October 2018

The word ‘saṃskāra’ has no single-word equivalent in English; it has many meanings including ‘refinement,’ ‘cultivation,’ ‘perfection,’ ‘embellishment,’ ‘consecration,’ ‘education,’ ‘positive transformation,’ ‘effect of past deeds,’ etc. In general, it refers to ‘doing something well’ or ‘improving upon something while removing what is undesirable.’ Swami Harshananda says, “The word ‘saṃskāra’ literally means ‘to do well.’ A block of stone when...
तदयं सङ्क्षेपः—निर्विशिष्टक्लैब्यसन्त्रस्ते सति समाजे, तेन विशिष्टो व्यक्तिगुणः सुतरां नावगम्यते[1]। तादृशस्तु भित्तीतिवृत्तवियुक्तो वाग्व्यापारः सरस्वतीविडम्बनाय रसविध्वंसनाय च कल्पते। अनुलक्षिते सत्यस्मिन्, साम्प्रतिकसमाजे कथानायकार्हता न कस्मिन्नपि मनुजे विद्यत इत्युत्प्रेक्षितुमलम्[2]। भारतीयकाव्यमीमांसादृशा रसः सदैव नायकाश्रितः। अन्यच्च “नायकस्य कवेः श्रोतुः समानोऽनुभवः स्मृतः” इत्यमुं तौतीयमभिप्रायमनुरुध्य पश्यामश्चेत्, साम्प्रतिकं...
A Muslim could silence a Hindu as per whim and hurl abuses on him without any repercussions. And as for a Hindu, he had to quietly swallow all humiliation without showing the slightest resentment. Ibn Batuta writes, "After defeating and destroying a king, one has to get the queen and the princesses to sing and dance in a filled assembly; and whoever desires them, they must be given away." He says that it was a common feature of Islamic...
The entourage[1] that left from Hastināpura to Dvaitavana camped at a place near the villages of the cowherds. They set their tents up making sure that there was ample supply of water and shade, choosing land that was smooth and flat. They took a count of the cattle. Men and women of the village wore different costumes and entertained the guests with music and dance. Duryodhana rewarded them with a bounty of food and money. The entourage then...
The terms ‘mārga’ and ‘deśī’ which have been in use for thousands of years in our tradition are today translated as ‘Classical’ and ‘Folk’ respectively, terms which hardly capture the original sense of the Sanskrit words. This equivalence was drawn by some western scholars and it is hard to say when exactly these were thought to be equivalents of the original Sanskrit words. The downfall and corruption of traditional knowledge systems of India...
Every society will have its own view of what is a significant event in the life of a person living in that geographical region and in that period in time. What remains true for all time and for all people is the fact that our life spreads from before our physical birth all the way to the future after our physical death. When a couple feel the need to have offspring, that very moment a child is born, as an idea. After conception, the tiny embryo...
अस्यां दिशि सुकविना केचन दोषा यत्नेन वारणीयाः। यथा संविधाने निर्वैशिष्ट्यम्, इतिवृत्ते च निस्सङ्घर्षता। यद्यपि सङ्घर्ष इति परिभाषाविशेषः प्राच्यभारतीयकाव्यमीमांसायां किञ्चिदप्रचुरस्तथापि कथायाः पुरोऽभिवृद्धये विविधपात्राणां पोषणाय च सोऽयमावश्यक इति सुविदितमेव सुधियाम्। श्रीमद्रामायणे श्रीमन्महाभारते च विद्यमानो धर्माधर्मयोः सदसतोश्च सङ्घर्षः सुविख्यातः। महाकाव्येष्ववश्यं मन्त्र-द्यूत-प्रयाण-आजि-नायकाभ्युदयादीनि वर्णनानि भवेयुरिति किल...
Prithviraj was the last Hindu king of Delhi. It was he who originally had the Red Fort built; scholars opine that it changed due to the Islamic invasions. Based on the story in Prithvirajraso, we learn that in the war of 1191 CE, Prithviraj set free Ghouri with a pardon after defeating him in a decisive war. Ghouri used deceit to defeat Prithviraj in the Second Battle of Tarain, after which he cruelly blinded Prithviraj by having his eyes gouged...
As far as I know, there were three eminent vaiṇikas (musicians who play the vīṇā) in Bangalore. Of them, the seniormost was an Iyengar. If I remember right, his full name was either Rangaswami Iyengar or Krishnaswami Iyengar. His house was on the street leading to Chikka Lalbagh from Balepet – in the locality of Purnaiah’s satra (rest-house). By the time I met Iyengar he was already quite old. Two or three times a week, there would be a get-...
Among our youth and children, more than the study and research of ‘literature,’ it is the learning of music and dance that is considered as a symbol of culture. Literature is seen by many as a heap of information or a tool for enjoyment. It is not without reason that music, dance, painting and sculpture are categorized as ‘fine arts’ among the arts. In these forms of art, the aspect of ‘information’ is secondary and it is only the play of...