July 2016
Since how long has the spirit of strength and courage been in the world? Indeed for thousands of years. In the Upanishads – the preeminent portion of the Vedas – we have a famous story of the creation of braahma, kshaatra, vaishya, and shudra along with dharma (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4). All the varnas arose from Prajapati (Brahma).
Indra-devendra-268x300_2.jpg
Indra, the symbol for kshaatra
While Indra is a symbol for...
शुष्को वृक्षस्तिष्ठत्यग्रे
तदुपरि कश्चित्सर्पोऽप्यस्ति ।
नीरसतरुरिह विलसति निकटे
तदुपरि मणिमयकुटिलभुजङ्गः ॥
shushko vrkshastishthatyagre
tadupari kashchitsarpopyasti |
nirasataruriha vilasati nikate
tadupari manimayakutilabhujangah ||
Banabhatta, the unrivalled champion of gadyakavya (prose-poetry), is no stranger to the lovers of Sanskrit literature. According to a legend, Sarasvati herself incarnated as Banabhatta and found her fullest...
An unfortunate outcome of the “modern” way of thinking–shaped by the all-are-equal assumption–is the fact that over the years, it has contributed to the reduction in the capacity of a society to produce heroes, role models etc. Today’s heroes derive from the entertainment, fashion, business and sports streams. Equally, the (primarily Marxist) widespread notion that all people–no matter what their genuine achievements are–are “subjects” to be “...
It seems to me that we Indians are quite talented at criticism. Rapier-sharp logic and critical reasoning has been a part of our heritage for millennia. Such criticality, in the right measure leads us to growth, but in excess leads us to pessimism, cynicism and eventually inaction. I often hear people complain about several historical blunders that we have committed and how it has brought us down, but I rarely get to hear solutions (especially...
Dharma is broadly classified into two groups – general or universal (samanyadharma) and special or particular (visheshadharma). In the category of samanyadharma, all the basic values which generally never change with space and time are included. Here, the divisions of caste, creed, occupation, nationality, gender, race and other distinctions are not decisive. What we would call as human values today – values like truth, non-violence, freedom...
The Sanskrit Podcast hosted by Shoba Narayan and featuring Naresh Keerthi
Indore
From Omkareshwar, we reached Indore by around 4 in the evening and had our lunch at a dhaba there. The order was the usual – one dal without onion or garlic for RG. Every other order was the fancy of each of us; paneer butter masal, butter rotis, malai paneer, kadai vegetables, it went on. We finished lunch and headed towards Lalbagh, which also houses a palace and (supposedly) a museum. We reached the huge cast-iron gates of the park to...
Dr. M. D. Srinivas traces the history of Indian mathematics for the past two millennia. He shows how mathematics in India evolved independently of European mathematics and how it is fundamentally different. When we observe the evolution of Indian math, we find that its fundamentals and its objectives are vastly different from what one might imagine.
यां चिन्तयामि सततं मयि सा विरक्ता
साप्यन्यमिच्छति जनोऽप्ययमन्यसक्तः ।
अस्मत्कृते च परितुष्यति काचिदन्या
धिक्तां च तं च मदनं च इमां च मां च ॥
yam chintayami satatam mayi sa virakta
sapyanyamicchati janopyayamanyasaktah |
asmatkrte ca paritushyati kachidanya
dhik tam cha tam cha madanam cha imam cha mam cha ||
Bhartrhari, the celebrated poet of Nitishatakam, Shringarashatakam, and Vairagyashatakam, needs no introduction. His works are...
Ananda Coomaraswamy remains one of the most staunch defenders of the Indian tradition in the mold of what David Frawley calls an intellectual kshatriya. Coomaraswamy wrote a series of articles about the state of (the British-imposed) Indian education and alerted Indians about its perils.
Ananda Coomaraswamy mostly wrote for a scholarly audience, so he didn’t quite use the forthright language that Swami Vivekananda did:
The child is taken to...