LIGHTNING WHELK WRONGLY SOLD AS SACRED LAKSHMI CONCH

[Guest guest]

Sri Arjunji,

 

Namaste!!! Really, it is "satyam eva" there is true and false. There is

Sacred empowered Lakshmi Shank from India, OR there is bogus Whelk from

North America. Ignorance is no use. It is like saying that millions of

WHELK shell worshipping Hindus CAN'T be wrong. Worshipping a non-shank

Whelk shell from America... that is really sad, not least of all an

illusion.

 

Also it is Shastra. Shastra makes certain divine exceptions... like

according to Shastra STOOL is impure, BUT, the Cow's stool is an

exception on the contrary; likewise, Shastra says BONE of dead animal

is impure, BUT bone of Shank IS pure on the contrary, more than pure,

divine. But Whelk is NOT Shank so it has to be considered as impure

non- Shastric BONE, completely different from a Shank shell.

 

So if a person cannot obtain a Valampuri Shank, then a left-side

opening normal shank is considered pure by Shastra, and also the abode

of Lakshmi. Better a normal Shank from the shores of Bharat, than an

abnormal mundane Whelk shell from the US of A.

 

Satyam eva jayate. All these USA-origin Whelk worshippers you mention

would greatly help the Hindu image by not being either cheater or

cheated in matter of Valampuri.

 

Best intentions

Richard

 

--- arjun pandit <panditarjun2004 wrote:

 

> dear friends

>

> om namo bhagawate rudraya

>

> without going into the scientific properties and radiographic

> photographs, most hindus worship dakshinavrut shankh just for the

> very reason for its shape being dakshinavrut. if a higher niche

> product with higher values and higher benefits is available and more

> information is shared on that, every one would be grateful, but at

> the same time, millions of hindus are worshipping this sacred

> dakshinavrut shankh commonly available from few hundred rupees to few

> thousand rupees depending on size and branding them a waste product

> and worshipping them is doing an apachar is little far-stretched.

>

> in praise of lord shiva

> arjun

>

> chandrashekhar phadake <c_phadake wrote:

> Respected Shri. Richard ji,

>

> Thank you very much for your detailed mail. I always have high

> regards for your experience in rare items and your spiritual

> knowledge you are sharing on this and on other forums. I am a

> regular visitor to your website on rare items and to 'On-line Museum

> of Rare Items'. Recently, I have also become a member of your very

> recenlty started club on rare items.

> Thank you very much for your contribution in the field.

>

> With my personal experience, it is very tricky to deal with suppliers

> regarding costing of rare items. Experts in the field are aware of

> the fact that business of rare items in India is run like that of

> gems. The business is run in a chain of suppliers. At every level

> there is a profit of the person in a chain. Naturally, cost goes on

> increasing. Cost is also increased depending on the need and

> financial capacity of a customer or buyer. As far as gems are

> concerned there are large no. of people in the business and therefore

> there is not much scope (?) for sellers to inflate the cost of the

> gems and precious stones artificially as per his wish.

>

> There is definite yardstick for costing of gems and precious stones

> based on gem characters like clarity, specific gravity, hardnes,

> quality of cuts, type of inclusions and possible defects such as

> cracks, bubbles etc. You can guide us more on this aspect being in

> the business of gemology for a long time. However, this is not the

> case for Valampuri Conch being the rarest item. There is no control

> on costing. It is quite likely that your contacts in India quotated

> exorbitant rate to you. I think, you are from Bankok and naturally

> higher cost is quoted to you being a foreigner.

>

> In India, the cost of Valampuri Conch (I mean, sinistral Turbinella

> pyrum) is definitely in the range of Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 1500/- per

> gram. Cost may be little higher in case of large conch and blowing

> type of Valampuri conch, but definitely not Rs.3000/- per gram.

> Like fake rudraksha, there are also fake or artisan 'Real (?)

> Lakshmi Conch' floating in the market. I will be writing a seperate

> mail on that aspect. As you have rightly mentioned, the most common

> way is by selling Whelk at higher rate. The retail cost of 7" Whelk

> is approx. Rs. 1000/-. In fact, if purchased in a bulk i.e. in a lot

> of minimum 50, this Whelk costs only Rs. 250/- each.

>

> Customer's wrong thinking is also sometimes responsible for higher

> cost. I have seen people mentioning cost of Valampuri at a

> exorbitent rate. However, a person who can afford to sell a conch

> for a lower rate is treated with a doubt as 'Bogus' with a comment

> 'The item must be fake'. Sometimes, certain wrong statements are

> also made publicly as 'There are only so and so no. of the items in

> the world'. (But we have many !, is it not funny ?). I still

> remember the article '21 Faced Fortune' published in the 'Economic

> Times' dated 18th or 19th July 2004 regarding 21 mukhi Rudraksha as

> 'There are only three 21 mukhi in the world'. The World is very

> large to estimate the total no. of perticular items in it. Such

> baseless statements also adds to the increased price. The major

> problem is that naturally a common man does not have much idea of

> scientific characters of such natural products. It is therefore

> necessary to educate people on this aspect and to keep the facts in

> front

> of them.

>

> Thanking you and with personal regards,

>

> Chandrashekhar Phadke

>

>

>

> Richard Shaw Brown <rsbj66 wrote:

> Dear Sriman Chandrashekharji,and friends,

>

> Thanks for the information. Now we are getting to the matter. Real

> v/s

> bogus. 95% of so-called Hindu websites are selling near worthless

> Whelk

> as the fabled Valampuri. It this way they are either cheating people

> through ignorance or knowingly. I have been researching Dakshin-shank

> since 1968. In the Valampuri area the fishermen say they find one

> Valampuri shank per 1000 shanks they collect. Most of these are sold

> in

> Calcutta, where it seems the Bengalis are more aware.

>

> Even the Hari Krishna movement used to import thousands of worthless,

> non-divine Lightning Whelk and give them as incentive to get life

> members in India. Were they cheating? Or were they ignorant?

>

> Bottom line is that such non-sense makes the Krishna's and Sanatan

> Dharma look 1) ignorant, and 2) crooked. What a pity when a mletcha

> "conchologist" in America knows what is a real Lakshmi Shank even

> better than many Hindus, who seem to be either "cheaters" OR

> "cheated"

> in this matter of Lightning Whelk.

>

> I know poor people and they show a Whelk and say "Lakshmi." If I

> wasn't

> "para-dukha-dukhi" I would have to laugh. And this makes the rich

> disbelieve in the real thing, they themselves being uninformed.

>

> As I wrote before, if you are a conchologist OR a Bhakta, either way

> a

> small 30-40 grams Valampuri will cost about one half to one lakh.

> Full

> sized valampuri can cost up to 2-6 lakhs. And to get a REAL

> Valampuri,

> even of 40 grams, for one lakh, is peanuts compared to my business,

> which is Gemology. Even a clean 2 carat (less than half a gram) ruby

> will cost much more than a 40 gram Lakshmi Shank. And ruby is ruled

> by

> Suryadeva, and Valampuri is ruled by Lakshmidevi Herself! So how can

> Valampuri be so cheap, even at one lakh!? Compared to precious gems a

> real Valampuri is VERY CHEAP. But it is not for the poor; and it is

> NOT

> a Lightning Whelk.

>

> If anyone wants to see the comparison of Valampuri with Whelk please

> click http://www.p-g-a.org/conch-artl.html

>

> Best regards,

> Richard

> http://www.richardshawbrown.com

>

> --- chandrashekhar phadake <c_phadake wrote:

>

> > Dear Sir,

> >

> > I know what I mean to say. I know the characters of the Whelk and

> > also of the Turbinella pyrum i.e. Indian Conch. Whelk is without

> any

> > vertical pilae inside the conch apperture. Whelk is commonly

> > available on the coasts of Florida, USA. Whelk is sold on size

> > basis, while Valampuri is sold on the weight basis. Cost of the

> Whelk

> > having length 7inches is not more than Rs.800/- in the Indian

> market.

> > Small Whelks having length approx. 3 inches are available for the

> > cost of Rs. 300/-. The large sized Whelks having length approx. 10

> > to 12 inches is not more than Rs. 5000/- in the Indian market.

> There

> > is a diagnostic morphological difference between Whelk and Indian

> > Conch i.e. Turbinella pyrum. There is also a chemical difference

> in

> > Whelk and Turbinella pyrum. I am a biotechnologist and study the

> > items more critically and scientifically. I have also developed a

> > protocol to study the interior structure of conch by modern

> > scientific methods. I agree that many of the people sale

> > and confuse people (even few of the leading websites) by offering

> > Whelk as Valampuri. Very soon, I will send photos of the high

> > quality Valampuri (Sinistral Turbinella pyrum) on this club photos.

>

> > The cost of rare items are sometimes unnecessarily exagerated.

> >

> > Thanking you and with regards,

> >

> > Chandrashekhar Phadke

> >

> > Richard Shaw Brown <rsbj66 wrote:

> > Dear Sir,

> >

> > That is very cheap price and I do not believe he is speaking about

> > real

> > Lakshmi Shank which is Sinistral Terbinella Pyrum. The shell he is

> > speaking about is Lightning Whelk, which is cheap, but is NOT a

> > Shank.

> > If you want to spend little money then better get a normal real

> > Shank,

> > that is much better than a WHELK for Rs. 1000.

> >

> > But if you can get Valampuri Sinistral Terbinella Pyrum for Rs.

> 1000

> > each, then I will pay you triple and buy many pieces immediately.

> >

> > The problem is that now, in India, they think Lightning Whelk shell

> > is

> > a Sinistral Turninella Pyrum Conch. In fact, the Lightning Whelk

> > shells

> > wrongly sold as Lakshmi Shank are imported into India from North

> > America, NOT from India.

> >

> > I have written this post to help people. Please don't be fooled.

> >

> > Best rgds,

> > Richard

> > http://www.richardshawbrown.com

> >

> > --- chandrashekhar phadake <c_phadake wrote:

> >

> > > Dear LG,

> > >

> > > Cost of the authentic 'Valampuri Conch' in the Indian market is

> in

> > > the range of Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 1500/- per gram depending upon its

> > > beauty and size. Large sized conch are generally costly due to

> its

> > > rarity. Similarly, Valampuri Conch which can be blown is also

> very

> > > expensive as it is extremely rare than the normal Valampuri.

> > >

> > > Thanking you and with best wishes,

> > >

> > > Chandrashekhar Phadke

> > >

> > > LG <lagan29 wrote:

> > > dear brother

> > >

> > > how does one differentiate between a fake and a real valampuri

> > > shankh? what is price of the authentic rare valumpuri shankh .

> can

> > it

> > > be found in rameshwaram?

> > >

> > > regards

> > >

> > >

> > > Richard Shaw Brown <rsbj66 wrote:

> > > Dear Hindu Sanatan Dharmis,r

> > >

> > > Just a friendly note to inform you that 99% of the shells being

> > sold

> > > as genuine

> > > Valampuri Òdakshinavarti Ò Sri Lakshmi Shank are completely

> bogus.

> > >

> > > What they are wrongly selling is actually another type of common

> > > shell

> > > imported into India from North America called ÒLightning WhelkÓ

> > > (busycon

> > > contrarium). It is not a ÒConchÓ shell, what to speak of being a

> > > Dakshinavarti

> > > Conch. It is simply a case of either ignorance or cheating.

> > >

> > > If you visit http://www.agt-gems.com/Book/laxmi-conch.html - you

> > will

> > > learn

> > > about and see REAL Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum).

> > >

> > > Among shell collectors (Conchologists) and learned Brahmans there

> > is

> > > ONLY

> > > one Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum)... And a LIGHTNING

> > > WHELK

> > > is positively NOT it.

> > >

> > > The prices the Lightning Whelks are selling for is absurdly cheap

> > for

> > > a

> > > precious Sri Lakshmi Conch (although it may be fair price for a

> $5

> > > Lightning

> > > Whelk).

> > >

> > > And many foolish people and even temples use the bogus Lightning

> > > Whelk

> > > shell and thus they remain poor. And this FACT makes the rich

> > people

> > > disbelieve in real Lakshmi Shank.

> > >

> > > In fact, it is Archan-aparada to use any shell except Shank

> (Conch)

> > > either left

> > > side or right side opening. Shastra has stated, for example, that

> > > bones are

> > > ashuda or impure, except the Shank, which is divine. So Lightning

> > > Whelk is a

> > > bone and is NOT a Shank, therefore using Whelk shells is ashuda.

> > >

> > > Attn: Hindu Whelk suppliers: Soon the public will find out that

> > most

> > > ALL the

> > > "puja" dealers are selling Lightning Whelk as a real "Lakshmi

> > Conch."

> > > And

> > > when they stop doing that nonsense, then Srimati Lakshmi Shank

> will

> > > regain

> > > Her divine position as near priceless. If a person cannot afford

> > the

> > > steep price

> > > of a Valampuri, then they can use a left-side opening Shank,

> which

> > is

> > > very low

> > > price. But they should never use a Whelk shell.

> > >

> > > Sukriya!!! OM TAT SAT

> > >

> > > Best regards,

> > >

> > > Richard Shaw-Brown, PG

> > > http://www.richardshawbrown.com

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

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