March 2017

Petra is a UNESCO world heritage site, three hours from Jordan’s capital, Amman. We enter it through a Siq (pronounced ‘seek’) – a narrow, naturally-formed sandstone gorge that is 2 km long that suddenly opens into the imposing “treasury building.” A road between the Dushare mountains takes you to the street of the façades, with nearly a hundred façades carved into the sandstone gorge on either side. Travel further and you cross Roman remains...
Although several Western scholars have “studied” our culture well, they continue to remain ignorant about its various nuances on numerous occasions. We can cite plentiful examples for this beginning with William Jones (a multilingual scholar who for the first time translated a Sanskrit work—Kalidasa’s Shakuntala—into English about two hundred and thirty years ago[i]) up to the likes of Sheldon Pollock. Several really decorated scholars like Max...
निष्पिष्टापि परं पदाहतिशतैः शश्वद्बहुप्राणिनां संतप्तापि करैः सहस्रकिरणेनाग्निस्फुलिङ्गोपमैः | छागाद्यैश्च विचर्चितापि सततं मृष्टापि कुद्दालकै र्दूर्वा न म्रियते तथापि तरां धातुर्दया दुर्बले || A hundred years before India gained independence, William Bentic forced the Goḻīśrī Saṃskṛtapāṭhaśālā in Kolkata to shut down. It was an institution which had earned the appreciation of William Jones, Wilson and others.  With its closing, several other...
विपश्चिता तेन भरते वात्सल्यरसस्याभावः प्रदर्शितः[1]। नायं नूतनाक्षेपः । सर्वेऽपि विवेकिनो विशदानुभवशीलिनो निर्विवादमङ्गीकुर्वन्ति यद्रससङ्ख्यामीमांसापेक्षया रससिद्धान्तः परमं गरीयानिति । मुनिनापि भरतेन तत्र तत्र प्रादर्शि स्वागमे यच्छास्त्रविस्तरणं गच्छता कालेन यथोचितरीत्या सूरिभिः कार्यमिति । प्रायेण विधिमिममेव शिरसिकृत्वा नैक आलङ्कारिकमूर्धन्याः स्वं स्वं विचारं यद्भरतोपज्ञोपष्ठम्भकं प्राचीकटन् । समग्रमिदं शास्त्रमखण्डैकवृत्त्या जङ्गमशीलतया च...