Guest guest Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Richardji, I heard the late Sri Sri Raaj Roop Tank of Jaipur had a wonderful private collection of precious ratna, somewhat like a kinda Aladdin's Cave (so to speak). You were highly blessed to have been accepted under his tutelage! and you are right about Pushaparaaj and yellow topaz or yellow citrine. Couldn't agree more. , Richard Shaw Brown <rsbj66> wrote: > Hi Gang, > > Sri Rajinderji has made a good point. In Sanskrit, "Pushparaag" always > referred to yellow sapphire. The Hindi word, "Pukh raaj" is also > supposed to mean yellow sapphire, and that is how it is known in the > trade, such as in Jaipur or Kambaat. But somehow it has become confused > with Yellow Topaz, which is what most people in India use for Jupiter. > > In 1974, after spending 7 years learning Sanskrit, my karma drove me > from Vrindavan to Hyderabad. A "secret" Ruby mine had been uncovered, > it was being developed with the Hyderabad family by my old California > friend whom I hadn't seen in 7 years (the ashram where I spent 7 years > in Vrindavan had NO westerners but me. No one spoke English except the > Guru. So I had to learn Bengali to converse in the ashram, and also > learn Hindi to converse OUTside the ashram, as well as learn Sanskrit > so I could enter the heart of the mysteries. Anyway I'm telling this > just to entertain you. > > At the mine, outside Hyderabad, AP, I was deputed to Bombay with 5 KG > of rough rubies and told to enter the market using my Hindi and sell > the rough. That is another story. It was then that I started buying > Hindi and English books on gems, and the few books there were all spoke > about what is (since 1982) known as "Planetary Gemology". One book was > named "Rasi-or-ratna", another book was Graha-gochar jyotish, and (in > Eng., "The occult powers of gems" by Scherman, and there was one > author, late Raaj Roop Tank of Jaipur, that also explained Planetary > Gemology basics in his book named "Indian Gemology" published in 1971. > > In 1974 I went to Jaipur to study under Sri Raaj Roop Tank and was able > to do so. He was very kind and I could say a lot about that, but > keeping to the point, I asked him why yellow corundum was called "Pukh > raaj" when it is always called "Pushparaag" in all the Sanskrit texts. > He told me that "Pukh raaj" was Hindi name, representing - what should > be yellow sapphire - but in fact almost 90% of common Indian only ever > heard of the name "Pukh Raaj" to mean the yellow gem, the Guru ratna, > which in fact they are all using "yellow topaz" because yellow sapphire > comes from outside India, and is very costly. And it had become so > ingrained that even in Jaipur market when ever they are selling yellow > topaz (and they are always selling topaz) that it was called as Pukh > Raaj and this is how the Indians called it. > > So I asked how does the common man know about yellow sapphire? He said > in fact the people don't know the difference... it's all topaz, and > it's called "Pukh Raaj" and that's life in India. > > He also explained that gems needed to be flawless to work good, and > yellow corundum in flawless quality could cost a small fortune if not a > big one. So it was simply cost prohibitive in India (then) and yellow > topaz was in fact being sold to the public as "Pukh Raaj. Common Indian > has never heard the word "Pushaparaaj" unless they would have studied > gemology IN Sanskrit... which is hardly the case. > > What the Bombay, Jaipur, Kambaat markets all have in common is selling > yellow topaz to the public as the gem for Jupiter named Pukh Raaj. And > this is the fact of he matter. Sri Tank ji told me that only the poor > people believed in Planetary Gemology, and yellow sapphire is VERY > expensive, so golden topaz had become "Pukh Raaj" or Guru Ratna. He > said the rich Indian's who could easily afford the best of gems, they > were hardly interested. So it is with the masses of India that it is > normal to sell topaz as yellow sapphire named in Hindi as Pukh Raaj. > > So in common usage the truth has become nontruth. In fact Pukh Raaj is > Hindi, denoting the mega expensive yellow sapphire that no common > Indian (or Westerner) has ever heard of, but in fact BEING yellow > topaz. There is no lie because the common man has never heard of Yellow > Sapphire, and being poor they get what then can afford, i.e. yellow > topaz. There is no harm in selling Topaz for Jupiter and that's the > market reality, at least in 1974. > > Personally from every Indian (in India) who has shown me their "Guru > Ratna" I have never once seen precious yellow sapphire, it's always > topaz (at best) or citrine quartz (at worst). Well, there are a few > exceptions, such as my Indian clients who are well off. > > Of course this is based on my limited experience... > > Sukriya!!! > > Richard > > > Richard Shaw-Brown, PG > Designer & Gemologist > http://www.richardshawbrown.com > http://www.astralgemstonetalismans.com > http://www.themisunderstood.com > http://www.hrisikesh.com > http://www.hrisikesh.net > http://www.agt-gems.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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