and harvesting
times and rāhui (periods when harvesting is restricted to allow a resource
to regenerate).
New Zealand’s ecological biodiversity performs a number of important
services: our ecosystems provide clean air and water, help decompose wastes
and recycle nutrients, maintain healthy soils, aid pollination, regulate
local climates, and reduce flooding. These ecosystem services help sustain
the country’s primary production – farming, forestry, viticulture, and
horticulture. One study valued the ecosystem services provided by nature
each year at $46 billion (Patterson and Cole, 1999). Tourism in New Zealand
depends largely on the conservation of our ecosystems.
To many people, the variety of natural life also has an ‘intrinsic
value’ in its own right, independent of its usefulness to human society.
*More about New Zealand’s known native species*
There are an estimated 80,000 native species in New Zealand. Almost 55,000
of these have been identified, and about 30,000 have been scientifically
described, named, and classified. Table 12.1 shows the number of native
species currently known1 in New Zealand.
*Table 12.1: Number of known native species in New Zealand, 2007*
*Group*
*Marine*
*Land-based*
*Freshwater*
Bacteria2
40
309
341
Protozoa (single-celled eukaryotes – organisms whose cells have
membrane-bound nuclei)
1,663
671
465
Chromista (group of eukaryotes other than protozoa)
855
158
922
Plants
626
5,165
1,107
Fungi3
3
6,781
255
Animals
12,637
20,337
2,410
*Total4*
*15,824*
*33,421*
*5,500*
Notes:
(1) This includes the numbers of described species plus known species that
have not yet been described.
(2) The numbers given for bacteria are based mainly on cultured species in
New Zealand. Some of these have not been broken down according to their
environment; most are land-based.
(3) The numbers given for aquatic species of fungi are approximate.
(4) The totals provided do not equal the sum of the rows as there is some
overlap due to different life-history stages in different environments (for
example, aquatic larval stages and land-based adult stages).
Data source: Adapted from Gordon (ed), 2007.
*Factors affecting biodiversity*
New Zealand has experienced one of the highest extinction rates in the
world (Hitchmough et al, 2002). Today, almost 2,500 known land-based and
freshwater species of animals, plants, and fungi are classified as
threatened in New Zealand.
*Human settlement and landscape transformation*
Before human settlement, New Zealand was largely forested below the alpine
tree line. However, in little more than 1,000 years, much of the country’s
landscape and ecosystems have been transformed. Fires, land clearance,
intensive use of natural resources, and introduced plants and animals have
had a cumulative effect on New Zealand’s native biodiversity.
While almost half of the native habitats and ecosystems that existed before
human settlement remain in some form today, many of them have been
modified. Most of the remaining unmodified habitats are in remote or
mountainous areas or on offshore islands (Ministry for the Environment,
2004). Many of them have been (or still are) under pressure from introduced
animal pests and weeds.
Over the past 200 years, much of New Zealand’s most accessible and
productive land has been cleared or modified for a range of different land
uses, such as agriculture, horticulture, roading, and human settlement. As
a result, many of our lowland and coastal forests, lowland grasslands,
wetlands, dune lands, and estuaries have been modified. These habitats and
ecosystems are particularly at risk of being modified further if they occur
on, or are adjacent to, prime agricultural and horticultural land (Ministry
for the Environment, 2004).
Many of our lakes, rivers, and streams have been modified by dams,
drainage, and irrigation schemes. Some of them are also affected by
pollution from agricultural and urban areas, which alters the ecological
processes that support downstream freshwater biodiversity.
Changes in land cover can illustrate the impact of human settlement on
native habitats and ecosystems. Figure 12.1 compares the estimated land
cover before human settlement with the type of land cover in New Zealand
today. It shows the significant changes to land cover that have occurred in
the intervening period. See chapter 9, ‘Land’
<https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/environment-new-zealand-2007/chapter-9-land>,
for further discussion of the changes in land cover in New Zealand.
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Q2 Can you mention about the strangest bifurcations in the animal
kingdom?
KR: *Animal Kingdom Gets a New Root*
*The animal kingdom has gained a cousin and lost a mother. In a fundamental
reconfiguration of the tree of life, scientists now say that the last
common animal ancestor is not — as was commonly believed — a sponge or comb
jelly, but rather an as-yet-unknown forerunner of amoeba-like creatures
called placozoans. "It’s a question […]*
The animal kingdom has gained a cousin and lost a mother.
In a fundamental reconfiguration of the tree of life, scientists now say
that the last common animal ancestor is not — as was commonly believed — a
sponge or comb jelly, but rather an as-yet-unknown forerunner of
amoeba-like creatures called placozoans
<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/placozoa/placozoa.html>.
"It's a question that has plagued animal biologists for a couple hundred
years: What could be the mother of all animals?" said Rob DeSalle
<http://www.amnh.org/science/divisions/invertzoo/bio.php?scientist=desalle>,
an evolutionary biologist at the American Museum of Natural History. "We've
turned it upside down."
Since Carl Linnaeus
<https://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2007/05/linnaeus> put life
in taxonomic order in 1735, scientists have proposed a variety of original
or ur-animals, from Ernst Haeckel's hypothetical, embryo-like gastraea
<http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/Ga/Gastraea.html> to larval
jellyfish called planula
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/463466/planula>. But in recent
years, zoologists have favored either sponges
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_sponge> or comb jellies
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctenophores> as occupying a bifurcation point
between Bilateria <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilateria> — creatures with
bilateral symmetry, including humans and most of the animal kingdom — and
the jellyfish, corals and polyps belonging collectively to Cnidaria
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidaria>.
Those hypotheses were based on relatively rough comparisons of anatomy and
a handful of genes. Molecular sequencing and supercomputer-enabled data
analysis give biologists a clearer picture of life's narrative — but
DeSalle's analysis, published Monday in *Public Library of Science Biology*,
has merely moved the mystery to another level.
Comb jellies and sponges don't appear to have predated Bilateria, but
rather belong with Cnidaria in a single branch of the animal kingdom,
originating in the lowly placozoans. But while some scientists, among them
DeSalle, thought that
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TCH-4TK92M3-2&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=afebf83d1fe34e4cf3a0b60cd35f076a>
placozoa
might represent the last common ancestor of all animals, it appears to
belong solely to this newly defined branch, leaving the ur-animal shrouded
in mystery.
"It fits in with what you might think is the most basal animal. It's only
got three cell layers and four cell types. Its motility is primitive. It
lives in warm oceans. It's got all the earmarks of the thing that gave rise
to all animal life," said DeSalle. "But that's not what the results show.
And though placozoa is the ur-cousin of complicated life, we still don't
know the ur-mother."
DeSalle's team fed data on 9,400 biological characteristics — from
mitochondrial and nuclear DNA
sequences to RNA molecular structure — from 70 species spanning every major
class of animal on Earth into a program that searched for patterns of
relationships, determining which order made linear sense.
Out of this came the new tree, with DeSalle's would-be ur-animal at the
start of one branch. Identified just 100 years ago crawling on an aquarium
wall, placozoans have not even been studied in their ocean habitat, but its
genome was sequenced in 2008.
University of Texas taxonomist David Hillis
<http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/ib/faculty/HILLIS.HTM> called placozoa "among
the most interesting animals that almost no one has ever heard about," but
was less enthusiastic about the conclusion, which he said "represents a
fine distinction in how we reconstruct the ancestral animal."
But such fine distinctions are fascinating to DeSalle.
Since placozoa don't have a nervous system and jellyfish do, the findings
suggest that nervous systems evolved at least twice, independently of each
other. This insight could stimulate research that provides a deeper
understanding of our own nervous systems.
"Evolution has done all these experiments, and when you reconstruct common
ancestors, you're reconstructing the results of the experiment,"
said DeSalle. "If you want to look at the development of our brains, of our
nervous system, of anything we have as a result of experiments that nature
has done, the best way to do it is to reconstruct our ancestors."
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Q3 Is it safe to drink pure water straight from a mountain stream?
KR Yes
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Q4 Sri Radha has Ashta sakhis. Rukmini including other wives of
Lord Krishna are Ashta Bharya. Do you not think something similar here?
KR Rig Veda 10.27.15
सप्त वीरासो अधरादुदायन्नष्टोत्तरात्तात्समजग्मिरन्ते । नव पश्चातात्स्थिविमन्त
आयन्दश प्राक्सानु वि तिरन्त्यश्नः ॥
sapta vīrāso adharād ud āyann aṣṭottarāttāt sam ajagmiran te | nava
paścātāt sthivimanta āyan daśa prāk sānu vi tiranty aśnaḥ ||
*English translation:*
“Seven sages sprang from the lower portion (of Indra
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/indra#hinduism> as Prajāpati
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/prajapati#hinduism>); eight were born
from the upperportion; nine occupants of stations came from behind, and
ten, genitive rated in the front, partaking of food,eight vālakhilyas
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/valakhilyas#hinduism>; nine bhṛgus
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bhrigu#hinduism>; ten aṅgirasas
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/angirasa#hinduism>; or, seven Maruts
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/maruts#hinduism> on Indra's right,
eight on his left, nine behindhim, and ten in front].”
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Q5 The Jātaka of the monkey (vānara), version 1
The monks said to the Exalted One, “How was it, Lord, that wicked Māra
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/mara#mahayana> was unable to get a
chance to tempt the Exalted One?” The Exalted One replied, “That was not
the first time that wicked Māra was unable to get a chance to tempt me.
There was another occasion also.” The monks asked, “Was there another
occasion, Lord?” The Exalted One replied, “Yes, monks.”
Once upon a time, monks, long ago, in a high region of the Himalayas
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/himalaya#buddhism> a monkey (*vānara
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vanara#mahayana>*) had charge of a
large troop of monkeys. Now in that part of the Himalayas there was a large
pool of water, where the herd frequently went down to drink water. But in
that lake there dwelt a water demon Whatever deer, bird, monkey or man went
down to the lake to drink was pulled into the water by the demon.
It happened that that herd of monkeys (*vānara*) went down to the lake to
drink. The demon being in the water observed the monkeys, but they did not
see him, and he pulled in one of them. And in the same way each time that
the herd of monkeys went down to the lake to drink water the demon
unobserved saw them and pulled in one of them. Then the lord of the herd
missed the monkeys who had been pulled in, and he said to himself, “Where
are those monkeys? I am afraid they have strayed somewhere.” He looked all
around, but did not see them. And the sagacious lord of the herd (30)
observed the tracks made by the monkeys (*vānara*) at the place wnere they
went down to the lake to drink water, both as they went and as they came.
He saw that the tracks of those going down were more numerous than the
tracks of those coming up. Understanding came to him, and he said, “They
have been pulled in by the water demon. That is why I do not see them.
There must be no more drinking water direct by the mouth.”
Since, therefore, he saw that they were being pulled into the lake by the
water demon, he gave orders to the monkeys, saying, “Go and gather the tops
of reeds from the reed-thicket, and drink water by means of them.” So they
went, and each plucked from the thicket a very long reed-top, so that they
could drink water from a distance, and the water demon could not pull them
in. And when they did go to the lake to drink, they went down taking their
reeds with them, and, staying at a distance from it, they drank water
through the reeds.
The water demon was no longer able to pull in a single monkey (*vānara*).
The tracks of one going down are seen, but not those of his coming up.
Water must be drunk through a reed. The watchful has no cause for alarm.
The Exalted One said, “It may be again, monks, that you will think that he
who was the lord of the monkeys at that time and on that occasion, was
somebody else. I was he. And he who was the water demon was Māra. Then,
too, was he unable to get a chance to tempt me.
Here ends the Jātaka <https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/jataka#mahayana> of
the Monkey (*vānara*).
The Jātaka of the monkey (vānara), version 2
(31) The monks said to the Exalted One, “How did the Exalted One by the
unique wisdom conferred by the supreme perfect enlightenment escape from
the domination of Māra <https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/mara#mahayana>?”
The Exalted One replied, “Monks, that was not the only time that, by my
unique wisdom, I safely escaped from the domination of Māra. There was
another time, also, when, being in the form of a monkey (*vānara
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vanara#mahayana>*), I escaped from
Māra’s domination and put my feet on his head.”
The monks asked, “Was there another time, Lord?” The Exalted One replied,
“Yes, monks.”
Once upon a time, monks, long ago, in the Himalayas
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/himalaya#buddhism> there was a monkey
(*vānara*) in charge of a large herd of monkeys. Now in the last month of
summer the monkey, being thirsty after eating fruits of various kinds, came
with the herd to a lake to drink water. This lake had precipitous banks and
there was no means of going down to it nor of coming up from it. The chief
of the herd in his thirst for water walked all around the lake searching
for a way in. While doing this he broke through a fence of stones and fell
into the water.
Now in that lake there was a serpent’s hole, where a large serpent lived.
Living where it did, it got its supply of food with little difficulty. For
it would devour whatever beast or bird or monkey came down to the lake to
drink. The serpent saw the chief of the monkeys falling into the water, and
stretched out its neck from the den ready to seize him.
The serpent addressed the monkey (*vānara*) in verse:
“Here comes a prey again, a forest-roaming monkey, who comes wishing to
drink water at the entrance to my den in the hank.”
The lord of the monkeys (*vānara*) failed to get any support on which to
rest his feet (32) and thus get out of the water and reach dry land. He
said to himself, “If the serpent turns its neck away, I’ll put my feet on
its head, and so gain dry ground.”
Then he addressed the serpent in a verse:
“I am not your prey. Do you not see the crowd that you should threaten me
particularly in the verse which you have just recited?”
The serpent turned its neck in the direction in which the lord of the
monkeys had pointed out the other monkeys, so that it might see them. And
no sooner had the serpent turned its neck away than the lord of the monkeys
set his feet on its head, and thus safely stepped out of the water on to
dry land. The serpent wondered at the unique intelligence of the monkey.
“This monkey,” it said, “had no foothold Uere in the lake where he could
put his feet, and so step out of the water on to dry land. So he pointed
out to me the other monkeys, and thus made me avert my face and turn my
neck in the direction of those monkeys. And, with his unique intelligence,
he put his feet on my head and stepped out to dry land.”
The serpent addressed the lord of the monkeys (*vānara*) in verse:
“You have quickly and speedily spoilt my plan, for when you saw me turning
away <https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/turning-away#theravada>, you
proved yourself bold and valiant.
“He who has these four qualities, energy, intelligence, mindfulness and
wisdom, as you, lord of the monkeys, have, can avert ill.”
It may be again, monks, that you will think that at that time and on that
occasion (33) the lord of the monkeys in the Himalayas was somebody else.
But it was I who at that time and on that occasion was the lord of the
monkeys. You may think that the serpent in the lake there was somebody
else. You must not think so. And why? Wicked Mara
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/mara#mahayana> here, monks, at that
time and on that occasion was the serpent dwelling in the lake. Then also
by my unique intelligence did I succeed in putting my feet on his head and
step out of the water on to dry land. And on this other occasion did I, by
my unique intelligence, escape from the domination of Māra.
Here ends the Jātaka <https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/jataka#mahayana> of
the Monkey (*vānara*).
KR IRS 291023
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'gopala krishnan' via iyer123 <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2023 at 11:20
Subject: [iyer123] CULTURAL QA 10-2023-29
To: Patty Thatha <[email protected]>, Iyer <
[email protected]>, Kerala Iyer <[email protected]>
*CULTURAL QA 10-2023-29*
*All the BELOW QA are from Quora digest to me on 29-10- 2023. *
*Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers *
*.Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan, on 29-10-2023*
*Q1 Does New Zealand have wild parrots?*
*A1 Gary Meaney, passionate fan of all things animal Aug 7*
*Some 82 million years ago, the islands of New Zealand split off from the
vast southern supercontinent, Gondwana. *
*Ever since, they have been surrounded by endless miles of ocean on all
sides, inaccessible to all land-dwelling mammals. *
*Instead, it was the birds who made New Zealand their domain. Myriad
incredibly unique forms of birds call this place home, including a whole
family of parrot species which are found nowhere else on Earth: the aptly
named New Zealand parrots.*
*There are three living species of New Zealand parrot, along with a host of
others which have unfortunately gone extinct, some due to human activity.
The most iconic species is undoubtedly the kākāpō.*
*This wonderful feathered friend is one of the most unique birds on the
planet. Due to the absence of predatory mammals on New Zealand, the
kākāpō’s ancestors had little need for the ability to fly, and as such, it
is now the world’s only flightless parrot. Its ground-dwelling lifestyle
allows it to carry much more body fat than your typical bird, so it’s also
the world’s largest parrot. Oh yeah, and it’s possibly the world’s
longest-lived bird, as it can live to the age of 100!*
*Though not much of a flyer, the kākāpō is an adept climber, using its
powerful talons to scale even the tallest trees. Its wings still have some
function as a “parachute”, allowing it to float down to the forest floor
should it fall from the canopy. It’d be an easy meal for any carnivorous
mammal, but nevertheless it’s well-adapted to evade the eagle-eyed giant
birds of prey of New Zealand, covered in mottled green plumage that
camouflages it in the undergrowth.*
*Seen as it is flightless, these feathers don’t need to be ultra-rigid for
aerodynamics, like those of most birds - rather, they are soft and plush!
If you look closely at the photos, you might also notice a special type of
feathers emanating from the kākāpō’s face: fine, whiskery structures known
as vibrissae. Bizarrely for a parrot, this species is nocturnal, and may
use its vibrissae to navigate at night, as well as its powerful hearing.
The twin bowl-shaped discs on its face are for funneling sound into its
ears.*
*The kākāpō is a herbivore, feeding solely on plant matter, and this is
almost unheard of among birds. Vegetation is tough to digest and yields a
pitiful amount of nutrients, after all. However, since it doesn’t fly, the
parrot leads a much more inactive lifestyle than most avians, and thus
doesn’t need as many nutrients. It also has fermenting bacteria in its
stomach to aid digestion, which may be the culprit behind its distinctive
sweet, honey-like smell.*
*One type of flora is of particular importance to the kākāpō: the fruit of
the rimu tree. Once every five years, rimu trees throughout the forests of
New Zealand become festooned with berries, rich in vitamin D. This fruit
bonanza triggers the parrots’ mating season, and all the males set to work
immediately in the hopes of attracting a suitor. Each male constructs a
“lek”; a circular courtship arena dug some 10 centimetres into the topsoil.
The shape of the lek reflects sound waves, thus amplifying his mating
calls, which echo in the night for hours on end.*
*He’ll start with quiet grunts, and, as the sac in his chest begins to
inflate, build up, until each call is a thundering “boom” that can be heard
five kilometres away. Then, to finish the song, a final note - a
high-pitched resonant “ching!”. Rinse and repeat. If he’s lucky, he’ll
attract an interested female to his lek, at which point he’ll perform an
elaborate courtship routine. Mating is especially important now, as the
kākāpō is critically endangered, with less than 250 living individuals.*
*As explained, the kākāpō is not the only member of the New Zealand parrot
family. *
*Also in this group we find the kea. Historically, this bird was found
across all the islands’ various habitats. However, when humans introduced
mammalian predators, the lowlands became unsafe, and the keas were driven
up to the high mountains. This makes them the world’s only alpine parrots!*
*Unlike its flightless cousin, which has a very specialised diet, the kea
will eat just about anything it can get its beak on; it’s an opportunistic
omnivore. In addition to a range of berries, roots, plants and such, it has
an appetite for meat, feeding on insects, carrion, small mammals, and
seabird chicks.*
*In fact, these parrots are far more vicious than they appear. Some keas
have been known to attack and kill fully-grown sheep, a habit which has
historically made the species quite controversial in New Zealand. However,
we now know that this is a learned behaviour, seen only in scattered
individuals who have figured out the hunting strategy themselves, and is
not characteristic of the whole population.*
*This capacity for learning is part of what makes the kea so interesting.
It is an exceptionally intelligent and curious bird, rivaling most primates
in terms of cognitive abilities. Experiments have shown they have an
understanding of probability in a way that no other animal we know of does.
In the wild, they’ve been observed using tools - for example, one kea was
seen using a pebble in its beak for grooming purposes.*
*Though their muddy olive-green plumage might not be spectacular at first,
when they open their wings and take flight, they reveal a kaleidoscope of
dazzling colours. The rump, as well as the undersides of the wings, are
brilliant red, while the tail and outer wing feathers are turquoise.*
*The kea’s closest cousin, the kākā, represents the third and final living
species in the New Zealand parrot family. It’s more of a forest-dweller
than a mountain-dweller, and as such is darker in colour, but otherwise it
looks quite similar to its alpine brethren. In fact, where they do overlap,
the two species often fly together in mixed flocks!*
*In their search for food (insects and sap, for example), kākās use their
strong beaks to tear the bark off old trees. The stripped trees are of
course more exposed and vulnerable to disease, so this process expedites
their death. This may sound like a bad thing, but it’s actually a crucial
role kākās play in their ecosystem. In killing off old trees, they make way
for new growth, and ensure constant forest regeneration.*
*The rest of the species in this fascinating family sadly can’t be seen
anywhere other than a museum. There were once two more species of kākā, but
they went extinct in the 17th and 19th centuries respectively, due to
hunting by native Polynesians and later European settlers.*
*Peer even deeper into the fossil record and one finds an altogether more
exciting New Zealand parrot species: Heracles. The mythological name may
sound dramatic, but it’s apt, because as far as we know this was the
largest parrot that ever lived. Roaming the forest floor some 16 million
years ago, it stood almost a metre tall. Basically, a kākāpō on steroids.*
*So that’s everything you need to know about the New Zealand parrots! Note
that they are not the only parrots found in the country, “New Zealand
parrot” just a term applied to their specific taxonomic family. The islands
are in fact home to nine species of wild parrot not found anywhere else on
Earth!*
*Q2 Can you mention about the strangest bifurcations in the animal
kingdom?*
*A2 Jai Narayan,14h*
*There’s a disproportionate number of male fossils when it comes to
mammals.*
*To the tune of 70–75% with some species. They don’t know exactly why.
There’s a number of theories, among them is male recklessness.*
*Males are programmed to go out and take more risks, to seek out new lands
and females. Tangent to this, we often get ourselves in trouble.One example
is tar pits, where male mammoths are much more common. They see this male
recklessness in male elephants in Africa as well.*
*Among the fossils, they were also much more likely to find male bison than
female bison. The lead researcher from the Swedish Natural History Museum,
Patrícia Pečnerová, iterated that this type of stuff is very speculative as
we weren’t there to watch these events happen.*
*But, there is some educated guessing here. And being a male myself, and
knowing a few along the way, it doesn’t surprise me that males are the ones
getting buried in lava and rocks on accident.*
*Q3 Is it safe to drink pure water straight from a mountain stream?*
*A3 Lostinspace1205,Updated 1y*
*I did once from a mountain spring running through rocks from the Blue
Ridge Mountains of Virginia and became severely ill for nearly a week.*
*One site reads: “Water from mountain springs often contains more minerals
than surface water (lakes and rivers ) as it picks up minerals from rocks
and other elements. Water with high mineral content such as magnesium,
calcium, sodium, and iron is beneficial to our health in the long term.”*
*Another site: “Drinking untreated water from streams and rivers greatly
increases your chance of getting an infection and becoming ill.” *
*No matter how pristine a mountain stream looks, it can still be filled
with tiny pathogens.”*
*Caveat Utilitor.*
*I suppose one’s gastrointestinal system can become accustomed to mountain
spring water over time. Many of us in big cities are used to drinking tap
(from city water reservoirs) and bottled water (In the bottled water,
bacterial counts ranged from less than 0.01 to 4,900 colonies per
milliliter. Six bottled glasses of water had bacteria counts of 1,500 to
4,900 colonies per milliliter vs. tap water contained loads of infectious
bacteria) which contains certain organisms that are well adjusted to our
system.*
*The stream water I drank had the most wonderful crystal-clean flavor I
have ever tasted, too bad it caused me severe diarrhea.*
*On another note: While visiting family in Medellin, Colombia, a restaurant
offered to serve me “fresh” water, “from our own well”, beamed the waiter.
But I remembered there was a large city cemetery nearby and having read
that well water is typically contaminated by the decayed corpses especially
following a heavy downpour.*
* “No gracias” I replied, and ordered a Heineken despite my dislike for
beer.*
*Q4 Sri Radha has Ashta sakhis. Rukmini including other wives of
Lord Krishna are Ashta Bharya. Do you not think something similar here?*
*A4 Abhinav Keshav, Indology Enthusiast and Follower of Sanatana
Dharma23h*
*Yes, I find similarity in these. Lakshmi Devi number is 8 (Ashta). Lord
Vishnu's mantra is Ashtakshari (eight syllables) Mantra. Lakshmi Devi is
also widely worshipped as Ashta Lakshmi. Radharani has Ashta Sakhis.*
*Lord Krishna had Ashta Bharyas. Rukmini Devi was the first wife among
Ashta Bharyas of Lord Krishna.*
*Lakshmi Devi is widely worshipped as Ashta Lakshmi throughout India. She
presides over eight sources of wealth in these eight forms — spirituality,
material wealth, agriculture, royalty, knowledge, courage, progeny, and
victory*
*Lakshmi Devi number is eight. When we draw mandala of Lakshmi Devi we draw
Ashta Dala Padma (eight petals lotus).*
*Lord Krishna was born on Ashtami. So we celebrate Janmashtami. *
*Rukhmini Devi was also born on Ashtami. Radharani was also born on
Ashtami.*
*Durga Devi (Lakshmi Devi’s another form) was also born on Ashtami thiti to
Yashoda as Yogamaya. When Devi Yogmaya warned Kamsa she was eight armed.*
*Flying off from (the grip of) of hands, she rose up to the sky and
(stationing herself in the sky), the younger sister of Kṛṣṇa manifested
herself as a goddess with eight mighty arms wielding weapons. She was
adorned with heavenly garlands, garments, pigments, jewelled ornaments and
wielded (in her arms) a bow, a spear, an arrow, a shield, a sword, a conch,
a discus and a mace .She was being praised by Siddhas, Caranas, Gandharvas,
Apsaras (divine damsels), Kinnaras and serpents who offered her rich,
sumptuous presents.hagavata Purana 10.4.9–11*
*Jai Shri Lakshmi Narayana 🙏Shri Krishnarpanamastu*
*Q5 What is a story about monkeys?*
*A5 Gopalkrishna Vishwanath, Loves writing. No formal
qualifications, of course, it's just a hobby for me.12h*
*Here is one with a moral.*
*A man was travelling in a boat with his monkey.There was also a
philosopher with other passengers in that boat.*
*The monkey was restless and moving all along the boat and not letting
anyone sit in peace.*
*The boatman was troubled by this and was concerned that the boat would
sink due to the passengers panicking.*
* If the monkey didn't calm down it would upset the boat.*
*The man was worried about the situation but could not find any way to calm
the monkey.*
*The philosopher watched all this and decided to help.He said: " If you
allow, I can make this monkey as quiet as a house cat."*
*The man immediately agreed.*
*The philosopher, with the help of two passengers, picked up the monkey and
threw it into the river.*
*The monkey started to swim desperately to stay afloat but it was clear it
would not be able to do that for too long. In the nick of time, before it
drowned, the philosopher picked up the monkey and put it back into the
boat.*
*The monkey was quiet and went and sat in a corner and there was no further
trouble for the passengers from this monkey.*
*The man and all passengers were surprised at the changed behavior of the
monkey.*
*The man asked the philosopher: "At first it was jumping up and down
aggressively. Now it is sitting like a pet cat. Why?"*
*Philosopher said: "No one realizes the misfortune of another without
tasting trouble. When I threw this monkey into the water, it understood the
danger and the power of the water and the usefulness of the boat."*
*I think there is a lesson in this story for us India. Some Indians have
been behaving like this monkey and need this “treatment” to cure them.*
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