Author: Durga Prasad Dash

questioning is the key

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com धृतराष्ट्र उवाच धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः। मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय।। dhritaraashtra uvaacha dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah / maamakaah paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya // Dhritarastra said : Assembled in Kurukhetra - the field of dharma, determined to fight it out, what did Pandu’s sons and mine do, O Sanjay? Bhagavad Gita //1:1// … Continue reading questioning is the key →

Panchatantra – world’s oldest written tale

A couple of years back I had suffered mitrabheda- there was some misunderstanding with a friend and we parted ways. It was somewhat compensated by the mitralabha or the gain of friends that happened due to the flurry of online activities during the lockdown last year. What added to the Corona woes were skirmishes with … Continue reading Panchatantra – world’s oldest written tale →

ones and zeroes

In fourteenth century AD a Keralite mathematician and astronomer wrote about the infinite series. He is known as the Madhava of Sangamagrama to avoid confusion with other Madhavacharyas. In seventeenth century Issac Newton and Wilhelm Leibnitz also discovered the series. However for a long time Newton and Leibnitz continued to take credit for the discovery. … Continue reading ones and zeroes →

The Language of Gods

नृत्तावसाने नटराजराजो ननाद ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम्। उद्धर्तुकामः सनकादिसिद्धान् एतद्विमर्शे शिवसूत्रजालम् ॥ In response to the desire of Sanaka and other perfected ones, after the dance had subsided the emperor of Natas played his damaru fourteen times and henceforth originated the strings of Shivasutras. So the story goes that Sanat Kumara and other perfected beings (Siddhas) went … Continue reading The Language of Gods →

Kamasutra of Sage Vatsyayana

The difficulty of writing a post about Kamasutra is that there is so much free material already floating in cyberspace. With about 12000 verses Charaka Samhita may have 12 times more content than Kamasutra. But the wikipedia page of Kamasutra is definitely much more elaborate than Charaka Samhita. So sex being still a taboo, we … Continue reading Kamasutra of Sage Vatsyayana →

Interpretation of Indic texts

Knowing Sanskrit definitely helps in understanding the essence of Indic Texts. Even partial knowledge of Sanskrit may help to at least have a sense as to whether the commentator has interpreted correctly. Western scholars who are interested in Sanskrit texts usually learn Sanskrit. Unfortunately, this is not so with many Indian intellectuals even though it … Continue reading Interpretation of Indic texts →