A rare interview of Dr S. Srikantha Shastri, a historian par excellence. His magnum opus "Bharatiya Samskruti", a monograph in Kannada, is a must-read for all serious students of Indian culture.
Author:prekshaa
As a remarkable patriot, thinker, and visionary, Sri Aurobindo’s contributions to India are priceless. Unlike other patriots and leaders of his generation, it was in spite of his upbringing that Sri Aurobindo turned out to be such a devoted son to Mother India.
Enamored by the British, Aurobindo’s father Dr. Krishna Dhun Ghose did everything within his power to make his children grow up to be Englishmen. His dream was for his children to enter the Indian Civil Service and so the entire family moved to England in 1879, when Aurobindo was just 7.
स्मरगरलखण्डनं मम शिरसि मंडनं
देहि पदपल्लवमुदारम् ।
ज्वलति मयि दारुणो मदनकदनारुणो
हरतु तदुपाहितविकारम् ॥
In their years of exile, the Pandavas lived in the picturesque Dvaitavana abounding in beautiful trees and delicious fruits. One day, a deer carried away – between its antlers – the fire-producing sticks of a poor priest who was performing an important yajña. The priest came to the Pandavas seeking help. The five brothers took up their arms and went looking for the deer. Even after exhausting all their knowledge in hunting and combat, they were unable to catch the deer.
A short documentary of Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa, the inimitable poet. He is popularly known as 'kuvempu'. His epic-poem Ramayana Darshanam was awarded the Jnaanapeeth award.
Let us look at Yakshagana and its allied art-forms from the point of view of angikaabhinaya (communication through the body and gesture language). Kuchupudi and Bhagavatamela are rich in angikaabhinaya. However, in recent times, Kuchupudi has been relinquishing its theatrical format, i.e., the format of Yakshagana and Kalaapa, and is heading towards becoming a dance (nrtya) format.
In the Vana Parva (Book 3) of the Mahabharata, during the course of Yudhistira’s discussion with sage Markandeya, the latter narrates the story of Kaushika and Dharmavyadha. It is a wonderful episode of how a learned ascetic obtains life-lessons from an unlettered butcher in Mithila.
Following a series of incidents, Kaushika lands up at the shop of Dharmavyadha, who is busy selling deer and buffalo meat. Seeing the ascetic, Dharmavyadha rises from his seat and walks up to him. “Welcome, O holy one! Come, let us go to my house.”
एतद्बभ्रुकचानुकारिकिरणं राजद्रुहोऽह्नः शिर-
श्छेदाभं वियतः प्रतीचिनिपतत्यब्धौ रवेर्मण्डलम् ।
एषापि द्युरमा प्रियानुगमनं प्रोद्दामकाष्ठोत्थिते
सन्ध्याग्नौ विरचय्य तारकमिषाज्जातास्थिशेषस्थितिः ॥
Long before Superman or Batman, there was Hanuman, the original superhero. But he wasn’t just all brawn. He was a consummate all-rounder. He was intelligent, patient, compassionate, ready to help, graceful, devoted to a larger cause, humble, and of course immensely strong. Born in a family of monkeys, to King Kesari and his wife Anjana, Hanuman grew up to be multi-skilled. His pivotal role in the Ramayana is known to many.
The Influence of Alexander
(continued)
When a great emperor decentralizes a vast kingdom, if he doesn’t use his absolute sovereignty to establish friendly relationships and maintain constant communication with all the regions, if he doesn’t keep his eyes and ears open all the time, his empire will collapse. We get examples for this in Ashoka’s time itself. Why, even in the case of the ambitious Alexander who set out to conquer the world and establish an enormous empire, his sovereignty had an untimely end.