भट्टिर्नष्टो भारविश्चापि नष्टो
भिक्षुर्नष्टो भीमसेनोऽपि नष्टः ।
भुक्कुण्डोऽहं भूपतिस्त्वं हि राजन्
भम्भावल्यामन्तकस्संनिविष्टः ॥
In the last story we saw how Bilhana, the great poet who lived in the 11th century, fell in love with a princess. This story gives us an account of how, lost in love, he was about to lose his life.
One of the greatest losses of the so-called Dravidian discourse in Tamil Nadu is the loss of a number of Hindu devatas or deities in the civilizational consciousness of the Tamils. More pointedly, the cultural-heritage-loss that accompanied this devata loss has in many cases become irreversible. To restate the obvious, most ancient and medieval era temples in Tamil Nadu today have become dens of corruption, squalor, and pettiness at all levels. This rampant degradation continues unchecked.
R Raghunath Rao had a picturesque personality. His physique, his clothing and style, the eloquence in his speech, and the resourcefulness in his work were such that they could impress anyone who came in contact with him. He was a tall man; one could call his skin color a dull black. A round face, a bit on the thinner side; a long, thick nose that stood out; and a moustache like a festoon of crops. His eyes, always looking here and there, were so lively that it felt as if he was speaking sharp words.
Vijayadashami – the victory on the tenth day – is when Rama killed Ravana. While the victory of Rama over Ravana was a great one, greater still are the several personal battles he fought and emerged victorious. Being the elder son, he was the natural choice for being the king, but he was sent into exile. He took it in his stride. After Sita was kidnapped, he pined for her and did not rest until he fought and killed Ravana. Then circumstances forced him to abandon his beloved wife. Caring little for his personal feelings, he acted according to the ruling.
निरर्थकं जन्मगतं नलिन्या
यया न दृष्टं तुहिनांशुबिम्बम् ।
उत्पत्तिरिन्दोरपि निष्फलैव
कृता विनिद्रा नलिनी न येन ॥
Once, in the Pravarapura district of Kashmir, there lived a couple: Jyeshthakalasha and Nagaradevi. They had a son named Bilhana, who grew up to be a poet par excellence.
Kosambi accuses the Bhagavad-Gita of being a perverse tool used by brahmanas to justify their actions:
The Sanskrit Podcast hosted by Shoba Narayan and featuring Vikram Phadke, where he discusses the legal systems in ancient India.
Now from the Vedas, Itihasas, and Puranas, we come to the era of reality. As such, there is no separate demarcation that separates our ancient texts from history. All the details of the lineage of kings that we find in the Vedas are part of history. For example, an ancient king who is mentioned in the Vedas is Divodasa. His son was Sudasa. The purohita of Sudasa was Vasishta. The Rigveda speaks about the Battle of Ten Kings (दाशराज्ञयुद्ध), in which ten kings combined forces under the guidance of Vishwamitra and attacked Sudasa.
रे रे ग्रामकुविन्द कन्दलतया वस्त्राण्यमूनि त्वया
गोणीविभ्रमभाजनानि शतशोऽप्यात्मा किमायास्यते ।
अप्येकं रुचिरं चिरादभिनवं वासस्तदासूत्रतां
येन्नोज्झन्ति कुचस्थलात् क्षणमपि क्षोणीभृतां वल्लभाः ॥
