Self styled liberal authors and film makers do frequently misrepresent Indian traditions. In the Tamil movie Dashavatara, which has nothing to do with the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the film makers show Shaivites and Vaishnavites engaged in violent clashes. It is now widely known that Isalmic Invaders and rulers desecrated and destroyed thousands of … Continue reading Tarka Shastras and the culture of the argumentative Indian
Category: Books
The Stuti Genre of Sanskrit Literature
Stuti is a musical composition in praise of a particular form of the divine. Sometime it includes the prayer element, sometimes not. The nearest word for it is hymn. Of course for the compositions of the post vedic periods, the word hymn is rarely is used since hymn has an ancient connotation to it being … Continue reading The Stuti Genre of Sanskrit Literature
Ritusamhara – there used to be six seasons, my love
प्रचण्डसूर्यः स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः सूखावगाह क्षतवारिसञ्चयः। दिनान्तरम्योऽभुय्पशान्तमन्मथो निदाघकालोऽयम् उपागतः प्रिये ।। The sun is furious, but the moon is cool. Bathing is pleasant, but ponds are shrinking. Day-ends are charming, but the Cupid stirs no more. Cruel summer has set in, my love. (Ritusamhara 1:1) random image collected from internet (supposedly the cover of a You tube … Continue reading Ritusamhara – there used to be six seasons, my love
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
Narada Bhakti Sutras
I will take this opportunity to talk about the Bhakti genre of literature as well as the sutra form of Indic texts. Bhakti literature flourished in the middle ages. The poet saints of that era wrote odes to particular form of deities. Those who were devotees of Lord Krishna wrote songs in praise of lord … Continue reading Narada Bhakti Sutras
Mricchakatikam – the cart of clay
Mricchakatikam, the Sanskrit play of the fifth century AD written by Sudraka, has all the element of a Bollywood blockbuster. It is unfortunate that the movies made on this paly in Hindi and other languages did not become so. Hindi movie Utsav was made on this play and it starred Rekha, Sekhar Suman, and Amzad … Continue reading Mricchakatikam – the cart of clay
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
Jyotisha – the lord of light
For the earth, the stars and the planets are the natural and large scale sources of light. The amount of natural lights we get impacts all the living beings on earth in terms of health and mood. On closer examination we find that some activities are best suited for morning, some for midday, some for … Continue reading Jyotisha – the lord of light
