The Strange Story of Princess Mādhavī

The strange story of princess Mādhavī is narrated in the Gālavacarita (Mahābhārata 5.104-121), on the occasion of Kṛṣṇa's embassy at Duryodhana's court. Kṛṣṇa tries to convince Duryodhana that he should share his kingdom with the Pāṇḍavas, and the ṛṣi Nārada tells him the story of Mādhavī to warn him against the dangers of excessive obstinacy and pride. I call this story strange, because, as we shall see, the way in which Mādhavī is treated and/or behaves violates practically all the rules concerning the correct treatment and behaviour of women. Yet neither Mādhavī herself, nor those who inflict that treatment on her, are ever blamed or said to act in a way that is contrary to dharma

Epic Heroes Have No Childhood. A Survey of Childhood Descriptions in the Sanskrit Epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa.

The two sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa contain few descriptions of their heroes' childhood. Semantically, childhood implies stupidity, ignorance, and thoughtlessness, at times bordering on cruelty. Usually, the time of childhood is dealt with rather quickly, and seen essentially as a period of formation and learning. In the few instances when specific incidents of a character's childhood are mentioned, they are mostly cast in a negative light and meant to explain why certain untoward events happen subsequently. The young kṣatriyas' exuberant childhood deeds are often frowned upon by the brahmin authors or brahmin protagonists of the story, while the young brahmins are often shown as born with full language skills and knowledge of the Vedas, in order to skip over their time of childhood altogether

Magical kitchens or hunting? How to survive in the epic jungle.

What can we gather from ancient literature as to the reality of the epoch to which it belongs ? This question poses itself with acuity in the case of many ancient Indian texts - which often present the prescribed as factual - and even more so in the case of a composition like the Mahābhārata (MBh), where the supernatural and mythical freely mingle with the mundane. The Epics often present us with an ideal picture of the ascetics who live in the hostile environment of the Indian jungle, subsisting on meagre forest fare. Is it actually possible to live on such a diet - provided one is bent on surviving and not on releasing one's body

Travelling through the millennia. Travels in the Sanskrit epics and in the works of the Bṛhatkathā-cycle.

More than a millennium separates the great Sanskrit epics - the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa - which were composed in the centuries preceding the common era, from the works belonging to what I will call the "Bṛhatkathā-cycle" - such as Budhasvāmin's unfinished Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha (10th c. AD), Somadeva's Kathāsaritsāgara (11th c. AD) and Kṣemendra's Bṛhatkathāmañjarī (1037 AD). The aim of this paper is to examine in the broad lines what are the main types of travels undertaken in both categories of works, and what are the differences (or similarities) in the types of travelers, the modes of locomotion, and the purposes for which journeys are undertaken

The Epic Hero: Between Brahmin and Warrior.

In this paper, I propose to examine the figure of the hero in the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata (MBh) and the Rāmāyaṇa (Rm). In the context of ancient India, one would naturally expect the prototypical hero of an epic text to belong to the kṣatriya or warrior class. Nevertheless, I will argue that the real heroes of the epics are not the warriors but the Brahmins - in the sense that the Brahmins are consistently declared to be more powerful, more intelligent, more indispensable than all the other classes

Nuns Involving in the Affairs of the World. The Depiction of Buddhist Nuns in Bhavabhūti's Mālatīmādhava.

In Bhavabhūti's play, the Mālatīmādhava, we find the characters of three Buddhist nuns. Though by no means negative or disreputable characters, these nuns nevertheless display a behaviour that contravenes some explicitly stated precepts of the Buddhist dharma, such as lying, acting as go-betweens and encouraging others to commit suicide. This paper examines in detail the nuns' behaviour, trying to assess what merely belongs to the realm of dramatic fiction, and what might correspond - at least to some extent - to reality

Thyroid Hormone Therapy for Older Adults with Subclinical Hypothyroidism.

BACKGROUND: The use of levothyroxine to treat subclinical hypothyroidism is controversial. We aimed to determine whether levothyroxine provided clinical benefits in older persons with this condition. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial involving 737 adults who were at least 65 years of age and who had persisting subclinical hypothyroidism (thyrotropin level, 4.60 to 19.99 mIU per liter; free thyroxine level within the reference range). A total of 368 patients were assigned to receive levothyroxine (at a starting dose of 50 μg daily, or 25 μg if the body weight was <50 kg or the patient had coronary heart disease), with dose adjustment according to the thyrotropin level; 369 patients were assigned to receive placebo with mock dose adjustment. The two primary outcomes were the change in the Hypothyroid Symptoms score and Tiredness score on a thyroid-related quality-of-life questionnaire at 1 year (range of each scale is 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more symptoms or tiredness, respectively; minimum clinically important difference, 9 points). RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 74.4 years, and 396 patients (53.7%) were women. The mean (±SD) thyrotropin level was 6.40±2.01 mIU per liter at baseline; at 1 year, this level had decreased to 5.48 mIU per liter in the placebo group, as compared with 3.63 mIU per liter in the levothyroxine group (P<0.001), at a median dose of 50 μg. We found no differences in the mean change at 1 year in the Hypothyroid Symptoms score (0.2±15.3 in the placebo group and 0.2±14.4 in the levothyroxine group; between-group difference, 0.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.0 to 2.1) or the Tiredness score (3.2±17.7 and 3.8±18.4, respectively; between-group difference, 0.4; 95% CI, -2.1 to 2.9). No beneficial effects of levothyroxine were seen on secondary-outcome measures. There was no significant excess of serious adverse events prespecified as being of special interest. CONCLUSIONS: Levothyroxine provided no apparent benefits in older persons with subclinical hypothyroidism. (Funded by European Union FP7 and others; TRUST ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01660126 .)

The development of a HAMstring InjuRy (HAMIR) index to mitigate injury risk through innovative imaging, biomechanics, and data analytics : Protocol for an observational cohort study

Background The etiology of hamstring strain injury (HSI) in American football is multi-factorial and understanding these risk factors is paramount to developing predictive models and guiding prevention and rehabilitation strategies. Many player-games are lost due to the lack of a clear understanding of risk factors and the absence of effective methods to minimize re-injury. This paper describes the protocol that will be followed to develop the HAMstring InjuRy (HAMIR) index risk prediction models for HSI and re-injury based on morphological, architectural, biomechanical and clinical factors in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I collegiate football players. Methods A 3-year, prospective study will be conducted involving collegiate football student-athletes at four institutions. Enrolled participants will complete preseason assessments of eccentric hamstring strength, on-field sprinting biomechanics and muscle–tendon volumes using magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI). Athletic trainers will monitor injuries and exposure for the duration of the study. Participants who sustain an HSI will undergo a clinical assessment at the time of injury along with MRI examinations. Following completion of structured rehabilitation and return to unrestricted sport participation, clinical assessments, MRI examinations and sprinting biomechanics will be repeated. Injury recurrence will be monitored through a 6-month follow-up period. HAMIR index prediction models for index HSI injury and re-injury will be constructed. Discussion The most appropriate strategies for reducing risk of HSI are likely multi-factorial and depend on risk factors unique to each athlete. This study will be the largest-of-its-kind (1200 player-years) to gather detailed information on index and recurrent HSI, and will be the first study to simultaneously investigate the effect of morphological, biomechanical and clinical variables on risk of HSI in collegiate football athletes. The quantitative HAMIR index will be formulated to identify an athlete’s propensity for HSI, and more importantly, identify targets for injury mitigation, thereby reducing the global burden of HSI in high-level American football players. Trial Registration The trial is prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05343052; April 22, 2022)

Mangroves give cause for conservation optimism, for now

No abstract available