Four women icons from India’s Dharmic tradition
Women’s day is a day of celebration of womanhood and of showing respect, love and appreciation towards all women. Western feminism has had its own trajectory, in its efforts to be free from Christian misogyny, along with the Biblical exhortation that “woman shall not have authority over man.” Even the feminism arising from Western modernity More...
Yaska’s Nirukta and his reflections on language
“The person, who is able to recite the Vedas, but does not understand its meaning is like a post (sthaanu), or a mere load-bearer (bhaarahaara); but he who understands the meaning will attain all good here and More...
Fallacies of Proto-Indo-European-2
[contextly_sidebar id=”znLPOzk6zsyqVpU4fdfjwwDZqX1YGJmS”] In a previous paper, I presented several general fallacies regarding Proto-Indo-European. In this I continue with more specific ones relating More...
The Great Night of Lord Shiva
Shivaratri is unambiguously the most prominent and significant of spiritual festivals for all who worship Shiva and Shakti. Every year on the 14th tithi during the Krshna Paksha of the month of Magha or the month More...
Catching Glimpses of Mahadeva
For years, Amarnath had a special pull over me. The allure of that remote cave in the snowy depths of Kashmir was irresistible. But obstacle after obstacle kept me from my destination – either the route was More...
Reflections On Geetarthasangraha Of Abhinavagupta
This paper was presented at the National Seminar to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Acharya Abhinavagupta conducted at Kalakshetra, Chennai on January 24-25, 2017, organized jointly by Indira Gandhi National More...
Want to fly with the meaning of Sanskrit verses? Grammar is the key
भज गोविन्दं भज गोविन्दं गोविन्दं भज मूढमते | संप्राप्ते सन्निहिते काले न हि न हि More...
Marathas & Bengal: Chhatrapati Shivaji as a national hero
“Ek dharmarajyapase khanda chinna bikshipta bharat Bandhe Dibo Ami” I will unite the various states of India under one dharma — from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem Shivaji Utsav Cries of “Bande Mataram” More...
From World’s Education Capital to Depths of Illiteracy – Part III
[contextly_sidebar id=”ATgqup0t7M9Ck8j9WpIITQrW0MiX26SM”] Deathly blow to Indian universities Imagine a group of horsemen riding into the campus of a world-famous university, mowing down students and More...
Hierarchy In Nature – Order In Dharma
“Power” is considered an ability, the exercise of which can influence or control behaviour, in our context, of people. The term “authority” is often used for power perceived as legitimate by the social More...