November 2016
अधीतमध्यापितमार्जितं यशोन शोचनीयं किमपीह भूतले ।अतः परं श्रीभवनाथशर्मणोमनो मनोहारिणि जाह्नवीतटे ॥
Shankaramishra grew up to be a great scholar. All his education was under his father Bhavanathamishra. He composed many works on shastra and kavya. Gauridigambara-prahasana, Krishnavinoda-nataka, Manobhava-parabhava-nataka, Rasarnava, Durgatika, Chandogahnikoddhara, Vadivinoda, Upaskara, a gloss on Vaisheshika sutras, Amoda, a commentary on Udayana’...
3
We have distinguished between higher and lower values. That is, the conception of value involves not only the distinction between good and bad, but also that between better and worse. This idea of gradation is basic to the conception. The first axiom of a philosophy of values, it has been stated, is that some things are preferable to or worthier than others. But there have been materialists in India, known as the Charvakas, who denied that...
Khajuraho, Raneh Falls, Madkhera, Deogarh
It was time to head to Khajuraho (from Bheda Ghat).
It was a long journey of more than 6 hours. We sat back and relaxed. By evening we were driving through the small outstretched portion of the Panna N.P., en route to Khajuraho. We had heard that a certain Pandava Falls was somewhere in the vicinity. Our inquiries with the locals did not yield any info. We were instead ‘guided’ to ‘Pandavan’ – about 10...
चलितश्चकितश्छन्नःप्रयाणे तव भूपते ।सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषःसहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् ॥
The king Shivasimha was mighty impressed with the poetic prowess of Shankaramishra, the sprightly boy he met on the streets, who was famous as a child prodigy by then. He invited him to the palace and asked him to compose poems. Many exquisite poems rolled off the boy’s tongue. The king, curious to know the extent of the child’s abilities, asked him to compose a verse...
2
We have stated that the realisation of value is preceded by a definite awareness of it. This constitutes a very important difference between man and the lower animals which also, as we know, pursue ends like him. They too strive to satisfy their desires, but they differ from him in that they do so without any idea of the satisfaction they are seeking. In other words, they have no idea of the past or the future, as such, and seem to be guided...
Kosambi finally gives his homemade add-salt-to-taste philosophy of how we should view ancient texts:
“Modern life is founded upon science and freedom. That is, modern production rests in the final analysis upon accurate cognition of material reality (science), and recognition of necessity (freedom). A myth may grip us by its imagery, and may indeed have portrayed some natural phenomenon or process at a time when mankind had not learned to probe...
The following essay (which will be published in five parts) is taken from the introduction to the book Indian Conception of Values by Prof. M Hiriyanna (Mysore: Kavyalaya Publications, 1975).
Value in General
The place which values occupy in life is so important that no philosopher, whose theme is the whole of experience, can omit to take account of them. But this does not mean that they will always receive from him the amount of attention which...
बालोऽहं जगदानन्दन मे बाला सरस्वती ।अपूर्णे पञ्चमे वर्षेवर्णयामि जगत्त्रयम् ॥
Over the centuries, Sarasiva, a small village in Mithila, has been the home to many great scholars, well versed in as many as six shastras. In the 14th century, there was a father-son duo that dominated the scene: The father Bhavanathamishra was a tremendous scholar of Nyaya school of philosophy (Epistemology, loosely); his son was Mahamahopadhyaya Shankaramishra.
Note...
In one of my earlier articles – Happiness, Flow, and the Upanishads – I had discussed the meaning of happiness and how the concept of ‘flow’ closely aligns with the Upanishadic view on brahmananda (supreme bliss). The state of ‘flow’ or ‘getting into the zone’ can be defined as a state of temporary moksha. The fourth of the four great purposes of life as defined by the great works on Sanatana Dharma, moksha is a state of lasting bliss (dharma,...
A documentary on the legendary singer Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakshmi. Today, MS is synonymous with melody and devotion.
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