Indic Varta

“If he is there, then he might protect you, and if not, mark my word, I will chop your head with my sword”. Then he rushes towards the pillar and strikes it hard with full force. At a glance, a voice of thunder came roaring out of the post. The next scene provided goosebumps, as out of the blue, shattering down the strong construction, emerged a fierce form, making the blood run cold- a human shape with the head and limbs of a lion.

Till we believe that the source of happiness is in the objects of this world that we deal with, the endless Karmic cycle would continue. The real happiness lies beyond ego and its actual form is the last word Ananda of “Sat-Chit-Ananda”- the eternal bliss.

Shonibarer haat is a weekly Saturday afternoon bazaar set up by local artisans in Santiniketan, Birbhum district, West Bengal. It takes place on Saturdays in the khowai region, which is a geographical formation of small canyons resulting from constant erosion caused by wind and water. This place is characterised by Shyambati canal on one side and a patch of dry forest of Sonajhuri (Acacia Auriculiformis) trees on an eroded landscape of red laterite soil on the other side. Sonajhuri literally means “droplets of gold”. 

Joseph Campbell mentioned in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” that the concept of hero-hood is predestined. However, the path towards the destination is never very simple. The hero’s miraculous childhood presented in the stories features and highlights some special manifestation of inherent divine principles embodied in his human life. The playing of various roles as per the demands of life makes a bog-standard hero turn into an extra-ordinary.

तकनीकी ने जहां मनुष्य को निर्बाध स्वतंत्रता और वैश्विक सुगमता का आभास दिया है ,वहीँ इसके केंद्र में बैठे हुए लोगों द्वारा इसका प्रयोग करके ना सिर्फ बड़े पैमाने पर व्यक्ति के चुनाव की स्वतंत्रता को किन्ही कंपनियों या राज व्यवस्थाओं के हाथ की कठपुतली बनाता है बल्कि सदैव के लिए इंटरनेट की तकनीकी द्वारा लाया गया नियतिवाद स्थापित हो सकता है इस क्रम में मनुष्य के मूल मूल्यों को आहरित करके राजव्यवस्था अथवा आर्थिक शक्तियों द्वारा परिभाषित किया जा सकता है और इससे मनुष्य जाति की एक शाश्वत गुलामी की परंपरा निर्मित होगी ।

Some of the images of yoginis are extensively used in the present Odissi dance to depict different avatars of Durga. Here one of the yogini images looked like lord Ganesha it looked like ‘ Lady Ganesha’… The cult of Chausath Yoginis was one of the most esoteric cults in medieval India which vanished as suddenly as it emerged in the Indic religious landscape, leaving very little trace of its existence.

किसी हिन्दू शास्त्र, पुराण, आदि में जाति-आधारित छुआ-छूत का निर्देश नहीं। वरना सभी हिन्दू-विरोधियों, वामपंथियों ने उसे प्रसिद्ध पोस्टर-सा लाखों बार लहराया होता। इस के बदले वे शंबूक या एकलव्य की कथा से काम चलाते हैं, जो भी अन्य प्रसंग के उदाहरण है, जिसे खास रंग दे हिन्दू धर्म को लांछित किया जाता है। तुलसीदास की पंक्ति ‘‘ढोल गवाँर सूद्र पसु नारी/ सकल ताड़ना के अधिकारी’’ भी वैसा ही उदाहरण है, जिसे मनमाना अर्थ दिया गया।

According to the woke activists, all social constructs are oppressive, bigoted, and problematic. Why and how? These are the questions that you cannot ask a woke. The only choice and right that woke activists have given to the society is to agree with them and join them in unleashing madness. It is what they are unleashing as they problematize the very concept of age, declare that being considerate of age(ageism) is inherently oppressive.

The social status enjoyed by the maharis were special and important during the rule of the king and the maharis never became widows as they were married to Lord Jagannatha. The maharis re-invented herself at every age until their status declined in modern society after the passing of the anti-nautch act. Centuries of negotiation have silenced a community of traditional artists, social status and their livelihood.

Foreigners began giving wrong explanations of Hindu ideas and adding false information to it rather wittingly or unwittingly. Church missionaries played a very
great role in it. Then, in independent India political parties selfishly misused the same propaganda, in fact they increasingly popularised the propaganda. Authentic information and facts were also suppressed, because they were unfavourable to their party-interests. Like this, they turned one section of Hindus inimical towards the other section of Hindus at their own hands.

The Vavs are generally constructed of sandstone and limestone texture which are permeable and semi-permeable rocks that allow the rainwater to percolate and flow through the levels and the multi-storeyed construction and reach the wells in a controlled rhythm. This also sets an example of a unique method of rainwater harvesting in those eras.

The British restrained the missionaries while the Indian rulers gave them a free run. As a result, the dupery of missionaries is expanding throughout India unbridled. Putting photos of Jesus-Mary in Hindu temples, constructing churches in the fashion of Hindu temple architecture to defraud and convert innocent Hindus, treating a disease using medicines but crediting it to the grace of Jesus, disrespecting Hindu Gods and Goddesses and calling them powerless, by lending money or providing admission to missionary schools, etc. they are adopting all dubious means to break and divide the HIndu society. Our representatives in power know everything. But they have been blinded by their greed for power and are increasing special minority rights that is equal to sawing off the branch they’re sitting on.

अंग्रेजों ने मिशनरियों पर लगाम रखी थी, जबकि देसी शासकों ने उन्हें खुली छूट दे दी। नतीजन, पूरे भारत में चर्च-मिशनों की धोखे की टट्टी बेरोक-टोक फैल रही हैं। हिन्दू मंदिरों में जीसस-मेरी की फोटो लगा देना, हिन्दू डिजाइन का चर्च बनाकर भोले हिन्दुओं को फँसाकर ले जाना, दवाई से रोग ठीक कर जीसस की शक्ति कहना, हिन्दू देवी-देवताओं का अपमान कर उन्हें ‘निर्बल’ बताना, कर्ज देकर या मिशन स्कूल में दाखिले के बदले, आदि कुटिल तरीकों से उन्हें हिन्दू समाज से तोड़ा जा रहा है। हमारे सत्ताधारी सब जानते है। पर वे लोभ में अंधे हो कर, ‘अल्पसंख्यक’ विशेषाधिकार बढ़ाते जाकर वही डाल काटने में सहयोग दे रहे हैं जिस पर बैठे हैं।

Aravindan’s Hindutva: Origin, Evolution and Future is a grand journey of core Hindu ideas as they have evolved, expanded and endured over thousands of years. It is a story of seers, thinkers and activists who have shaped the cultural and intellectual discourse in India. Hindutva, in this journey, comes out not as a monolithic identity seeking to crush dissent and diversity, but as a dynamic and organic process that rests on the solid foundations of spiritual pluralism (Shashtra), open exploration and constructive dialogues (Shashtrartha).

If “forts”, “dark-skinned enemies”, “chariots” and “spoked-wheels” are almost always metaphors for beings and devices operating in the supra-physical spheres, the counter-argument is that a metaphor nevertheless implies and presupposes a physical counterpart. The question, therefore, is whether the text offers a few non-metaphorical descriptions of battles, however embellished they may be.

By the time of the Katha Upanishad, the metaphor of the horse, though slightly altered from the Rgvedic imagery, had become perfectly explicit: “Know the self to be the chariot’s master, and the body, the chariot itself; know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind, the reins. “The horses”, the Upanishad continues, “are the five senses which must be reined in by our intellect and higher mind, and ultimately the self”. The chariot, here, stands for the body or our external being.

The fundamental assumption behind the horse argument is that asva, in the Rgveda, is a purely “Aryan” animal. But is that what the text actually says? No doubt, numerous references place asva, whatever the word means in the rishis’ mind, squarely on the side of the gods, the rishis or their helpers. But it turns out that there are quite a few revealing exceptions: the Dasyus and Panis also possess asvas, generally together with cows and treasures.

Kupka saw in the cosmic rhythms and repetitions a truth that the artist experienced in his visions, and it was the artist’s task to go beyond representing the objects given to the senses and rather depict the intellectual perception of the connections between the fragmentarily given sense data. Concomitant with this purely intellectual approach was a spiritual orientation, which included self- cultivation and a refusal to accept the crude empiricism of modernity.

Nothing was visible inside. But the horse moved slowly into the obscure passage and eventually entered the Patal-loka or underworld with his master. After struggling for a long time a little glimpse of light was seen coming from a distance.“But where is the bloody monster?”, the prince exclaimed. At once, they got the sight of a beautiful town with a nice gorgeous palace that left him surprised and mesmerized at the same time. He whispered, “Wow! a wonderful town indeed. It reminds me of Indra’s abode. Isn’t it Kubalaya?”.

Though the form of Burbank lies in Santa Rosa under a Lebanon cedar that he planted years ago in his garden, his soul is enshrined for me in every wide-eyed flower that blooms by the wayside. Withdrawn for a time into the spacious spirit of nature, is that not Luther whispering in her winds, walking her dawns?

Right in the beginning, there was Atman alone in the shape of a person. It looked around and saw nothing other than itself. This act of ‘looked around and saw’ or this looking around is the chakravartin. This is the solar traversal. It is measuring itself by a certain outlook.

The hunger of “death” exists because it is seeking immortality. This is the only food that will satisfy it. It is seeking immortality because it remembers immortality at its root. It remembers the immortal horse that has been sacrificed.

If Bhartṛhari gives a cognitive science of language, Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta give a recognitive science. What we need is a recognitive science which is not yet there. In the west, there is cognitive science but there is no recognitive science… And it took thousand years after Abhinavgupta for contemporary Particle Physics to figure out that if these two questions are answered together, the product of their error will be constant. And, that principle is popularly called the Uncertainty Principle.

The God is present in a thousand different ways, revealing Himself, Herself, Itself, in a thousand different ways in this world. This is Brahma prakasha. It is the radiance of divinity. Look around you. These beings are present and we relate to them as human beings. But, in-depth they are nothing but that same one Brahman, shining forth in all these ways.

The Upanishads represent such a revolution and paradigm shift in human thought that the history of civilization and mankind should not be dated as AD and BC. This is very ethnocentric. Rather it should be dated as before the Upanishads and after the Upanishads.

Bharata reached the ashram and fell down at his brother’s feet and as a reaction, Sri Ram lifted him up with intense care. Seeing Bharata and Rama’s undying love for each other, the extreme gentleness and the sweet exchange of words, everybody present there were wondered and delighted at the same time.

A pubescent child whose body throbs with orgasmic rhythms, whose feelings are made articulate in hymns to the joys of onanism or the killing of parents; whose ambition is to win fame and wealth in imitating the drag-queen who makes the music. In short, life is made into a nonstop, commercially prepackaged masturbational fantasy.

अपने शोध करियर के पहले चरण में, बोस ने भौतिकी के क्षेत्र में काम किया, जो कि केवल छह साल तक ही चला। 1900-1901 में, उन्होंने भौतिक विज्ञान से शरीर क्रिया विज्ञान, विशेष रूप से पादप शरीर क्रिया विज्ञान में एक तीव्र परिवर्तन किया, वे लगभग सैंतीस वर्षों तक अपने शेष जीवन के लिए पादप शरीर क्रिया विज्ञान पर कार्य करते रहे।

दर्जनों महान विचारकों ने पौधों की बुद्धि केसिद्धांत दिए और उनकादस्तावेजीकरण किया है। फिर भी यह विश्वास कि पौधे अकशेरूकीय की तुलना में कम बुद्धिमान और विकसित प्राणी हैं, और यह कि “विकासवादी पैमाने” पर वे बमुश्किल निर्जीव वस्तुओं से ऊपर हैं, यह सोच हर जगह मानव संस्कृतियों में बनी रहती हैं और हमारे दैनिक व्यवहार में प्रकट होती है।

To be better informed about our Dharma and the epic, this book is an excellent work that has also ultimately shattered all the popular fallacies successfully. Besides being well-structured, the book has a sufficient drive to make us, the readers to be curious enough to peep inside the glorious universe of Mahabharata and read the original version at least once in our lifetime.

When Shiva wants to realize his Shiva nature nothing can stop you. But one can say, “I want to realize it now. So, why? Why am I not realizing it? What is stopping Shiva?”. Right now, according to the Kashmir Shaivites, “You” the Shiva is playing the role of a spiritual seeker. He just wants to play the role of a seeker who wants to realize!

Being the God himself, he upheld Dharma on earth protecting the good ones, at the same time, for other’s sake sacrificed everything he had the right to possess, from his kingdom to his beloved wife. In his cosmic plan, the way the Lord himself plays between his dilemmas and resolutions stuck between mortal limitations and limited power makes his character more engrossing.

Abhinavgupta delves deep into the phenomenology of doubt. And, when it comes to Kaali at the beginning of the method of knowing ascertainment, he defines her the as Sanghar Kaali or destructive Kaali. Now you will be surprised by knowing what is this meant by destruction. What is destroyed?
At the beginning of knowledge, Abhinavgupta answers that it is doubt which is destroyed.

In a fraction of a second, the most brutal person on the earth turned into a saint. All necessary perfections are achieved to attain the highest goal in life. Like us, Parvatha Muni was also moved by this and the entire event was constantly running in his head while returning. “You are a touchstone by yourself”, appreciated the sage staring at the great Narada Muni’s ever smiling glorious face.

What sort of thing or entity is God? God is like a son of a barren woman- a total self-contradictory object! He might have His own Dharma or characteristics but they are mutually opposed- a four-angled quadrilateral circle, an extremely hurt but completely painless fellow. Can such a thing exist?

This whole fresh reading of Ramayana makes us fall in love with both Rama and Sita amid Valmiki’s poetic beauty, once again, eradicating all the doubts persisting in our minds till date. The golden age of Rama Rajya was never a myth and it is quite achievable as comprehended by the wisdom of our ancestors. If its ideals are brought forward, it would not be impossible for us to witness the same era of peace and knowledge, once again exhaling everywhere, for which every one of us is in search today.

In Holy Scripture the plant world not only isn’t considered equal to the animal world, is isn’t considered at all. It is left to its fate, probably to either be destroyed by the Flood or to survive it along with other inanimate things. Plants were so unimportant that there was no reason to care about them.

समय एक रेखीय, एकल-दिशात्मक गति नहीं है, जैसे कि एक तीर अतीत से भविष्य की ओर गति करता है। यह “हमारी यांत्रिक दुनिया के एक सुविधाजनक भ्रम से ज्यादा कुछ नहीं है, जो एक जीवंत समय को एक फ्रैक्टल के आंतरिक कर्लिंग विवरण के साथ जोड़ता है।” जब हम अनंत काल की वक्रता में प्रवेश करते हैं, तो हम जीवन की सच्ची आंतरिक लय की परिपूर्णता का अनुभव करते हैं।

A good teacher, in every ins and outs of his students, is well aware that what errors they can make and in which areas. But, the tutor himself does not make mistakes. So, can we say by this argument that God knows all our pains but Himself never suffers Bearing this argument in mind, Arindam Chakrabarti again makes a dispute that there is still a problem in analyzing the concern of “Is God in pain?” in this way.

India also has many natural caves from north to south and east to west, which early humans used as shelters and living spaces. The emptiness of the cave might have given them the expression of the sky (Aakasha Tattva), and the sky is the origin place for all celestial and non-celestial beings. Later, these caves became an example of another temple’s architectural development as the space in the temple was observed as Garbhagriha.

The ancient Indian society had long ago successfully opened the door for an equal free-for-all competition, where only the weakest remained the victim. The Hindu system, serving as the universal and timeless model, is the outcome of a noble attempt to place mankind in the plan of creation and recognize the meaning of its different aspects like caste, activities, individual rights, mental possibilities and methods of implications of this diversity in intergroup relations.

“The God has luckily survived from my hands, who took away Goodwin from us untimely- as I don’t believe in Him. I have still doubt about Him. If I could be sure about His existence, I would have already slain that God”
Kill the God– This is what Swamiji planned just because Goodwin has died.
Was this an ignorance and arrogance of Swamiji? It shows how much love he had gathered and preserved in his heart.

“Sorrow is only for us, pain is just meant for creatures, but does God also undergo pain and sufferings?”.
To answer this the lecturer replies, “If every word is lost in pain then in what words can we express our feelings?”.

In India the advantages of an English education are widely accepted by the Urban population which sends their own children to such institutions whenever possible. Opposed to this are the millions of children in rural areas who have no other recourse but to use the local schools employing the regional language. The fact that Japan has been able to modernize without benefit of a Western language or Israel could resurrect Hebrew for contemporary purposes, notwithstanding, there remains resistance to the suggestion that the adoption of English continues to serve as a barrier to social and economic progress in South Asia.

It is ALWAYS the poor non-elites who die at the end. Elite gets to enjoy their private islands, private beach properties, private driveways and private securities and dictate the peasants. History does NOT lie. What can America learn from Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala Bagh Massacre?

If anyone understands the term social capital, then he definitely knows that caste is also a social capital. We must also realize, as shown from plenty of data points in the book, that though people from different backgrounds indulge in particular activities and retain a common idea of belongingness and identity with their own communities, this in due course also encourages them in taking up that specific livelihood. Also getting credits and risk mitigation becomes easier for them. At least in the non-organized sector, Indian business is primarily based on relationships and without any question, here caste definitely works as a social capital!

Savings is a habit, culture, and civilization – all rolled into one. Post-liberalization, India has provided increased market access. Despite these developments, Indians have achieved higher savings rate post liberalization – a theoretical contradiction. This savings is an outcome of certain civilizational restraints and makes Indian economy, by design, to operate within certain restraints.

Almost all the Rajput princes have a smattering of astronomy, or rather of its spurious relation, astrology; but Jai Singh went deep, not only into the theory, but the practice of the science, and was so esteemed for his knowledge, that he was entrusted by the emperor Muhammad Shah with the reformation of the calendar.

When culture is near-perfected with a self-balancing homeostatic mechanism – primarily family and to a small-extent community economies become sustainable over a longer period. This idea of family as the centrifugal force that controls the economic decision- making remains at the core of this book. Economic policies must be dovetailed factoring this paradigm. The question is – do governments and markets cognize this paradigm?

“To the Indian land and village system we owe altogether the hereditary cunning of the Hindu handicraftsman. It has created for him simple plenty, and a scheme of democratic life, in which all are co-ordinate parts of one undivided and indivisible whole, the provision and respect due to every man in it being enforced under the highest religious sanctions, and every calling perpetuated from father to son by those cardinal obligations on which the whole hierarchy of Hinduism hinges”- by Sir George Birdwood

Consumerism is ultimately a ‘spiritual quotient deficiency syndrome’ that cannot be remedied by mere economic policies alone. We need to realize that it is family and family alone with its ability to restrain individuals from reckless consumption and ensure balance in economy and society. It is thus the destruction of family that has emerged to be the meeting point of Liberals and Marxists.

Indian society presents to us no more fascinating picture than that of the craftsman as an organic element in the national life. Broadly speaking, he is associated with that life in one of three ways: as a member of a village community; as a member of a guild of merchant craftsmen in a great city; or as the feudal servant of the king, or chieftain of a temple.

Considering the governance and lifestyle and evaluating the Indian and Western approaches and contributions, the overall analysis makes an easy-to-understand contrast between both the ancient and modern eras. Providing examples such as how Indian economic theory encompasses the holistic human endeavor towards the Purusharthas, the author is inspired by the Vedic cult to explain various practices that are implemented in economic sutras.

Lower interest rates in an emerging economy like India, lowers consumption, and does not increase it as they theoretically imagine. Worse, Indians shift their savings from banks to avenues that offer better and probably safer returns. In the Indian context, that happens to be gold.

Every word, truth and experience is self-transcending. In everything that is spoken, there is the unspoken; in everything known, there is the unknown. The soul offers worship and homage to this transcendental, this unspoken, this unknown.

Also, in this 21st century, the emergence of India as a rising global force is also an encouraging example. Till the end of the book, the author has successfully proved and affirmed that when the rest of the world is searching for clues, Indians already have the solution. She should definitely come forward and emerge to take the larger responsibility for the whole world.

भारत में द्वैतवाद का इतिहास काफी पुराना है । वेदों में इसकी आंशिक झलक भी प्राप्त होती है किन्तु व्यवस्थित रूप से सांख्य सूत्रों के रूप में यह स्थापित होता है ।द्वैतवाद में जीव, जगत्, तथा ब्रह्म को परस्पर भिन्न माना जाता है।

Nature by itself is a great educator where its every object is an open book. Here, the motivation and real desire of the learner matters to inquire about the right message and then think upon it. However, at present, our lives in this modern world have lost its connection with nature and its underpinning wonders. Hence, we must search and re-establish our lives and vision through the constructive relationship with our environment in its purest form.

Hinduism, he said tried to represent the superhuman and the metaphysical and, as a result, “Hindus have evolved a system of art full of metaphysical monsters and grotesques”. Carrying on the discussion, he concluded that the “Hindus are too much interested in metaphysics and ultimate reality to make good artists. Art is not the discovery of Reality – whatever reality may be… It is the organization of chaotic appearance into an orderly and human universe”.

Salvation is man’s assussured possession, not a chance windfall. God is not a pie in the sky who appeared from nowhere at a particular time and became operative in human affairs; he has been active from the beginning. The great spiritual life resides in the heart and its truths are open to all sincere seekers. Man has known, possessed and lived those truths long before “revealed religions” were heard of.

In Hinduism, dying is an art. In the higher reaches of Yoga, one can choose at will when to quit and where to go. Under certain circumstances, voluntary death – prâyopaveSaNa, sallekhana or santhârâ – is admitted. The art of dying however is the same as the art of living. Noble life and noble death go together.

Aldous Huxley is one of those who enriched the West greatly with the wisdom of the East. Though he came late on the scene, his influence was nonetheless real and deep. Himself a great intellectual, he spoke to the intellect of the West its most effective medium of communication.

Most slogans carry an essentially emotional—not a logical or theoretical—message, and this one is no
exception. Slogans are designed not to formulate theories but rather to strike an attitude, to rally a movement, or to intimidate an opposition. This one does all three.

वर्तमान में प्राचीन भारतीय राजनीतिक व्यवस्था के बारे में अनेक भ्रांतियां हैंI इसमें सबसे बड़ी भ्रान्ति हिन्दुओं की दंड व्यवस्था को लेकर हैI ऐसी एक धारणा बना दी गयी है कि हिन्दू राजनीति और कूटनीति से अनभिज्ञ थे तथा अपने राष्ट्र के रक्षा की चिंता नहीं करते थेI वस्तुतः मैं अपनेइस लेख में विशुद्ध भारतीय राजनीति के ग्रंथों में वर्णित राजनीति के बारे में चर्चा करूँगा

The place in the periphery of a kingdom where cities end and villages just merge with woodland- that part of a forest is never very dense. In such a bushy isolated area, Krishna was sitting on a branch of a tree lonely and recalling all the happenings that he had been a part of in his life- waiting for the upalakshya or predetermined event to happen that would make him die! Suddenly a poisonous arrow charged from the bow of a Vyadha or forest hunter stuck his leg.

Pleasure and pain lost their sway over me. I was free from desire and fear. I found myself full, needing nothing. I saw that in the ocean of pure awareness, on the surface of the universal consciousness, the numberless waves of the phenomenal worlds arise and subside beginninglessly and endlessly. As consciousness, they are all me. As events they are all mine.

Commerce played a great role in making India the universal exporting centre of the economic world in ancient times. Not only was the corporate form used for business enterprises in Ancient India, but also for political and social purposes and went by variety of names-gana, samgha, sabha, sreni and others too.

चतुर्विध अभिनय के सहायक नृत्य, गीत, वाद्य एवं गति, वृत्ति, प्रवृत्ति और आसन का अनुसंधान भी नाट्य के अंतर्गत है। इस प्रकार अभिनय के विविध अंग एवं उपांगों के स्वरूप और प्रयोग के आकारप्रकार का विवरण प्रस्तुत कर तत्संबंधी नियम तथा व्यवहार को निर्धारित करनेवाला शास्त्र ‘नाट्यशास्त्र’ है।

Till the life is molded as per that spiritual teaching, established and understood in the equality, indisputable unity and calmness of soul beyond the notion of sin and virtue, a man is bound to demote if he ignores the sense of sin and virtue. Since, Arjuna was in doubt and yet to attain that state, Krishna first explained to him the importance of Swadharma or own duty aligned to individual nature and liability, as the first step towards enlightenment. Arjuna was a Kshatriya and hence it would have been an absolute sin if he gave up his war. 

HINDU LIVES MATTER – WE HINDUS ARE THE ONLY-LIVING-SURVIVING-CONTINUOUS CIVILIZATION, HOW MANY WILL YOU KILL? Hindus do not play victim cards – we tolerated “you” thus far. NO MORE. TRY ERASING US!

This is the third part in the series of articles on the Ramayana tradition in North-East India. The immensely rich cultural history and heritage of Tripura certainly brings forth the point that both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata had always been an integral and inseparable part of this heritage.

The mysterious person lifted the wood and carried it inside the temple. Before shutting the door the old man demanded saying, “These gates must be kept closed for the next twenty-one days. Nobody should disturb me till I am done with my divine task in this sealed chamber or I will disappear. All of you must stay away from here till I come out!”.

चूंकि दर्शनशास्त्र विषय की प्रकृति बहुआयामी होती है अतः इस बात को कहने में कोई आपत्ति नहीं होनी चाहिए कि दर्शनशास्त्र के अन्तर्गत जो अवधारणाएं हमें परिलक्षित होती है, उनकी भी प्रकृति बहुआयामी ही होगी।    यह सभ्यता बोध मनुष्य का मनुष्य से, मनुष्य का प्रकृति से मनुष्य का ईश्वर से द्वैतभाव नहीं रखता है। हमारी सभ्यता अद्वैतबोध के आधार पर निर्मित है।

Konarak, the architectural marvel of India is also known as the Black Pagoda, Arka-kshetra, Padma Kshetra or most popularly the Sun temple of Odisha. This outstanding testimony is aptly praised by Rabindranath Tagore as “the language of stone surpassing the language of man”.

आज भारत में ही नहीं अपितु समूचे विश्व में प्रायः जो किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़ता की स्थिति उत्पन्न हुई है वह आचार्य वाचस्पति मिश्र जैसे पूर्वजों द्वारा स्थापित आदर्शों की अवहेलना का ही दुःखद परिणाम हैI आज की पीढ़ी अपनी परम्परा, अपनी संस्कृति एवं अपने परिवार से भी इतनी दूर होती जा रही है कि उसे अपना हित, इष्ट या मुख्य प्रयोजन भी यथार्थ रूप में न कोई समझ पा रहा है न ही कोई कोई समझा पाने की शसक्त भूमिका में स्वयं को समर्थ पा रहा हैI

प्राणायाम मन पर नियंत्रण, मानसिक स्थिरता शांति तथा एकाग्रता विकसित करने की पद्धति है। प्राणायाम से शारीरिक, मानसिक, बौद्धिक एवं आध्यात्मिक शक्ति का विकास करना संभव होता है।

Asana has an important place in exercise traditions as well as in spiritual traditions like classical Yoga, and there is a good deal of overlap between the two. Yet we should discriminate between these two levels of its usage. Hatha Yoga crosses over both these practices, having a connection to martial arts as well, but primarily uses asana mainly to prepare the body for meditation.

Dadhi Mathan, the childhood story of Keli Gopal (Sri Krisnā) is the only play based on one of the episodes from the Mahabharata. Bhari Gan is mainly performed as a part of the different traditional modes of worship and rituals and ceremonies of the Rabhas and the Garos. In a full-fledged occasion of such traditional worship such as Bhar Puja, both the Dadhi Mathan and a Ramayana-based play are performed.

The overall storyline of the Ramayana that used to be popular among the people of Meghalaya before the advent of a foreign religion into their land is very much the same as that of Valmiki Ramayana, the only difference being the names of the different characters and as well as the names of the places which have a local, regional touch.

The history of India that we read and memorize for our examinations is really a nightmarish account of India. But if Bharatavarsha is viewed with these passing frames of dreamlike scenes, smeared in red, overlaid on it, the real Bharatavarsha cannot be glimpsed. Amongst the civilizations of the world Bharatavarsha stands as an ideal of the endeavour to unify the diverse.

Identity is a concrete guide in life and a help at times of crisis, for it gives you the strength to stand on your two legs and to believe in yourself. It also builds up a national feeling; not the arrogant sense of superiority of the conqueror, but a legitimate pride in a long string of creditable achievements and generous contributions.

He was Lord Dattatreya, an Abadhuta, a great scholar and whose personality was enough to brighten up the whole surrounding but his mind was still innocent like a kid. He replied, – O Rajan, look at this entire creation! I am glad to tell you the way I have accepted and followed the characteristics and natures of different creations through my thorough observation and self-surrender!

Einstein was fond of saying: “A theory must not contradict empirical facts”. The Aryan invasion theory then clearly fails this basic test. It is now time to heed Einstein’s advice and take a look at the historical processes that led to the formation of this theory.

कई विद्वान यह कहते है कि आचार्य शंकर जगत के अस्तित्व को नहीं मानते किन्तु आचार्य इस जगत के अस्तित्व को नकारते नहीं है बल्कि इसे वे व्यवहारिक सत्ता की कोटि में रखते है क्योंकि जगत को नकारने का अर्थ होता कि उनका सारा उपदेश, भाष्य यहां तक की उनका सिद्धान्त भी व्यर्थ होता।

Apart from political agenda, do we ever think about the community’s engagement in knowing their origin and trying to preserve it for the next generation?  This paper is an attempt to incorporate heritage, economy, ecology, and culture, making sense for laypeople.

Sankara recognizes only the empirical reality of the external world and the individual souls. When the individual soul (Jiva) transcends its limitations (Upadhi) and realizes its identity with Brahman, it loses all senses of plurality.

Sankara’s test of truth is purely metaphysical. Sankara’s doctrine may be characterized as Absolute Idealism as contrasted with objective idealism, on the one hand, and
subjective idealism, on the other.

Though his creations are mainly poetic instead of philosophical treatises, he kept on growing up with a wide-ranging, constant and inventive worldview- full of references to the Upanishads pervading all of his thoughts, actions and engagement. In his entire life and comprehensive creations, that came up with universal human impulses, we see the inspiration from the sloka: “Satyam Jnaanam Anantam Brahma .

आदि शंकर के अनुसार धर्म सत्य तथा विजय की शक्ति हैI धर्म सुख का मूल है तथा धर्म के लोप से ही अधर्म का जन्म होता हैI क्योंकि दुःख का मूल कारन धर्म-विहीनता हैI संसार की सभी प्राचीन संस्कृतियाँ सुख की प्राप्ति हेतु स्वयम को धर्म से सम्बद्ध एवं समन्वित रखने का प्रयास करती हैंI

The Communist ecosystem functions under multiple layers, invisibly. This therefore gives them considerable protection from being attacked directly. In the …

A vicious cycle that it is, the Communist ecosystem promotes blind, irrational hatred not only against the establishment but also against one’s own fellow human beings and near and dear ones. Hence, 4GW has today emerged as a new tool of the Communist propaganda – the most subtle, yet the most deadly among them all.

The grand crowning ceremony has just ended. It was time for Keshava, to return home to Dwarka and board the chariot. However, at the last minute, Pundareekaksha’s lotus eyes were looking for someone from the crowd. There stood the mother of today’s champions and rulers, Kunti, among her kith and kins.

Lakshmikutty, a member of the Kani tribe, lives in a small, thatched hut in the forests of Kallar near Ponmudi, Thiruvananthapuram. Even at the age of 75, she ventures into the woods to collect herbs needed for treatment. Lakshmikutty Amma is an inspiration for the coming generation devoting her life to preserving traditional knowledge of medicine and natural healers.

Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic crisis can be expected from them alone. Since the roots of our trouble are so largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we call it that or not. We must rethink and refeel our nature and destiny (by: Lynn Townsend White Jr).

In today’s world, where everything is driven by money, we have few people who think much about them. We are celebrating Earth Day today. The theme for this year is Invest in Our Planet. Today will talk about a person who has devoted his life to restoring old traditions with the Indic traditional knowledge system and bringing change to the Adivasis of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh.

Pastoral Communities and Threats to their Animals

Today, we are launching an essay competition on India That is Bharat. Registrations are open !

सात अध्यायों वाली यह पुस्तक मुक्त इच्छा, इच्छा की अवचेतन उत्पत्ति,बदलते हुए विषय, ”चुनाव प्रयास,भावनाए” ,क्या सत्य हमारे लिए बुरा होगा ,नैतिक जिम्मेदारियाँ,राजनीति और निष्कर्ष नामक अध्यायों में बटी है|

जिसकी सहायता से किसी सिद्धान्त पर पहुँचा जा सके उसे न्याय कहते हैं-प्रमाणों के आधार पर किसी निर्णय पर पहुँचना ही न्याय है। यह मुख्य रूप से तर्कशास्त्र और ज्ञानमीमांसा है।

Hanuman Jayanti is observed on full moon day during Chaitra month to commemorate the birth of the Vanara God, Hanuman. The day is an occasion for Hindus to evoke the uncontrolled infinite devotion and daring deeds shown by the god.

Published by Veda Prakaasanam, Creepers of Compassion would make a great gift to both men and women who are interested in learning more about our Dharmashastras, spirituality, culture and traditions of Bharat. It is the culture of a land/community that is directly responsible for attaching meaning to their belief systems and practices.

Rāma surrounds, teaches, protects and pervades the entire life of a Hindu and at the end of his life its RāmaNāma that liberates him. So for a Hindu, Rāma is a very much a living reality, his God.

A dog has no need to know the definition of loyalty or a bicycler don’t need to know the physics behind motion, friction and all to ride one. Similarly our customs, habits and tradition they don’t have to offer any other justification if the society having no problems due to them.

Other communities believe that religion is only for the sake of God and the hereafter. To the Hindu, this world, the after-life, God, man, all beings, all worlds — everything is a concern of Dharma. Now, is there any universal, holy religion apart from this?

संस्कृति मूल्य-दृष्टि और मूल्य-निष्ठा होने केसाथ-साथ मूल्यों के अर्जित करने की प्रक्रिया भी हैI यह भारतीय परम्परा की मूल-दृष्टि हैI

In the face of these and numerous other challenges, it has now become all the more important to work towards the preservation of the traditional systems of religious beliefs and practices of different groups and communities of people in the North-East. It is also important to understand the fact that although influenced by various local elements, these practices and beliefs are not different from Sanatan Vedic practices.

Holi, for Hindus, is the time when we meet one another, play with colours, have fun, laugh, and most importantly, welcome the summer heat after the chilly winters. Holi in North-East India would perhaps remain incomplete without talking about the famous Doul Utsav festival of the culturally-rich Barpeta district in Assam.

The Sakta cult of Ma Durga is also widely prevalent in Manipur among different sections of the Meitei Hindus. The travelogues of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Huien Tsang in the 7th century A.D. have several references of Manipur in the context of the Kámárupá and Kámákhya.

The most well-known and controversial point which emerged from these surveys was an observation made by William Adam in his first report that there seemed to exist about 1,00,000 village schools in Bengal and Bihar around the 1830s.

“A Book which is eye-opner for those who think on the name of social equality and security they have achevied a lot with the help of so called “scientific knowledge”, has actually brought humanity at that juncture from where we have forgotten that we are human not mechnines.”

The Sheetala Ashtami is observed in India exactly eight days after the colorful festival of Holi. The name of the Goddess, bringing steadiness, freshness with happiness in life during deadly situations, derives its name from the Sanskrit root- “Sheetal” meaning cold and calm.

Illams of individual teachers, whose fame attracted students from far and near to stay for extended periods of time, was important in a society where knowledge was passed on from person to person

The title The Gray Lady Winked befuddles the reader leaving him intrigued and curious. Whereas the subtitle of the book ‘How The New York Times’ Misreporting, Distortions & Fabrications Radically Alter History’ is entirely self-explanatory and gives the crux of the book which braces up the reader to quest for truth.

A guru may not want to teach systematically, but he invariably wants to give his blessings (to his disciples and …

One lives not in a meaningless universe but in a world with sense and purpose. However, globalized markets have eroded many traditional forms of life; international chain stores have conquered the centers of communities; advertising now fills all corners of public space. Where local beauty is preserved, it is only as a quaint museum piece for globe-trotting tourists.

This is a hybrid variety of film which documents, yet dramatises it enough to make it a Melodrama – actually a Tragedy, yet with rays of hope trickling in.

The degree to which a symbol sacrifices its “private existence” varies, however, from case to case. An important distinction was based by some Indian philosophers on this fact. They distinguished between a symbol which is bodhaka or merely indicative, and a symbol which is Vachaka or expressive or connotative.

Presently, Tibet is under the illegal occupation of the People’s Republic of China and is without any United Nations’ representation. A full-fledged embassy status would help to take their peaceful freedom struggle to the next level.

Should we not also look forward, in a more appropriate modern way, and broaden our minds to make room for the knowledge that Indian and oriental traditions have just begun to contribute to our world?

Who are the real enemies responsible for creating instability and unrest in the North-East, especially the hill states, where a significant chunk of the population identifies itself as Christian? Will Bharat be ever able to defeat these forces detrimental to the security and the safety of her citizens?

Panpsychism has the potential to transform our relationship with the natural world. If panpsychism is true, the rain forest is teeming with consciousness.

Mahalasa is an important Shakti Devi and a very popular deity in Goa. The original shrine of this Goddess was at Verna in Salcate taluka. Mahalasa was one of the deities shifted to the Antruz Mahal in the wake of the reign of religious terror unleashed by Diego Fernandes, the Portuguese Captain of the Fort of Rachol that saw the demolition of over 280 Hindu temples in Salcete taluka in 1567.

Gender activism is not merely related to pride marches and rainbow flags. It has become a monster at whose altar truth, research, freedom and adolescent girls are being sacrificed while chanting politically correct pseudoscientific incantations.

The nine forms of contentment are considered to be four internals namely, Nature, Material Means, Time and Luck; and five externals due to abstinence from objects.

One of the most important questions that has remained unsettled is that of choosing between the military justice system and the civil courts for deciding the cases, due to which the debate on AFSPA keeps returning to the centre-stage of the conflict discourse in the North-East. Ignoring this question has done no good and only allowed the occurrence of incidents like the one in Oting village, adversely affecting the overall image of the Indian security forces.

To think that insurgency in North-East India can be dealt with by only repealing AFSPA, without tackling the twin menaces of narco-terrorism and arms smuggling is too naïve a supposition. It is common knowledge that illegal trade in narcotics and arms is extremely profitable, for it generates billions of dollars in the black market, which then becomes a major source of funding terrorism, insurgency and organised crime, having international ramifications.

In human beings, consciousness is a sophisticated thing, involving subtle and complex emotions, thoughts, and sensory experiences.

राईट कह रहे हैं कि बुद्धिज़्म में ध्यानियों की गहरी अनुभूतियाँ तथा हिन्दुओं के अद्वैत वेदांत के ध्यानियों की गहरी अनुभूतियाँ मूलतः एक ही हैंI इसमें अंतर यह हो सकता है कि एक में आत्म-बंधन का विलय कुछ नहीं में हो रहा है, दूसरे में आत्म-बंधन का विलय दूसरी चीजों के साथ एकरूपता में हो रहा हैI

When Ma Tin Aung Myo was four years old, she was walking with her father one day when she became very upset as an airplane flew overhead. After that, she cried every time a plane flew over, a behaviour she showed for a number of years. She also showed a strong identification as a male. When she was young, she played with boys, and in particular, she liked to pretend to be a soldier.

Postmodernism was particularly skeptical of science and other culturally dominant ways of legitimizing claims as “truths” and of the grand, sweeping explanations that supported them. It called them metanarratives, which it viewed as a kind of cultural mythology and a significant form of human myopia and arrogance.

The UK reported a 4,400 percent rise over the previous decade in teenage girls seeking gender treatments in 2018. In the same year more than 2600 scientists including 9 noble laureates signed a petition endorsing gender spectrum theory. In US 3 year old kids are being put on hormone therapy. Debra Soh in her book attempts to dispel some of these anti science woke myths.

Under the pressure of the Baptist missionaries led by Nehru’s blue-eyed boy, Mr. Verrier Elwin, the secular Congress Government at the Centre under Nehru accepted all the demands of these rebels.

It is a quite well-known fact that a majority of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cadres operate from Mandalay in Myanmar and Ruili in China, which is situated at the borders of Myanmar. The role of China, both overt and covert, in supporting the insurgent groups of North-East India, can no longer be downplayed.

What is that ‘I’ that remains when ‘me’ and ‘mine’ falls apart? If the ego is an illusion, who is the subject of this illusion? What insights the latest neuroscience of autism, schizophrenia, depersonalisaton and similar maladies offers to this nature of the self? Anil Ananthaswamy dives deep into these questions in his book.

Inter and intra-community rivalries were quite commonplace in the earlier times as well, before the advent of Christianity. But, the rise of Christianity gave a new texture to these conflicts that now became intertwined with a separatist mindset informed by the logic of ‘Who is superior to whom’?

In the thirteenth century, the Iron Pillar that originally stood at Vishnupadagiri, Udayagiri, was uprooted and placed in front of the Quwwatul-Islam mosque complex.

What function did the artist or craftsman fulfill in society, and in that other invisible part of the universe, which he was able to convey by his work to those around him and to posterity?

The real Goa is a true kaleidoscope of legends, colours, ancient customs and traditions, attires, cuisines, festivals, history, and heritage.

The Indian craftsman conceives of his art not as his own, nor as the accumulated skill of ages, but as originating in the divine skill of Visvakarma and revealed by him.

Through this annual review of 2021, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

Plato’s criterion of “wholesomeness” implies that nothing ought to be made, nothing can be really worth having, that is not at the same time correct or true or formal or beautiful (whichever word you prefer) and adapted to good use.

The Vice Chancellor of a Liberal Arts University had once asked me whether I had ‘benchmarked’ the Performing Arts School’s curriculum with current international practices as chair of the curriculum committee? The question actually was ‘Did you copy foreign university practices?’

India that is Bharat does not just crib and complain, it charts a path for the restoration of our subjectivity and cultural and civilizational agency.

In the varna Value system there is no low and high ‘caste’. Even Valmiki in his Ramayana declares that even a Shoodra is ‘Arya’. This not only demolishes the Aryan invasion/migration theory, but also demolishes a vertical hierarchy of varna as opposed to a horizontal classification.

For us Dharma is universal. It is not mandated by anybody. It is not history. It was not given out by somebody, a special person telling us, “Do not do this, do this. This should be done, and this should not be done.” Any given person did not give these kinds of mandates, in history, at a given time. Before the advent of that person also there were human beings; one cannot say that they did not have any matrix of value, dharma.

Necip Ünlütaşkiran, a boy from Turkey, was born with many birthmarks on his head, face and trunk. At the age of six, when he started speaking, he told his family about how he was repeatedly stabbed to death. Read on to know more about this fascinating case from an Islamic nation that was investigated and documented by Dr. Ian Stevenson.

In the pre-colonial Lushai society, it was a common practice amongst parents that upon giving birth to a baby boy, the said baby was usually blessed to be a ‘great hunter and warrior’.

The Pythagorean brotherhood involved a vow of secrecy which was sufficiently effective that much about their activities has remained shrouded in mystery. The exact nature, for example, of the cult which the brotherhood practiced is not known. It seems to have involved a special definition of Apollo along with familiar elements of Apollonian cult. Pythagoras himself, described in the tradition as a charismatic and mysterious teacher claiming special powers and dressing distinctively in a gold crown, a white robe, and trousers, seems to have claimed to be, or to have been designated as, the Hyperborean Apollo.

Pañcānga is popular even today among the Hindus. Hindu priests use it for predicting eclipses, defining time of various rituals, including marriage, casting horoscopes, and for solemn entrance into a house (grah-praveśa) or business.Hindu families commonly use Pañcānga to check the day of fasting, auspicious times for worshiping, and days of festivals.

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

Children are pawns in a competitive game in which the adults around them are trying to squeeze the highest possible scores out of them on standardized tests. Anything that increases performance short of outright cheating is considered “education” in this high-stakes game. Thus, drills that enhance short-term memory of information they will be tested on are considered legitimate education, even though such drills produce no increase at all in understanding.

It is my conviction that our children get nothing more in the high schools than a half-baked knowledge of English, besides a superficial knowledge of mathematics and history and geography some of which they had learnt in their own language in the primary classes.

Pakistan not only betrayed the author of this book – a professional army man by twice putting him behind bars, but the tribesmen were also badly let down by the wannabe Pakistani military establishment during the 1947 misadventure. 

Hoysaleshwara Temple is a 12th-century Shaivite temple and the largest monument in Halebidu, the former capital of the Hoysala Empire. It is unique for the richness, finesse and beauty of the carved friezes that adorn its exterior walls. There is no other equivalent of such an artistic achievement across the country and probably in the world.

What is consciousness? The phenomenon of consciousness eludes precise scientific definition. This excerpt from the book ‘demystifying Reincarnation’ by Shri Chaitanya Charan Das offers scientific and rational counters to materialist theories about consciousness.

Odisha is one place where Sanatana Dharma rituals are preserved in all its sanctity and simple beauty. 

Speech is known by the wise knowers of the Vedas to be made up of four parts. Three of these – Para, the Shabda-Brahman; Pasyanti, unformed language; and Madhyama, mental language – lie unmanifested in the depths of one’s being. It is only the fourth that people speak.     – Rig Veda, 1.164.45

There was no role of Gandhi is all these events and their repercussions. In fact, it was Sardar Vallabhai Patel who intervened in the navy rebellion and negotiated a settlement. Gandhi’s role was becoming more and more negligible.

In those days, the Dalit society was steeped in the darkness of illiteracy, poverty, exploitation, oppression, and the inferiority complex arising from all this. Moreover, it was so devoid of political consciousness that Dr. Ambedkar rightly called it the ‘Silent Hero’

The Indian conception of language differs in three ways from the Western: Language is speech, not writing (script);
Language is a cognitive system (not, primarily, a means of communication); and 
Language is a constructivist system (not a representational one).

Caste was so strong that all attempts at breaking it down, until recent years, have ended in failure.

For Dharampal, it was essential that Indians should have the self-assurance that their world-view was valuable, and that their contribution could perhaps influence world agendas.

‘This cat is one of my Gurus’, he said laughingly, ‘always lives in the present moment, is self reliant and completely in control of its mind’.

Governance and kingship in the Rājataraṅgiṇī are evaluated according to certain moral principles with which Kalhaṇa frames his composition.

An interesting buzzword circulating in the streets this week is propagated by so-called “star” scholars of top universities in the United States, hiding behind the smokescreen of ‘Academic Freedom’, pretending to be the victims and savior, while propagating well-orchestrated and impressively coordinated propaganda of Hindu-Hate.

Dharampal attempted to understand the multifarious ways in which the fabric of Indian society had been shattered, and more significantly, to highlight the often subtle and surreptitious means by which Indian minds had been colonised under the impact of British rule.

Platitudes such as ‘all religions are same’ or ‘all cultures are same’ signify nothing to me, due to the simple reason that they do not illustrate a concrete empirical reality.

The division of language based on its articulatory character is the division only of audible language. But the audible language is a very late development in evolution.

Dharampal’s research into the field of indigenous education was instigated by a statement made by Mahatma Gandhi during a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in 1931.

What is consciousness? The phenomenon of consciousness eludes precise scientific definition. Read this excerpt from the book ‘Demystifying Reincarnation’ by Shri Chaitanya Charan Das Ji to explore into questions of consciousness and identity. Watch this space for the second part of this excerpt.

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

One Christian soldier was obliged, in the course of military duty, to enter a temple to the old gods. As he went in, a drop of sacred water splashed onto his robe. Ostentatiously unable to bear it, he instantly slashed off that part of his cloak and flung it away.

Hinduism was saved in India only with the rise of Hindu political power through Vijayanagar empire, Marathas, Rajputs, Nayakas, Sikhs and other countless kingdoms and warriors

Regarding the atrocities committed by the Moplah jihadists in Malabar, the then Viceroy wrote: “The Moplah rioters committed horrific atrocities on Hindus for no reason. Their only crime was that they were infidels.

The Hebrews were the first to discover the meaning of history as the epiphany of God, and this conception, as we should expect, was taken up and amplified by Christianity.

The insistence of explaining everything in Veda through current science or to dismiss Bhakti as ‘emotiveness’ are born out of complete misunderstanding the difference between science, psychology, and divinity. Again, to dismiss everything that has no ‘scientific explanation’ is dogmatic.

Kavya-ki-atma, the essential element of a literary composition, is a concept that has been consistently evoked by all theorists.

There are almost no human settlements between Peo and Nako, just a lonely road that snakes through barren, jagged, craggy mountains.

Just as reading Tantric images through the lens of rasa unravels deeper aspects of visualization, engaging Tantric philosophy in the discourse on emotion allows us to explore the relation of the self and emotions and to address negative emotions in a proper light.

India has to act and take POK into its fold. This view has been expressed in no uncertain terms by many a Kashmiris.

An interesting feature of the temple is that the lamp inside the temple has been burning for the past 200 years! It consumes almost a litre of oil daily.

Saumya Dey debunks the theory of a “syncretic” Mughal Empire and shows that the Mughal empire was thoroughly Islamic in almost every sphere.

James, a boy born to educated American parents Andrea and Bruce Leininger, started having nightmares when he was two. He would scream in terror and would say, “Airplane crash, on fire, little man can’t get out.”

Dharampal initiated a process of delegitimising the master narrative of the rise of the west, in particular concerning the domains of science and technology.

So consumed was Dharampal by the desire to know every inch of this territory of the past, that day after day, despite many adversities (including lack of funds), he would commune 10 to 12 hours at a stretch with his archival treasures. The routine of his life was determined by the opening hours of the libraries and archives. His regular absence from the family home led my younger sister to state one day in kindergarten that her father was 100 years old, for he was a resident of the British Museum!

In an attempt to comprehend the immediate causes for the disoriented functioning of Indian state and society, Dharampal began examining the proceedings of the Indian Constituent Assembly (1946-1949). This investigation was published as a cogent monograph in 1962.

As a provocative Gandhian thinker with a creative and imaginative intellect, Shri Dharampal (19th February 1922 – 24th October 2006) engaged in extensive archival research in British and Indian archives which revolutionised our understanding of the cultural, scientific and technological achievements of India at the eve of the British conquest.

India’s civilization created some of the most extraordinary conceptual advances. These include a cosmos with many solar like systems, the earliest astronomy, geometry, number theory, the ten-digit number system, the idea of physical laws and invariance, the earliest formal system to describe a complex natural phenomenon (as in Pāṇini’s computer program-like grammar that was not rivaled for 2,500 years), a very subtle Yoga psychology, the idea of immunization in medicine, and above all a framework that includes consciousness.

This temple is one of many such lesser known temples built during the Hoysala era. It is a “live” temple and daily puja is offered here. However, because of its relative obscurity most people visiting this temple are devotees and one is unlikely to see an art or culture lover.

The typical Indic state was a ‘Dharmic realm’. It upheld a certain sacred outlook and deployed symbols that expressed the same.

Arab Sheikh Saud Bin Muhammed al Thani, cousin of the ruling emir of Qatar and one of the world’s biggest art purchasers, believes that he is the reincarnation of the late Hindu Maharaja, Yeshwant Rao Holkar II of Indore, India, also known as YRH. For Al-Thani, this idea is no casual fancy; it is a serious multi-million-dollar truth.

Join us on 9th July when Prof. Vishwa Adluri and Dr. Joydeep Bagchee will talk about the scholarship on the Mahabharata.

Tabo Monastery is considered to be the oldest continuously operating Buddhist monastery in India. It is often referred to as the Ajanta of the Himalayas, due to its wonderful wall frescos painted using vegetable and mineral colours.

Top bands of USA have serious allegations pending against them, yet leftist vultures who want to shred all our Sanatana systems to pieces, do not have the guts to call them out in their hypocritical statements all over the social media.

The connection between the outer and the inner cosmos is seen most strikingly in the use of the number 108 in Indian literary and artistic expression. It was known that this number is the approximate distance from Earth to the sun and the moon, in sun and moon diameters, respectively.

This was the Karmayoga of the Geeta seen in action. Something I have never forgotten!

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

Today, the attention of the Dalit movement is directed towards sharing seats in legislative assemblies, forging political partnerships, and getting reservation in jobs. How did a movement rooted in social justice get derailed. Read Devendra Swarup’s penetrating analysis to find out.

Reincarnation is sometimes thought of as a belief system peculiar to eastern religious traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism. The fact, however, is that the principle of reincarnation has enjoyed global intellectual appeal and widespread mass acceptance throughout most of known human history.

The beautiful Lakshmi Devi Temple, Doddagaddavalli is one of the oldest surviving Hoysala temples. It is another hidden gem about which not much is known.

A massive killing spree of post-poll violence was unleashed on the Hindus, on the evening of 2nd May 2021. When the party of Mamata Banerjee was declared the winner of the recent election, there began a massive terror of Hindu exodus of 100,000 Bengali Hindus fleeing to neighbouring states.

Sunita had gone with her grandmother to a neighbouring village, to attend a condolence meeting. She was playing with other children outside the house. When a certain woman came to the house and joined the condolence meeting, Sunita became frightened. She ran and clung to her grandmother saying, “She will kill me again.”

In this first part of her travelogue series, Shefali Vaidya narrates her experiences as she travels through Rishikesh.

Are deities connected to emotions ? Is the body and mind separate in Tantra? Read this fascinating excerpt from Sthaneshwar Timalsina’s book to learn about how Tantra transcends various dualities.

Most of our modern institutions seek to reinforce the standard order of things. This, Taleb, argues goes against our innate nature that craves randomness and uncertainty.

In this interesting piece, Dr Subroto Roy raises many questions about the authenticity of the work produced by European Indologists and argues that were driven by an agenda.

This is the third part of the travelogue series by Brigadier A.P.Singh on the beautiful temples of South India.

It was a very hot summer day when one of Anoop Singh’s aunts, who had come to visit them, remarked, “Today it is so hot that I would not like to be burned, even if I am dead.” Anoop Singh was playing nearby and said, “Nothing will happen to you if they burn you when you are dead.” His parents were surprised to hear this.

In this piece, Subroto Roy brings forth more evidence in support of the claim that the Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda are not a faithful reproduction of the original writings of the Swami.

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

We recognise Dr. Ambedkar as the towering Dalit leader. But few of us have heard about an equally important Dalit leader called M.C.Rajah. Read this insightful article to know about this great leader.

This is the second part of the travelogue series by Brigadier A.P. Singh in which he describes the temples of South India. This particular article is about the beautiful Chandramouleswara Temple of Arasikere

In this article, Dr. Subroto Roy examines the controversy over the alleged letter of Swami Vivekananda in which he is supposed to have praised Islam. But did the Swami ever write such a letter?

Is pluralism the same thing as moral or cultural relativism? This brilliant excerpt from Felipe Fernandez-Armesto’s book makes the case for why need to move away from religious dogmatism.

What is the meaning of experiencing rasa? Can rasa experience be classified only as a mental or aesthetic experience? Read this excerpt from Sthaneshwar Timalsina’s book to find out.

Are birthmarks and birth defects indicative of an injury in the previous life? How do we explain the injury to one physical body showing up in another physical body? In this excerpt from Dr. Jim Tucker’s book ‘Life before Life’, Dr. Tucker explains how fatal wounds from a past life can manifest as birthmarks or birth defects in the present life.

This is the first part of a travelogue series by Brigadier A.P. Singh in which he describes the wonderful architecture of the temples of South India

The Poona Pact is well known because of its association with the likes of Gandhiji and Dr. Ambedkar. But few of us know that there was a “Rajah–Moonje” pact prior to the Poona Pact. Read this fascinating piece to know more.

Does Consciousness continue after death? What does science say about reincarnation? Indic Varta takes you on a fascinating journey of a scientific exploration into the question of reincarnation through a series of excerpts of cases with past life memories from Dr. Jim Tucker’s book ‘Life before Life’.

Did Hindustani music result from a collaboration between Hindu and Muslim artists? Dr. Subroto Roy shatters many common misconceptions in this rare and insightful piece.

What is the origin of literary composition (Kavya) in the Indian tradition and what does it signify? How does Kavya encompass geographical variations? Read this interesting excerpt from Kapil Kapoor’s work to find out.

In this article, Yashowardhan Tiwari dwells upon the modus operandi of Western research in the fields of law and social sciences.

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

In this insightful article, Dr. Subroto Roy explains why Hindus need to be cautious about Sanatana Dharma being classified as another ‘ism’.

What is the conception of art in Indian tradition? Read this insightful excerpt from Kapil Kapoor’s work to find out.

This is an excerpt from Taleb’s best selling book – Antifragile – where he describes the meaning of true education through the example of his journey.

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Purnima Nath to the Steering Committee of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable in the United States.

In this curious world, the convergence between nations on different subject matters will facilitate the issue-based coalition. Priyanshu Mishra explains how this will evolve into a world where alliances will be loosened and partnerships will flourish with new trilateral formats.

Read this interesting prophecy of Historian Vincent Smith who believed that “Caste and Hinduism are integral, not separate, and it is impossible to destroy the caste system as long as Hindus want to remain Hindus. If caste has been alive for more than three thousand years, it is because it is beneficial to Hindus and has become a part of their nature.”

We often tend to assume that Shakti is represented by force alone but is there something deeper to the worship of Shakti. Sir John Woodroffe explains here.

In this article, Purnima Nath explains why Hindus have not been safe in their own land of India for over thousand years and why they need to rise now to defend their dharma.

Should Hindus be the guilty, the victims or the survivors, in interacting with the Wokes? Raghu Bhaskaran and Satish Verma explore these questions in this article.

Does Consciousness continue after death? What does science say about reincarnation? Indic Varta takes you on a fascinating journey of a scientific exploration into the question of reincarnation through a series of excerpts of cases of children with past life memories from Dr. Jim Tucker’s book ‘Life before Life’.

There were two fronts and two movements working simultaneously. They were closely interlinked. One was to separate the Sikhs from the Hindus. The other was the conversion of the Sikhs themselves into a single category of the Keshdhari Sikhs

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

While maintaining the existence of only Brahman in the absolute sense, Sankara posits that the experience of the world is not invalid at the time of that experience.

Physical properties in Sankhya are objective representations of the sensations. However, the abilities of the observers do not end with perceptual properties. Beyond these properties are the sensations, meanings in the mind, judgements of true or false in the intelligence, intentions in the ego, and morality in the moral sense.

To fulfil a certain need of the hour, Guru Govind Singh preached the gospel of the Khalsa, the pure of the elect. Those who joined his group passed though a ceremony known as Pahul, and to emphasize the martial nature of their new vocation, they were given the title of Singh or “Lion”. Thus began a sect which was not based on birth but which drew its recruits from those who were not Khalsa by birth. It was almost wholly manned by the Hindus.

This final article in the series by Alexander Solzhenitsyn reminds us of the need for vigilance and why it is crucial for the survival of Europe.

In yet another analytical piece, Saumya Dey deconstructs the meaning of narrative, a term that that we use often but understand little.

Due to predominantly Muslim names in the world of North Indian Art Music (NIAM), we have been convinced that the music has Arabic or Islamic roots. However, the Moghuls could convert the artistes, but failed to change what they sang and played as it required very high levels of understanding and cultural knowledge to do so.

In this article, P. Ram Manohar explains that Ayurveda is a trans-scientific system of knowledge that accepts but transcends the method of science.

In this article, P.Ram Manohar explains that Ayurvedic treatment is a carefully thought out design to skilfully control the opposing factors that work behind a disease so as to favorably influence the attempts to restore health and well-being.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn explains how the short sighted pragmatism of Europe resulted in a false morality due to lack of discrimination.

in this article, P. Ram Manohar explains the three pairs of terms used in the classical texts of Ayurveda and the three-tier structure of knowledge in Ayurveda.

In this article, P. Ram Manohar explains how Ayurvedic texts takes us on a journey from ignorance to wisdom and finally transcendence to a realm that is beyond all kinds of proof.

Should one place Nirad.C. Chaudhuri in the “Bengal renaissance” of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century? Read the second part of this wonderful series on one of India’s most popular writers of the modern era.

In this article, P.Ram Manohar explains how Ayurveda is a knowledge system that facilitates self-transformation and awakening of the consciousness.

How was Harappan civilisation different compared to other contemporary ancient civilisations of the world? Read on to know.

The western tradition believes that science and religion cannot get along. But what is the Vedic perspective to this debate? Read on to find out.

Read this brilliant analysis of the well known Indian writer Nirad.C.Chaudhuri who was equally admired and disliked by many of his contemporaries.

How is the Hindu concept of creation and divinity different from that in Abrahamic religions? Daniel J.Boorstin provides a lucid and concise answer.

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

In this article, Rekha Rao explains why Indra is regarded as the supreme deity in the Rigveda. Read this fascinating story of one of the most celebrated gods in the Hindu pantheon.

Does the ubiquitous fashion of tolerance and moral relativism induce us to overlook obvious moral wrongs? Sam Harris dwells upon this question here.

What are the limitations of using a western academic lens in understanding India’s political scenario ? Read this brilliant analysis by Raghu Bhaskaran to find out.

Did Britain and the allies turn a blind eye to the horrific state of human rights in communist Soviet Union? Read this excerpt from one of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s essays to find out.

The Centre for Policy Studies had published a reprint of Dharampal’s major works. Read this wonderful introduction to this new edition.

In the second part of this article, Devendra Swaroop takes us on a journey to the origins of our constitution. What were its original aims and how did it come to be introduced in India?

Is Sarasvati only a river? How is it described in the vedic literature? Read this excerpt from Michel Danino’s work to know more.

Read this fascinating account of a scientist’s exploration into reincarnation. Do we really need any more proof about reincarnation?

How did Sikhism come to be seen as a separate religion? Was it due to the political interests of the British rulers in India? Read on to know.

This article from Devendra Swaroop takes us on a journey to the origins of our constitution. What were its original aims and how did it come to be introduced in India?

We often tend to study nature from our perspective but what if we reverse the gaze. We then discover that we cannot define ourselves as biological individuals. What then are we? Read on to find out.

Lack of awareness about gender differences disadvantages both girls and boys. Acknowledging innate tendencies and gender differences in men and women can help dismantle gender stereotypes. How? Read this excerpt from Leonard Sax’s book.

Male and female brains are different from the moments of conception. It is common sense that all the cells in a man’s brain and body are male. Read this impeccably researched book by Louann Brizendine.

Why is it that people in the West are blind to the truth of Communist societies? Is there a sense of denial and whence does it stem from? Read on to know more.

Did Sikh Gurus repudiate Hindu scriptures? Was Sikhism fashioned out of a conflict with the Hindu pantheon? In this article, Ram Swarup Ji answers these doubts and shatters many myths.

Baring your skin is not a badge of sexual liberation. The corollary – that female immodesty is a sign of liberation- is deceptive. Read this excerpt from Leonard Sax’s book, Girls on the edge

In this letter, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continuous engagement with Indic Varta.

Did the Sikh gurus fashion a new religion as is often claimed? In this excerpt from Ram Swarup’s work, we learn that Sikh teachings were rooted in Hindu scriptures.

More than 99 percent of male and female genetic coding is exactly the same. Out of the thirty thousand genes in the human genome, less than one percent variation is small. But that percentage difference influences every single cell in our bodies. Read this wonderful book by Louann Brizendine to know more.

Why did the British create the census and why did they enumerate castes in the census? Did they really want to gather sociological data or did they have other intentions? Read this brilliant piece to find out.

We often tend to believe that communists detest any form of violence because we see them raising their voices for “peace”. But is it really so? Red on to find out.

When you feel angry, are you ‘really’ angry? Is your emotion a reaction to the environment? Read this excerpt from Lisa Feldman Barrett’s bestselling book to help answer these questions.

What is the inner ritual and how does it involve fire? the story of Nachiketa gives us an answer. Read on to find out.

Since Hindus have historically worshipped different deities over a vast span of time and space, one wonders whether Hinduism has changed over time or not.

What is unique ans special about mothers? Can motherly love and emotion be replaced? Read this brilliant excerpt from Robert Sapolsky’s book to find out.

We often rely on the myth that Vedic ‘Aryans’ invaded the Indus Valley? But archaeological finds suggest that the inhabitants of Indus-Sarasvati civilisation followed the Vedic religion. Read on to find out.

What is the symbolic meaning of three nights that Nachiketa spent in fasting? Read this insightful piece to find out.

The Bhagavad Gita for Millennials by Bibek Debroy (2020) isn’t just yet another translation of the Gita, as per Jatayu. Read this interesting review to know more.

Did the British succeed in dividing Indian society in their bid to abolish caste? Why did they resort to the policy of “divide and rule”? Read this brilliant article to find out.

Why do some gods appear to have devilish qualities? And why should a being who has such qualities be called a god? And why should he have so much hold? Read on to find out.

Today, it is fashionable and virtuous for us to stand for blacks, gays and women. But in doing so, are we creating more social problems than we expect to solve? Read this brilliant book by Douglas Murray to find out.

We have all seen the double standards of tech companies on political and social pertinent issues. This hypocrisy is brilliantly captured in this excerpt from Douglas Murray’s latest book titled The Madness of Crowds/

In this extract from his classic work, M.Hiriyanna explains that Indian philosophical tradition is not restricted to intellectual and moral teachings. Rather, it includes and transcends them.

A frighteningly large number of non-Muslims claim that they have got nothing to do with Islamic terrorism and that is why they neither want to listen anything about it, or to do anything with it. But in this article, Khalid Umar argues that it is an existential imperative for every non-Muslim to fight Islamic Terrorism.

This extract from M.Hirayanna’s classic work elaborates on the relation between reason and revelation as described in Indian philosophical traditions.

British officials conveniently blamed the Brahmin soldiers for instigating the mutiny of 1857. But in doing so, they were faced with an even bigger predicament.

A letter to the Hindus who are dangerously “generous” and choose to live in a world of their fantasies which is more than ideal and their ‘well wishers’:

Madrassas are just claimed to Islamic religious schools. And in a country which goes by ‘sarva-dharma-samabhava’ they are thought to be harmless schools where love and peace is taught. But Khalid Umar in this brief article tells us the true purpose of Madrassas, which is to churn out terrorists.

In this article Khalid Umar tells us what Islamic terrorism is; how it has been destroying peace and harmony of the world for hundreds of years and particularly recently. He is also telling us what we can learn from France’s response to Islamic terrorism.

It is often claimed that Islam as a religion is as spiritual in orientation as Hinduism is. The ‘evidence’ given is almost always – Sufism. It is said that if Hinduism had divine or spiritual philosophy then Islam too did. Khalid Umar in this short article analyzes some common myths about Sufism.

What is the relationship between religion and culture. A secular state claims to not touch religion and let it flourish and yet can religion survive at all without culture? Does the same apply on Hindu dharma.

In this article Khalid Umar challenges some common adulatory and hagiographic myths about the Mughals. He says that contrary to what leftist peddlers say, the Mughals did not build cities but destroy those which were already flourishing. This becomes evident from the evidence of the travelers who traveled India during the Mughal rule. The Mughals were also Islamic fanatics who destroyed Hindu temples to create Islamic monuments.

A culture is known by its festivals. Festivals are not just celebrations or parties. They are rhythm or pulses of a culture and society. To celebrate them is to keep your culture alive. Smarak Prasad Sahoo expands on this in this beautiful article.

In this short article, Khalid Umar analyzes the claim that the Mughals made India far richer, culturally and financially, as claimed by various leftist historians. He concludes that this was not the case and the Mughals changed India for the worse in so many ways.

In this article Smarak Prasad Sahoo discusses negationism in India and what was the role of Jawahar Lal Nehru in it. He tells us how our first Prime Minister lied to his citizens and how he lay the foundation stone of academic distortion of Indian history.

Life evolves, enriching Earth to make up Nature, and why we must maintain eternal obligation towards Earth and Nature. What plays out in this interaction of the living and non-living was the merging of the amazing cycles of living and non-living components of Nature, as cycles of Living Nature got aligned with the preexisting pre-Life cycles of Earth. In this article, we shall discover these amazingly beautiful cycles, periodicities and rhythms of Earth and Nature (which Vaidiks normatively call ṚTA). We shall also study habitats and biodiversity.

It is true that there is no doctrinal animosity between Sikhism and Hinduism. But the Hindus cannot extend unilateral peace to any group without getting respect and peace in return. According to Shri Ram Swarup, when the Hindus tell the Sikhs “You have been our defenders”, it earns contempt in the present psychology because self-despisement and inferiority complex is the surest way of losing a friend or even a brother. It also gives the Sikhs an exaggerated sense of self-assessment.

Centre for Indic Studies (CIS) invites applications for the position of Research Associate.

Ever since Gandhi touted ahimsa as the primary goal of Hindu dharma, a lot of Hindus have taken it to be the overwhelming and overpowering value to be followed. However, looking at the history of Sanatana Dharma and its core values it is not its defining value. Smarak Prasad Sahoo in this article defines the take of Hindu dharma on violence in light of these values.

In this concluding part of the series, read about how the indigenous system of education was fiscally kept afloat and what were the other social mechanism which kept it alive.

The Hindu Temple is a unique institution. In India the institution of the temple was developed to a limit where it became the primary carrier of Hindu culture and civilization. Just how important it is, is discussed in this article.

In this article, the author discusses the other features of the indigenous education system. For in India, the formal schools were not the only way to educate the youth. Many parallel ways of education were working on.

In this article, Probal Roy Chowdhury discusses what was the condition of the institutions of higher education was when the British came to rule India.

In this article, Smarak Prasad Sahoo discusses about the famed heart of Islam, or the heart of Muslims. We often hear about we have to appeal to the inner goodness of Islam. Whether that is possible for us to approach or not is discussed by the author in this article.

Building upon the data and the tables that were discussed in the previous article, this article discusses the state of education as it was in Madras Presidency when the British started ruling it.

In the past two decades a concerted effort has been made by a group of compromised self-proclaimed historians like Rana Safvi and Ramachandra Guha to prove that everything good in India was brought to it by the Muslims and particularly the Mughals. One of the primary claims is that Mughal India was ‘rich’. Historian Saumya Dey in this brilliant article analyzes whether even this claim was true or not.

This article discusses the data of various schools in the Madras presidency and analyzes what education was in the schools and what it meant for the boys and girls who studied there.

In this brief article, Smarak Prasad Sahoo tells us how our institutions like media, which is considered an important pillar of a free society is actually working against the national and Hindu interests.

Every year for the past decade and more a systematic campaign is run by NGOs, Green Tribunals and intellectuals to NOT burst firecrackers on Diwali. This din against firecrackers increased over years until governments started banning them until this year more than 11 states made a complete blanket ban on firecrackers on Diwali. This is nothing but a case of ethnocide, a concerted attempt at the absolute destruction of a culture. Here is a report.

The greatest of the myths about ancient Indian education system in India is that Brahmins had such a completely monopoly on every kind of education that almost all other jatis and varnas were illiterate. Dharampal in his seminal study of the 19th century education system broke this myth. Dr. Probal Roy Chowdhury in this article discusses the respective number of students that studied from a particular community.

The number of Indians who studied before the modern age was much higher than that number in Europe. Even more than that in a survey in Madras Presidency during 1822-55 it was found that the number of those who were instructed at homes was nearly five times the number of those who were instructed in the schools. This article looks into these figures.

Contrary to what people believe in a survey in Madras Presidency during 1822-55 it was found that there were 11,575 schools in the Madras Presidency with 1,57,195 students studying in them; the reports of the collectors of various districts also noted that there were in all 1,094 ‘colleges’ or centres of higher learning with 5,431 students studying in them. An important feature that emerged from the survey data was the wide-spread extent of the indigenous system of education, as evidenced by the number of boys who were undergoing instruction.

The Jews indeed wandered about for many centuries in the Near East, from the time when Abraham and his clan left Ur, c1900 BC (if all this is historically true; opinions are divided for and against); until they finally settled in Judea; so their scriptures tell us. (But note here that Ur in Mesopotamia had literary for 1000 years earlier, so the Jews Probably have had it also.) Not so the RV; in the hymns there is not even a hint of this hypothetical travel and its (mis-) adventures. We can therefore forget this empty argument.

In this article, Probal Roy Chowdhury introduces the idea of The Beautiful Tree which was used as a metaphor for Indian education system by Gandhi and then picked up by Shri Dharampal.

Cultural self-alienation of Hindus is one of the major challenges faced by Hindu society which must be overcome if it is to win the civilisational war and ensure its survival. Most of the present day Hindus have got completely detached from their roots.

When Sanskrit appeared in the hymns of the RV, it was already a fully developed and highly complex language – but one already suffering attritions and changes (i.e. devolving to simpler forms). Ancient Egyptian too appeared more or less suddenly c 3000 B.C. as a fully developed language = it too having recognizable roots (Gardiner 1957; Watterson 1993)…..It is therefore difficult to see how or why languages started with animal hisses, grunts and warbles, then became very complex media of thought and communication and then, despite literacy which should have preserved the older forms more easily, they devolved into much simpler forms.

When the urge for unity is spiritual, the theology of One God is no bar and the seeker reaches a position no different from Advaita, from ekam sat. He realizes that God alone is, and not that there is only One God. But if the motive for unity is merely intellectual, it helps little, spiritually speaking. God remains an outward being and does not become the truth of the Spirit. It does not even help to reduce the number of Gods; instead it multiplies the number of Devils – if Christianity is any guide in the matter.

Social awareness has always been a part of many Hindu festivals, especially the Public (Sarvajanik/ Sarbojanin) Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja celebrations. The actual problem with the current distorted discourse and perverted imagery lies elsewhere. In this short piece Shri Jataayu explains the controversy behind unorthodox depictions of the Goddess every year in Durga Puja.

Who is Durga? What are her attributes? Nithin Sridhar in this short piece analyzes Hindu scriptures that sing about the Great Goddess and tells us who Durga is.

The Hindus do not call their Gods either ‘One’ or ‘Many’. According to them, what they worship is One Reality, Ekam Sat, which is differently named. This Reality is everywhere, in everything, in everything. It is One and Many at the same time and it also transcends them both. Everything is an expression, a play, an image, an echo of this Reality.

इस्लाम द्वारा हाँकी जाने वाली एकेश्वरवाद की डींग को ही ले लीजिए। यह एक बहुत ही बीभत्स विचार है। यह एक आध्यात्मिक विचार बिल्कुल नहीं है। इस विचार के अनुसार ईश्वर सृष्टि से बाहर है और सृष्टि में कुछ भी ऐसा नहीं जिसमें ईश्वरीयता का समावेश हो। यह एक मनगढ़न्त मीमांसा है, केवल बुद्धि की उछल-कूद है। फिर भी हम बहुत दिन से यह सिद्ध करने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं कि हम भी एकेश्वरवादी हैं। एकेश्वरवाद के इस ढकोसले को बुद्धि की डींग समझ कर एक ओर ढकेलने के लिए यह आवश्यक है कि हम सनातन धर्म को हृदयंगम करें और इस्लाम के मतवाद को जानें।

हिन्दू संस्कृति ही भारतवर्ष की राष्ट्रीय संस्कृति है। सनातन धर्म की यह संस्कृति एक विराट तथा बहुमुखी संस्कृति है। किन्तु साथ ही साथ यह एक ऐसी संस्कृति है जो मानवजाति के लिए स्वभाव-सुलभ है। इस संस्कृति में ऐसा कुछ भी नहीं जिसे कृत्रिम कहा जा सके, जिसका निर्माण मनुष्य के बाह्य मानस द्वारा हुआ हो, और जिसको ईसाइयत, इस्लाम तथा कम्युनिज्म की संस्कृतियों की नाईं बलात् लादा गया हो। अतएव ऐसी प्रत्येक संस्कृति को जो हिन्दू संस्कृति के अनुकूल न हो, जो सनातन धर्म की संस्कृति के साथ मेल न खाती हो, भारतवर्ष से भागना पड़ेगा।

Secularism is a western notion that historically arose in response to European problems. It is not only alien to Indian society, it is highly unsuitable as it completely ignores Indian ethos that are rooted in the notion of ‘dharma’ (duty/righteousness). Hence, the secularization of Indian life and society that has been carried out in the last many decades has resulted in disastrous consequences. One such area where secularization has distorted the issue and has caused enormous damage is ecology and environment.

यह लेख सीता राम जी द्वारा दिए गए एक भाषण का तीसरा भाग है| इसमें श्री सीता राम जी कहते हैं कि सेकुलरवाद को भारत में केवल हिन्दू समाज पर थोपा जाता है| यह समझाते हुए वे कहते हैं कि सेकुलरवाद का जन्म इसाइयत की पृष्ठभूमि में हुआ और उसका भारत के समाज में और हिन्दू धर्म के बीच कोई औचित्य नहीं है| इस विचारधारा को यहाँ पर थोपा कैसे हमारी सामाजिक व्यवस्था को ठेस पहुंचाता है इसको जानने के लिए पढ़िए|

इस लेख में श्री सीता राम गोएल कहते हैं कि भारतवर्ष का इतिहास वस्तुतः हिन्दू समाज का इतिहास है, हिन्दू संस्कृति का इतिहास है, हिन्दू अध्यात्म-साधना का इतिहास है। वह इतिहास बाह्य आक्रमणकारियों का इतिहास बिल्कुल नहीं है, जैसा कि हमें आजकल पढ़ाया जा रहा है।

सीता राम जी इस भाषण में बंगाल की स्थिति का विवरण दे रहे हैं जो कि उसके साम्यवाद को अपनाने के बाद हो गयी है| यह भाषण अब प्रकाशन में नहीं है परन्तु बहुत ही महत्त्वपूर्ण है और इंडिक वार्ता पर इसका प्रकाशन श्रंखला में होगा| श्रंखला में पांच लेखों की कड़ी होगी|

In this article, Sittun Swayam Prakash explains how Catherine Nixey has told the story of the destruction of the pagan polytheistic world by ascendant Christianity in the early first millennium. It is a heart breaking story of how ancient Greece was destroyed, its philosophers killed, its temples desecrated and its books burned.

In this personal experience cum sociological study, Saumya Dey explains how the real subalterns of India actually love India, its culture and heritage, and how the ‘professors’ who claim to speak for them are spinning yarns out of thin air, with no connection to reality. These professors like Gayatri Spivak represent no one, least of all subalterns.

यह लेख वरिष्ठ इतिहासकार सीता राम गोएल की पुस्तक ‘Perversion of India’s Political Parlance’ के अनुवाद का पहला भाग है| इस लेख में श्री सीता राम जी जे. पी. के संघ के साथ पहली भेंट का वर्णन कर रहे हैं| यह पूरी पुस्तक लेखों की एक श्रंखला में प्रस्तुत की जायेगी Indic Varta पर| पढ़ते रहें|

This is the second excerpt from Heather MacDonald’s book Are Cops Racist? In this part, the author further reveals the true character of rioters and their criminal histories, thereby shattering the myth that rioters and protestors are arbitrarily targeted by the police because of their race.

In this excerpt from Heather MacDonald’s book Are Cops Racist, the author challenges the widely prevalent notion that civil protests and riots in America are rooted in racial discrimination. The author’s investigations into the Cincinnati case reveal how criminals were painted as victims of racial abuse by social activists.

In this beautiful excerpt, Shri Anirvan expresses what the month of Asadh really means in Sanatana culture and Indian civilization. While in the West the season is also celebrated it is mainly celebrated for its physical pleasure. In India the season is not just romantic, it means much more. It intends to take one to the spiritual heights, taking benefit of the natural rhythm of the season.

This article analyzes the consequences of letting the liberals drive the narrative. In the light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. and in other Western countries, the article discusses how the political ideology of liberalism is more intolerant than its opponents. What is most dangerous is the fact that it seeks to erase history and rewrite it through its own ideological lens.

A disbeliever or Kafir is not simply ‘atheist’ having no belief in ‘God’. After all, there will be hardly any religion in the world which does not prescribe a belief in the God in one form or another. An atheist is obviously a Kafir. But anyone having faith in any god but Allah is also a Kafir. Moreover, if one believes in Allah in tandem with any other god or idol is still is Kafir.

Janak Pandya, a voracious reader and a budding scholar recommends seven must read books on geopolitics, to understand India’s place in the world.

This article by Mangesh Joshi delves into the life of Madanlal Dhingra, a freedom fighter and a martyr who set the path for many more freedom fighters who came after him. Read this inspiring tale.

In this concluding part of series on the effect of sentimental romanticism on human society, Theodore Dalrymple tells us that the romantic and sentimental view of the most important aspects of human existence are therefore intimately connected to the violence and brutality of daily life, which has almost certainly worsened in Britain over the last sixty years, notwithstanding the immense improvements in levels of physical comfort and well-being. This is an excerpt of the book ‘Spoilt Rotten – The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality’.

Liberals and Seculars often claim that Muslims are the victims in India. Their claims are never backed by any evidence. In this article at Indic Varta, Dr. Shankar Sharan proves that the language that Islamic leaders in India use, is a language of power, and not a language of victims.

In this beautiful piece full of personal experience, traditional wisdom and overflowing bhakti, the author here tells us how to visit a temple? What bhava shall one take to a temple, while having darshan of the deity? He discusses how people often misapply great principles and thus fail to get the most out of a temple visit. Read this riveting and deeply imploring piece to know, how to visit a temple.

In this article, Sreejit Datta analyzes the age-old dilemma: whether to seek self-realization or to engage whole-heartedly in the welfare of the society or those who are in need? Some term exclusive efforts for self-realization as selfish. Datta analyzes Mokshashastras and comes to the conclusion that there is really no dichotomy between the two.

The Indian cosmology, with its expansive notion of the equivalence between the outer and inner, produced many original ideas. Imaginative …

In this article, Purnima Nath explains how India is also facing terror plots and designs to destabilize it along with fighting Corona Virus pandemic. She details all the nuances in the complex situation.

I ultimately found the answer to the mystery of these numbers while researching early astronomy. I discovered that the Indians correctly estimated this to be the distance between the Earth and the in Sun-diameter units, and the distance between the Earth and the Moon in Moon-diameter units.

In this beautiful piece, Srinath Mohandas explains the response of Krsna to Arjuna’s plight. He analyzes three perspectives to Arjuna’s reaction to the ongoing war. The one by Sanjaya, the one by Arjuna himself and the most important of all by none other than Krsna. He analyzes these perspectives to glean some wisdom for us in these times.

This is a brief book review of the world famous work Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. The reviewer Jataayu B’luru throws light on some of the most salient aspects of the book, telling us that the book is different from others in the sense that it does not stop at human history and goes long back into evolutionary and geological history too. He also points out the mis-information of the author regarding India and Indian history.

In this article at Indic Varta, Dr. Shankar Sharan argues how the concept of ‘othering’ works in Islam and how the concept of Kaffir is expanded to include ‘lesser Muslims’ in a country where no non-Muslims are left. He explains how fundamentalist Islam can bring ruin to a country, sending it back to medieval ages.

The triumph of the romantic view of education was doubly disastrous because it coincided with the triumph of the romantic view of human relations, especially family relations. This view goes something like this: the object of human life being happiness, and the fact that many marriages are unhappy being patent and obvious; it is time to found human relationships not upon such extraneous and unromantic bases as social obligation, financial interest, and duty, but upon nothing other than love, affection and inclination. All attempts at stability founded upon anything but love, affection and inclination are inherently oppressive and therefore ought to be discounted. Once relations — especially those between the sexes — were founded upon love alone, the full beauty of the human personality, hitherto obscured by clouds of duty, convention, social shame and the like, would emerge, as a shimmering dragonfly in the summer. This is an excerpt from ‘Spoilt Rotten – The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality’.

पश्चिम में ही नहीं, भारत में भी, तंत्र के बारे में बहुत सी भ्रांतियाँ फैली हुई हैं| उनमें से सबसे बड़ी यह है कि इसमें कई प्रकार की दुष क्रियाएं होती है और इसका सम्बन्ध केवल उन्मुक्त काम से ही है| रजनीश मिश्र हमें बताते हैं कि तंत्र वास्तव में है क्या और इसका सम्बन्ध योग ध्यान आदि से क्या है| वे हमें यह भी बताते है कि तंत्र के सम्बन्ध में प्रमुख भ्रांतियाँ क्या क्या है और ऐसी भ्रांतियाँ क्यों फैलीं

In this brief article, Nithin Sridhar reflects upon the particulars of Hindu identity. India is vying for world leadership in 21st century but without deciding the identity of the Hindu this quest won’t be very fruitful.

Which is better? The living or the historical temple? The living institution or the historical structure? In this article, Pankaj Saxena discusses the possible attitudes that we can take about maintaining our heritage. It is both a reservoir of our history and also a living institution. How to treat the Hindu Temple will also be telling about how the Hindus are going to treat their heritage and culture in general.

In this article, Ankit Sharma discusses how the famous European mystic Gurdijeff instituted the 24 hours rule and how it can help us in managing a lot of our problems, worldly as well as spiritual.

In this article, Dr. Probal Roy Chowdhury introduces the major works of Dharampal and discusses what he contributed to Indian historiography. He was one of the pioneers of modern Indian history, particularly the history of Indian education and educational institutions.

In this excerpt, Dalrymple analyzes how the sentimental view of education has ruined the entire system. He quotes Steven Pinker and his influence over British education in the past few years. He tells us how even right ideas can wreak havoc if implemented in wrong domains and with wrong intent. What he gives us is a view of sentimental moralising. This is an excerpt from the book ‘Spoilt Rotten! – The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality’.

आगम उपदिष्ट हैं – अर्थात शिव और पार्वती के संवाद के रूप में हैं| काव्य के ग्रंथों में आचार्य अभिनव गुप्त ने जब सहृदय की परिभाषा दी अपनी टीका में, तो इसी को हृदय संवाद कहा| अर्थात शिव और पार्वती का संवाद कोई दो व्यक्तियों के बीच का संवाद नहीं है| यह संवाद है हृदय का| हृदय का ही एक पक्ष प्रश्न करता है| दूसरा उसको समझता है, उत्तर देता है| इस तरह का एक एकत्व का संवाद है यह|

In this brief but hard hitting article at Indic Varta, Dr. Shankar Sharan asks a very pertinent question: Why do Muslims attack Dargahs? Answering that they do this because Dargahs are considered a Hindu contamination of Shia Muslims who are considered as kaffirs by the Sunnis, he says that this should frighten and wake up the non-Muslims of the world to the reality of radical Islam.

In this second part of the series on brief snippets out of the reservoirs of Ultimate Knowledge in India, author Ankit Sharma explains a meeting between U. G. Krishnamurti and Shri Ramana Maharshi. He gives us a window into an event which might have influenced the life of U. G. K. more than the world realizes it did.

This article talks about how the food corporate with ‘rational logic’ and arguments about ‘saving time’ destroyed home cooking in the West. The obvious goal was to promote food processing industry and destroy the culture of eating whole foods, even at home. Michael Pollan calls for cooking at home again, from whole foods in order to defeat the food corporate and its designs on human culture. This is an excerpt from ‘Cooked’.

इस लेख में डॉ. रजनीश मिश्र ने तंत्र की अवधारणा को समझाने का प्रयत्न किया है| वे बताते हैं कि तंत्र एक साधना पद्धति है और ज्ञान के उपार्जन की एक पद्धति है| तंत्र और आगम कैसे सभी प्रान्तों और काल खण्डों में प्रचलित रहे हैं यह भी हमें इस लेख से पता चलता है|

In this article, Theodore Dalrymple the cultural critic discusses how the romantic ideas penetrated or rather invaded educational institutions in the late 19th and early 20th century and how they destroyed the traditional education system which was effective than its substitution. This is an excerpt from ‘Spoilt Rotten – The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality’.

In this article, Satish Verma recommends five books to understand the dominant ‘-isms’ of today’s intellectual climate, like feminism, Marxism, post-modernism etc. These books are important to understand how the minds of these ideologues work. And this understanding is necessary to defend Dharma against the many threats that it faces today.

In this short brilliant piece, Saumya Dey analyzes the phenomenon of ‘wokeness’ from a deep perspective. He delves into the reasons of why would someone be attracted to the agenda of the ‘woke’ generation; why would they hate the tradition as much as they do? And what results from such woke activism. He also analyzes the roles of the ideological demagogues in misleading the youth into ‘wokeness’.

With the recent Armin Navabi controversy where he insulted Goddess Kali by depicting her in a ‘sexy’ avatar, Nithin Sridhar tells us what the real meaning of symbolism behind Kali depiction is.

Padma Shri 2020 winner, Dr. Meenakshi Jain, recommends the following essential books on Indian history. Dr. Meenakshi Jain is India’s finest historians who is currently working to bring out in the open the truth about many important aspects of Indian history. Her works on Sati and Ayodhya are recognized as fundamental works all over the world.

In this fourth installment of the ongoing series, Michael Pollan tells us how the cook connects Nature with human Culture. He tells us how cooking is a form of achievable alchemy in which inedible and tasteless food is suddenly transformed into something tasty, healthy and edible. This is an excerpt from the book ‘Cooked’.

इस लेख माला के पहले लेख में डॉ. रजनीश मिश्र तुलना करते हैं तीन महान संस्कृतियों की और यह बताते हैं कि भारतीय संस्कृति की विशेषता क्या है और क्यों उसे एक ज्ञान संस्कृति के रूप में ही सदैव देखा जाता रहा है। इसके पश्चात वो आगम और निगम ग्रंथों की संक्षिप्त परिभाषा देते हुए परा और अपरा विद्याओं के बारे में बताते हैं। यह लेख माला तंत्र पर है और इस लेख में एक पृष्ठभूमि देकर लेखक आगे तंत्र के बारे में विस्तार करेंगे।

In this piece, Satish Verma explores a forgotten episode of modern Indian history. He tells us how S. Radhakrishnan once found himself in the middle of a great controversy – of plagiarizing texts on Indian philosophy.

In this article, Michael Pollan discusses how there are basically four ways of cooking: grilling with fire, cooking with liquid, baking bread, and fermenting all sorts of things. And how they are based on four basic elements: fire, water, air and earth. It is with basically these four techniques that the world cooks its food. This is an excerpt from the book ‘Cooked’ by Michael Pollan.

The Book I would pass to my children would contain no sermons, no shoulds and oughts. Genuine love comes from knowledge, not from a sense of duty or guilt. How would you like to be an invalid mother with a daughter who can’t marry because she feels she ought to look after you, and therefore hates you? My wish would be to tell, not how things ought to be, but how they are, and how and why we ignore them as they are. You cannot teach an ego to be anything but egotistic, even though egos have the subtlest ways of pretending to be reformed. The basic thing is therefore to dispel, by experiment and experience, the illusion of oneself as a separate ego. The consequences may not be behavior along the lines of conventional morality.

At India’s independence, the level of literacy in India was very low. Notwithstanding the arguments which consider oral education to be as good as literate culture for the moment, there has to be some reason for this poor state of education in India. India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with one of the first literate cultures. How did things come to this? In this article, Dr. Probal Ray Chowdhury tells us what Gandhi thought about indigenous education system of India.

In this beautiful reimagining of an episode of the life of Buddha, Ankit Sharma stresses the instruction of Buddha for the common man – about how to follow the Middle Path.

In this article, Dr. Shankar Sharan analyzes the incompatibility of fundamentalist Islamic ideas with modern institutions and modern world. He tells us how a fundamentalist Islamic society is prone to human suffering of every kind. It not only spreads violence in other societies, but becomes a victim of its own violence. He also gives us solutions about this problem.

We do not directly observe the matter and energy in the world outside our bodies and our measuring instruments. External matter and energy are only observed through the representations of information that our instruments have received. In this sense, information is more fundamental than matter and energy. In its turn, information depends on something further still. In order to represent anything, information depends upon a comparison of represented conditioning. Thus, beneath the information through which the world appears to us, there is a fourth element: of relative conditioning.

The Palghar Lynching of Hindu Sadhus has shaken the conscience of many Hindus. The case is still not clear. The area is known for violent Christian missionary activity, and the NGO which is trying to arrange for the release of the accused in the case has ties to the Church. Moreover, the recent mysterious death of the VHP assigned lawyer to the Hindu side, Digvijay Trivedi in an ‘accident’ during the lockdown makes the case even murkier. This article discusses how the Church routinely fills tribals’ hearts with hatred of everything Hindu.

In this article, Pankaj Saxena discusses seven most exquisite vigrahas of Ganesha, all across the country, through six states and seven temples. The article also discusses the history of these temples and places.

In this brief foray into the history of food corporate in the West, Michael Pollan analyzes how the decline in cooking in America was not a natural phenomenon as often touted by experts. It was actively encouraged by the food corporate which stood of benefit maximally from decline in cooking. He tells us the story of how America handed over its food independence to industry, increasing many illnesses and imbalances in society. If we don’t take heed this might happen to India too. This is the excerpt from the introduction of the book ‘Cooked’.

In this beautiful personal story of living sustainably, this homeschooling family stopped using various industrial products because they did not want to produce any waste which they couldn’t get rid of by burning. In this quest they created a beautiful, if sometimes hard life for themselves. They created a life which was not only sustainable but may become the only viable life after the crisis of COVID19 is over.

While preservation is a long-term agenda and a continuous process that cannot be ignored, what is immediate and a matter of our survival is the protection of our civilization by countering and nullifying the challenges being posed by inimical forces of Adharma.

In this short essay, Khalid Umar argues that it is the fault of Nehruvian Congress that Baluchistan is today a province of Pakistan. Based on a claim by Baluch historian Hakim Baluch he claims that the Khan of Kalat had offered to accede to India but India declined. India also was not interested in an independent Baluchistan. Though the major Congress leaders denied this, but Hakim Baluch claims that AIR did air the news that the Khan wanted to accede to India. Umar argues a roadmap for future too in this very interesting essay.

Some Indian historians say that the frequent rioting of Indian Muslims are leading India towards another Partition, calling it an unfinished agendas of the Muslim League, which lives on as IUML in Kerala but also in the attitude of radical Islamists all over India.

The Hindu, ever since losing political power to the Muslims in medieval times, has been eking out the existence of a second class citizen in his own country. With the internet it seems he could finally find his voice. But the Hinduphobic censorship of the Hindu voice continues and Hindu accounts are banned all the time. This is a story of how the Hindu adapts.

In this searing piece, Satish Verma analyzes the life and work of Mother Teresa, on her birth anniversary. Tracing her life’s work through two important publications he shows that more than anything else, Mother Teresa was a soul vulture whose primary goal was to convert Hindus to Christianity and it was in her and church’s benefit that India shall always be portrayed as a poor hellhole.

Bhartṛhari propounds a cosmological thesis. The whole universe (or we should say the linguistic universe), consisting of two different types of things, the vācyas, bits and pieces of the constructed world to which language refers, and the linguistic expressions, the vācaka (signifier), has evolved out of one principle called the Word-Essence, śabda-tattva, the Eternal Verbum, śabda-brahman, the ever-exceeding consciousness of the sentient. We may discount this point as a theological or metaphysical bias, but there may be an important truth implicit in it here. Our perceived world is also an interpreted world. And this interpretation is invariably in terms of some language or other. Interpretation is ‘languageing’. Bhartṛhari believes that both language and the ‘world’ it purports to refer to (and this ‘world’ by his own explicit admission may or may not coincide with the external, actual world) form an indivisible, unitary whole.

It is evident from the missionaries debates that the caste system is neither the main reason for the religious conversion of lower castes, nor is it responsible for their backwardness. Today, if the support of reservation is needed to uplift the lower castes who converted to Christianity hundreds of years ago, then the Church must accept its failure and free these people from the shackles of Christianity.

In this article, Dr. Shan