The Islamic Conquest of India
The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within.
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The Fifth Veda
This is an excerpt from the book “Veda Mimansa – Volume 1” by Shri Anirvan. The Vedanta in reality is the culmination of the Vedic philosophy. It is the exposition of the meaning of the Veda from the standpoint of ‘Knowledge’ (Vijnana). Therefore, it may be said that in order to discover the meaning of the mantras, we have to have a foundation of comprehensive knowledge of the Upanisad, an intimate acquaintance with the Trantra, the Purana and a direct experience of the methods of the Yogic and Tantrik spiritual praxis.
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The Troubles of a Fractured Republic – FR – Part 1
This short excerpt from his book “The Fractured Republic” by Yuval Levin discusses the increasing rift in public opinion in America and the decreasing national consensus. It tells us how the debate between left and right has resulted gone so far that the national interest of the country is no longer paramount.
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Aesthetics of Indian Art
This is an excerpt from the "Human and Divine: 2000 Years of Indian Sculpture" by Balraj Khanna and George Michell. Balraj Khanna in this short excerpt discusses the aesthetics of Indian Art. He explores the symbolism of Indian art. Why is it not physically accurate about anatomy like the Greek art? Why does it focus on facial expressions favoring inner peace? It gives a basic understanding about the spiritual import behind creating Hindu art.
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Inadequacy of the Intellect – Wisdom of the Upanishads
In this brief excerpt, Will Durant explains the importance of Upanishads and how they tell us about the inadequacy of the intellect. To our own day the Upanishads have remained to India what the New Testament has been to Christendom- a noble creed occasionally practiced and generally revered. Even in Europe and America this wistful theosophy has won millions upon millions of followers, from lonely women and tired men to Schopenhauer and Emerson. Who would have thought that the great American philosopher of individualism would give perfect expression to the Hindu conviction that individuality is a delusion?
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Dharma vs. Religion – Part I
In European languages, there was no one word which could completely express the essential nature of dharma. So the European scholars had to make use of different words relative to the context in which the word had been used in Indian literature. In the English language, dharma was translated as religion, righteousness, law, tradition, moral code, etc., according to the context. But the modern scholars in India did not have to experience any such difficulty in the context of translation. They heard the word 'religion' of the English language and decided instantly and unanimously that this word should be translated as 'dharma' in all Indian languages.
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Eternal Words of the Vedas
In this excerpt, from Veda Mimansa, Volume I, Shri Anirvan discusses the notion of the eternality of the words of the Vedas. He discusses the age old debate between the Mimansakas and the rationalists, in which the Mimansakas claim that the very words of the Vedas are eternal and not just the meaning, and the rationalists consider only the meaning is eternal. In this brief excerpt, Shri Anirvan navigates through this debate and in the process interprets the origin of language and the importance of the Vedas.
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Negationism in India: General Characteristics
India has its own full-fledged brand of negationism: a movement to deny the large-scale and long-term crimes against humanity committed by Islam. This movement is led by Islamic apologists and Marxist academics, and followed by all the politicians, journalists and intellectuals who call themselves secularists. In contrast to the European negationism regarding the Nazi acts of genocide, but similar to the Turkish negationism regarding the Armenian genocide, the Indian negationism regarding the terrible record of Islam is fully supported by the establishment.
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The Implosion of the Welfare State Model
The simplest way in which the advanced welfare state will lose attractiveness is the looming bankruptcy of the European welfare states. The financial bankruptcy is not anything that even the cleverest planner can avoid. As publicly financial benefits grow, so do the populations who find that they need them. The more people who need benefits, the more government bureaucracy is required. The more people who rely on support from the government and the larger the government, the fewer the people in the private sector who pay for the benefits and for the apparatus of the state. The larger the number of people who depend on government either for benefits or for their jobs, the larger the constituency for voting for ever-larger government.
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Apaurusheya and the Origin of Language
In this excerpt, Shri Anirvan talks about Apaurusheya and how the origin of language is related to it. Sanatana Dharma, its scriptures, its philosophy and its institutions are famous for not crediting the individual for certain achievement, or failure, for that matter. Indian arts, famously remain nameless. Shri Anirvan, in this very deep piece analyzes the basic idea of Apaurusheya behind this tradition.
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