There is no historical evidence that a man called Chanakya ever lived during Mauryan times. What we have is a story based on later Buddhist & Jain chronicles & Sanskrit plays like Mudra-rakshasa, all imagined after 500 AD... Read more... newindianexpress.com/magazin…

If a minister's son is an American citizen, can he be a minister of Bharat Mata? Isn't there conflict of interest? पुत्र मोह is a very dangerous thing ... Veda warns us about this.

Sanatanis fought Buddhists and Jains and were forced to become vegetarians. Sanatanis fought Mughals and were forced to wear kurta-pyjama of the Turks. 1/2

Thailand is an Asian country that did not get colonised. It has many temples dedicated to Thai-versions of Hindu gods including Ganesha, Indra. It is also is first Asian state to accept same-sex marriage. 🌈 It also never had Brahmins or "pure" vegetarians controlling them.

Instead of promoting the archeological sites of Tamil Nadu that push back date of the Iron Age, it seems “pure” vegetarians are trying to promote Gujarat as the cradle of Bharat… 1/3

Meaning and significance of Pran Prathishta

There is a caste system amongst babas.... 1. "Real" Babas = speak English and appeal to Brahmin Urban audience 2. "Fake" Babas = do not speak English, appeal to rural folk, "lower" castes.

Sanatanis fought British and were forced to speak English to get jobs in USA. Tell this to all English-speaking Kurta-wearing vegetarian Sanatani. 2/2

Ram, the King Without Ambition In the epic Ramayana, Ram encounters a peculiar demon in the forest. His name is Kabandha. Kabandha stretches his two long arms and grabs Ram and his brother and then draws them close to his mouth. That is when Ram notices that the demon has no separate head; it has merged with his stomach. In other words, he sees for his stomach, his hears for his stomach, and he thinks for his stomach. His existence is all about eating. There is no other thought. No other purpose. This is a great metaphor for Capitalism, and Socialism – the great economic philosophies that shape our societies today. Take a look at the ambitious billionaires of the world today. They have more wealth than anyone else in the world, but they still want more, pursuing relentless growth. In interviews they appear motivated, driven, hungry, and they glamourise their discontentment. This is because modern society sees endless ambition, like relentless growth, as a virtue, rather than a pathology. Ambition makes sense when you do not have enough to pay your bills. But what about when you have a surplus of seventy generations? At what point does one say – I have enough. Modern society says contentment is a pathology – it is equated with complacency in business schools and business world. Everyone, poor and rich, is expected to keep running – on the treadmill, in the office, on the smartphone, accessible even on vacation, chasing the next goal, the next target, the next vision. Only the lazy rest. The rest of stay productive. Cheerleaders of Ambition When Ram kills Kabandha and burns his body, there emerges out of Kabandha a celestial being who thanks Ram for saving him from a curse that trapped him in hunger. The affluent in our society are trapped in hunger because no one has given them permission to be satisfied and be at peace. There is no Ram to end the curse. Saffron-clad celibate monks are of no use. They have succumbed to the role of playing Kabandha’s cheerleaders, gently enabling their rich clients to chase more, grab more, hoard more, eat more, guilt-free. Their manicured hermitages, spas, satsangs and vegetarian canteens offer a break so they can return to the hunt afresh. Buddha said 2500 years ago that desire is the cause of suffering. The word he used was thirst, not desire. As long as we thirst for something, we will be miserable. All anxiety, all depression, all rage and jealousy come from wanting. If you have nothing, it makes sense to want something. But what if you have everything, more than everyone, what then? Are you Communist? If you talk about contentment, the Capitalist will accuse you of being a Socialist, a Communist, a Left-leaning activist. But Socialism also nurtures Kabandha. Here, the elite are the food, their privilege has to be consumed by the poor, since the rich have cornered all the food. Naturally, the idea of Socialism terrifies the rich and the successful. They feel punished, violated, hunted, as the state becomes the tax-grabbing hunter. In Capitalism, the rich are Kabandha, feeding on the poor. In Socialism, the poor become Kabandha, demanding the right to feed on the rich. The oppressed aspires to be oppressor, even justifies it through reasoned debate. Everyone wants to eat; no one wants to be eaten. Socialism makes Capitalists feel like victims. Capitalism makes Socialists feel like victims. Everyone feels like a victim. Curse of Hunger And what do you do when you are afraid? You hoard more, you consume more. You realise this when you meet the rich and famous and powerful people. Their hunger is palpable. It is in their eyes, their lolling tongue, the dripping saliva – seeking productivity, the next success, the next billion, the next triumph. Instead of fearing them, pitying them, liberating them from the curse, we are told to feed them, by being the food they want us to be – more productive in their ventures, more attentive of their glamour, carving more of the goods and services they offer. But the rich are also terrified. They see the world full of Kabanda – people who want to steal their wealth, their fame, their glamour, their fortune, their power. No one lets them eat in peace. Those who they eat are just demons demanding the right to eat. They need to be disciplined, controlled, and contained. Capitalism and Socialism are all about the stomach, and not about the head. So a simple idea escapes its proponents: that more food simply amplifies hunger. Kabandha will never be satiated until Ram ends the curse. Who is Ram? Ram is the content king – the tapasvi raja, who feeds, rather than eats, as he always has enough. Ramayan is the story of a king without ambition. Not a complacent or lazy king, but a compassionate king – sensitive to other people’s hunger. Some like Kabandha want the curse to end. Others like Ravana passionately argue – like a Vedic debater – the need for ambition, and war, even as they inhabit a city of gold. Published November 11, 2023 in Economic Times devdutt.com/ambition-makes-s…

Hindu temples like Thai temples once belonged to all. Brahmins came and created borders of purity and pollution.

Brahmins who rejected Ram One of the codes for feminism in India is to decry Ram, hero of the Ramayana, for abandoning his pregnant wife in the forest. Likewise, one of the codes for atheism, secularism and liberalism is to decry the same Ram for beheading Shambuka, the ‘low’ caste hermit for abandoning his caste duties. But, did you know that at one time you could prove that you are a ‘principled’ brahmin by rejecting Ram? In the epic, Ram kills Ravana, who is son of a brahmin named Vaishrava, of the Paulatsya clan, descending from Brahma himself. This makes Ravana a brahmin; and so killing Ravana was brahma-hatya, the brahmin-murder, a terrible crime, as bad as go-hatya, or killing of cows, in sacred code books known as dharma-shastras. Ram had to do penance to wash away the stigma of brahma-hatya-paap before he sat on the throne of Ayodhya. Many pilgrim spots in India, such as Rameshwaram in the south and Rishikesh in the North, are associated with the penance of Ram. This did not satisfy many brahmins of Ayodhya who chose to leave Ayodhya and live across the River Sarayu. These are the Sarayupaareen brahmins, or ‘the brahmins who chose to live on the other side of the Sarayu River’. An opposite version of this tale exists. Many brahmins in Ayodhya refused to perform the rituals that would cleanse Ram of brahma-hatya-paap. Those brahmins who did agree to do the cleansing ritual were excommunicated and it is they who became the Sarayupareen brahmins. We can never be sure which version is accurate, or older. Either way, this caste lore (jati-puran), reveals a split in the brahmin community in the matter of Ram’s brahma-hatya-paap. It reveals the deep caste rules in India. What is amazing in Hindu mythology is that despite granting brahmins all manner of protection, God repeatedly kills brahmins: Ram kills Ravana, Krishna oversees the killing of Drona, Shiva beheads Daksha and Brahma. This seems counter-intuitive until we appreciate the difference between the idea of ‘brahman’ in Vedas, and the brahmin caste that prevails society. Brahmins are supposed to spread knowledge of the Vedic idea of brahman. This role grants them many privileges, including protection from harm, especially since in societies that preferred oral to written tradition, brahmins were walking libraries and killing them was equal to burning a library. Killing of brahmins by God takes place whenever the brahmin takes advantage of his birth but does not display the wisdom expected of one with the privilege of Vedic knowledge. Shiva is cleansed of brahma-hatya-paap in Kashi, which is why Kashi is such a popular pilgrim spot, but he remains a defiant god, choosing crematoriums to the sacrificial halls of brahmins. While the Vedic scriptures became more about rituals and priests, the post-Vedic Puranic and Agamic and bhakti literature, went out of their way to draw attention to the real secret of the Veda: the formless soul located within all forms, that is common to all. Yes, nature is diverse, and culture hierarchical, but we must not forget that they are myriad manifestations of the same divine seed, the ‘brahman’, also known as atma. Brahmins who neither transmit this knowledge nor display this wisdom have no claim over dharma privileges. Published on 17th September, 2017, in Mid-day. devdutt.com/brahmins-who-rej…

When today’s young people laugh about their body count on dating apps, they are perhaps unknowingly reviving an older cultural comfort with sexuality. Read more: Body count: Then and now

Raghunathji of Jammu Raghunathji of Kullu Ram of Bhadrachalam Kala Ram of Nashik (never alone, never lonely, always with family) 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Link: epaper.indiatimes.com/englis…

Chanakya is a fantasy figure … so he never grows old or looks happy in any fan art… but Devdutt is a real person so this photo is 10 years old. He looks different now. History is not fantasy. Read more... newindianexpress.com/magazin…

Do your duty, even God does not give guarantees. - Bhagavad Gita paraphrased.

Symbols of Gudi Padwa

Why 14 Years of Exile? There are two big mysteries in Hindu mythology. One, why does Kaikai ask Ram to be exiled only for 14 years? Two, why does Duryodhan demand that the Pandavas be exiled only for 13 years? Why did Kaikai not ask for Ram’s permanent exile? Or why did Duryodhan not ask for the permanent exile of the Pandavas? Why was the exile in the Ramayana and Mahabharata for a fixed tenure and not permanent? The answer may lie in the idea that, in Indian thought, nothing can be permanent. The only thing that has permanence is the soul or the atma. Everything else is transitory. A clue to this are the stories from the Puranas. In the Puranas, asuras keep invoking Brahma. They then ask him for immortality. Brahma refuses to give this to them. So, the asuras try to outwit death itself. They ask boons that make it impossible for anyone to kill them. For example, Andhakasur can only be killed if he falls in love with his own mother. Mahisha demands that he should not be killed by any male creature on Earth. Tadaka asks that he cannot be killed by a single adult, not considering babies as a threat. Ravana asks that he cannot be killed by any god or beast, not thinking humans will be a threat. If one pays attention, all these boons leave loopholes. These loopholes enable the devas to kill the asuras. In the Manusmriti, we are told that we cannot be young forever. We cannot be householders forever. We cannot be students forever. Thus, life is divided into the ashram system. The first quarter of one’s life, one is a student. In the second quarter, one is the householder. Then, we retire and finally we walk away into the forest and prepare for death. Nothing is permanent. In ancient times, nobody was given permanent rights to land. The land belonged only to god. This meant one could not claim ownership over the land. One only had the right to harvest it. Kings also controlled courtiers by giving them only temporary rights over the harvest of a piece of land during one lifetime. It was never given in perpetuity to the family. In time, from around 500 CE, kings gave away land to their courtiers, rather than a temporary harvest grant during the lifetime of the person. This was recorded as various land grants that were carved in stone and metal sheets, where symbol of sun and moon was used to indicate rights for eternity. This is when the feudal system rises in India, as land starts belonging to people permanently. And when land starts belonging to people permanently we see the rise of feudal order. There is also the rise of the caste system. So began the unravelling of Indian civilisation. The whole idea that land is on lease and one is just a tenant on it and nothing belongs to anybody is a theme which is very powerfully repeated in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Kings are merely caretakers of the land, not permanent owners. So no one can exile anyone permanently. Everything should have an expiry date. Published on 2nd January, 2022, in Mid-day. devdutt.com/why-14-years-of-…

A little bit of history of Ayutthaya in Thailand

The Ganga river basin contains 50 per cent of India’s electorate. So the only Ramayana that really matters to Hindutva politicians is the 16th century Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Tulsidas written in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi. There are, however, several hundred Ramayanas beyond the Hindi belt, composed in the last 2,000 years, that deserve equal respect. Here is a sampling of over a dozen retellings, with their dramatic variations, of Valmiki’s ancient tale. Read More... indianexpress.com/article/op…

In the 21st century, we need to have a progressive view of religion. Rather than focussing on cosmetic aspects like costume, and diet. Religion is not about keeping the body pure, it is about enabling the mind to be more loving and generous. Read More ... mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

Significance of Gudi Padwa

Have you heard the real Gita?

How to visit an abandoned archeological site, a 1000 year old HariHara temple at Osian, Rajasthan

... no one bothers with Mundas who came from Vietnam over 4000 years ago with new forms of rice, sugarcane, betel leaf, bamboo. We only want to be older than Aryans who came 3500 years ago... Gujarat or Haryana not Tamil Nadu or Tripura or Odisha. 2/3

Why is there tension between Raja and Acharya over Mandir? A thought....

Is this regionalism a kind of Breaking Bharat using archeology? We must not indulge that. 3/3

ECI has been sending me message after message to do MY DUTY... Can Indian citizens beg them to do THEIR DUTY? Or is that tamasik?

Ahimsa as per "purest" people in India = Don't kill animals. = Kill forests, rivers and mountains (its painless 🙄) = Break poor people's illegal homes = Ignore rich people's illegal palaces = Pollution with plastic and petrol is not violence

SOROS feeds Left USAID feeds Right Everybody is eating.

Why did Ram go into exile? According to the Jain Ramayana

Every Indian is born into a caste and a religion. But you cannot leave caste. You can only leave religion. This makes the doctrine of caste an antagonist of the doctrine of conversion. Read more at: Caste as the opposite of conversion deccanherald.com/opinion/cas… via @deccanherald

Indians have always privileged the guru's testimony over the scientific method. Today, this has been amplified - as saffron-clad monks are being given greater value by the media than a data-driven peer-reviewed scholar. Even courts are stepping in to block the voices of people who speak in favour of science, accusing them of defaming traditional and alternative medical practices ecoti.in/Fged8Y

The Lingayat community today insists it is a separate religion. This demand has upset those who seek to unite Hinduism under a single umbrella by referring to it as ‘sanatan dharma’. Read more ... Is Lingayat a caste or a religion? newindianexpress.com/columns…

For thousands of years "pure" vegetarians have ABUSED women as "impure" because they menstruate. Brahmins claim Veda tells them this. Veda doesn’t. Brahmin fantasy is not fact. devdutt.com/scanners-for-men…

The story of Sudama devdutt.com/dharma-focuses-o… Once upon a time, there were two friends in a school. They were the best of friends and they promised to share everything with each other. After they graduated, one became rich and one remained poor. The poor friend went to the rich friend and asked for help. The way the friend behaved led to two endings. In one retelling of this story, the poor friend reminds the rich friend of their childhood friendship and demands help, in the name of this friendship. The rich friend mocks his poor friend and says that there cannot be friendship between unequals, and so, the poor one cannot demand help, but he can beg for help and get alms. This makes the poor friend so angry that he decides to take revenge. The story results in the Mahabharata war. The poor friend being Dronacharya and the rich friend being Drupada. A similar retelling with another ending is found in the Bhagavata. Here, when the poor friend enters the rich friend’s house, he comes bearing gifts. He starves himself for three days and saves the rice and gives it to his friend. Without being told, the rich friend realises the poverty of his childhood friend and, without being asked, gives him a lot of wealth. Here, the rich friend is Krishna and the poor friend is Sudama and it is the story of bhakti and love that we are always taught. Clearly, these stories depict that if you don’t help poor people and humiliate them, there is war and crisis in society. If you help poor friends and poor people, there is happiness in society. But the story is not so simplistic. We are told that Sudama starved himself for three days and gives his three portions of rice to Krishna. This is all that Sudama has. Sudama is giving Krishna three fistfuls of rice: knowingly or unknowingly, this is his investment in a friend. Krishna reciprocates to the kindness, by also giving Sudama ‘all that he has’ in ‘three measures’. We can argue that Krishna has to repay the debt resulting from receiving a gift. Else he will be trapped in debt. Krishna eats two fistfuls. However, just as he is about to eat the third fistful, his wife catches hold of his hand and says, “Leave some for us.” His wives tell him not to give three measures but two. In essence, he could give two in reciprocity, which more than makes up for his debt, but must keep one for himself. Thus, we see prudence being brought in this story of kindness. Through such stories, Indians were taught about commerce, debt, exchange, reciprocity, empathy and return on investment. You give in order to get. You cannot get something without giving something. To demand something as your right, as in the case of Dronacharya, leads to rage and violence. Exchange and commerce is more egalitarian while demanding/granting rights has something feudal about it. Social justice, and justice, is a western discourse: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, equal distribution of God’s gifts, are the mythic themes that influence western, and now global, politics. Dharma, however, focuses less on the idea of justice and more on the idea of empathy. The strong must help the meek. Everyone has the potential to feed another. Things have to be given voluntarily, without being prodded, rather than asked or demanded. Great kings give of their wealth freely. This is not charity – this is investment for the future. Because hungry people are angry people who will attack and destroy what we have. Those who are fed are happy people who will collaborate.

How the Aryan Invasion idea is twisted by people who wish to deny it....... they mock the first, ignore the second, and deny the third.

Eating vegetarian food may have many rational reasons—from non-violence to being environmentally friendly. But in India, vegetarian food is all about caste, which is why vegetarian restaurants refer to themselves as ‘pure’ vegetarian, even though they serve animal protein in the form of milk, curds, butter and ghee. When this is pointed out, one is told milk is produced non-violently. By that logic, egg should also be served in these restaurants but Vaishanva organisations, famous for serving mid-day meals across India, refuse to serve eggs to the poor and the needy who have no such food fetish. Read more ... Uniting Hindus with pure food newindianexpress.com/magazin…

Ramayana for Atheists....

'My mother always gave me money to buy books': Author Devdutt Pattanaik theweek.in/theweek/cover/202…

They will tell you Brahmins were priests and philosophers but never that they served as clerks and accountants in the courts of most Muslim rulers of India. HISTORY they will STILL not teach after changing TEXTBOOKS. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…

newslaundry.com/2023/09/08/d… 😆 Rahul Kanwal had declared that Pattanaik’s comments were pre-recorded, but the show’s format made it seem like a live debate......As Sanyal spoke, Pattanaik’s visuals remained on the screen next to Kanwal, creating an illusion of his presence.

As per "pure" vegetarians - you can be an American citizen, and still be 100% Hindu so 100% Indian. This is clear sign of protein deficiency.

In a Marathi folk retelling, we learn how Draupadi secretly loves Karna despite having five husbands. She is shamed by society, but Krishna comes to her rescue. He asks everyone to eat the Jambul (Java/Malabar plum) fruit. If tongues turn purple, it indicates everyone has something to hide. Everyone lives in a golden closet, hiding desires that cannot be publicly displayed. Read more ...That golden closet: Everyone believes you must be happy, wise and nice ecoti.in/NMWjmY

In Ramayana, there are two Vedic scholars, experts in Sanskrit. The first is Ravana, son of a Brahmin migrant, leader of forest-guardians (raksha-sa), king of the island-kingdom of Lanka, who separates Sita from Rama. The second is Hanuman, forest-dweller (vana-nara), who serves the monkey-king, and helps unite Sita and Rama. The poet-sage Valmiki carefully presented these characters to communicate a point. Knowledge of Sanskrit, or Veda, is not enough to make you wise. Having a Brahmin father does not make you wise. Read more ...Recognising Hanuman deccanherald.com/opinion/rec…

The non-violent Ram: Stories from the Jain tradition – and how they differ from the Hindu canon Followers of Hindutva believe that Jainism is just a branch of Hinduism, despite the fact that it is deemed a minority religion in India’s Constitution. They often use the phrase Sanatan Dharma as an umbrella term to include both faiths. While there are no doubt many things that are common between Jain and Hindu belief systems, there are also many things that differentiate them. The Jains also do not subscribe to the idea of dharma, as understood in Dharma Shastras. Dharma, in the Jain scheme of things, refers to movement, which is a dravya, one of the six key primordial governing principles of the cosmos. In the Hindu scheme of things, by contrast, dharma is a cultural value, and refers to the human ability to overcome the law of the jungle by upholding varna (hereditary vocation) and ashrama (stage of life). Both Jains and Hindus believe in rebirth. Both Jains and Hindus believe that every living creature has a soul within, jiva or jiva-atma. However, the Jains do not believe in the concept of param-atma, like Shiva or Vishnu, who embodies the cosmic soul. They venerate the Tirthankara, the ford-finder, who appear from time to time and discover and transmit the eternal Jain doctrine. The first Tirthankar of this eon was Rishabhnath. Some Hindus try to equate Rishabhnath with Shiva, because Rishabha’s symbol is the bull. Many Jains believe that the Harappan seal of a bull proves that Jainism existed in the Harappan times too. But there is a difference between Rishabhnath and Shiva. While Shiva, the hermit, gets married to Parvati in order to be a venerable householder, Rishabhnath gives up marriage and worldly life to become a hermit. After living as a king for many years, and ruling wisely, Rishabha became a monk after he witnessed an apsara dying in Indira’s paradise, and Indra using his powers to create the illusion that the apsara was still dancing. Eventually Rishabha became a Tirthankara. His son and heir was Bharat, who became a Chakravarti, or world-emperor. The land of India is named after this Bharat, according to the Jains, although the Hindus say India is named after the son of Shakuntala. Rishabha taught mathematics to his daughter, Sundari, and writing to his daughter, Brahmi, hence the earliest Indian script is called Brahmi. Jains have Ramayana and Mahabharata just like Hindus. However, they are considerably different. The Ram of Jain Ramayana is known as Pauma or Padma. In them, it is Lakshman who kills Ravan, making Ram the non-violent being, upholding the highest Jain value. Therefore, Ram attains moksha (liberation from cycle of rebirths) and kevalagyan (omniscience), while Lakshman and Ravan go to hell – though, a few lifetimes later, they do attain moksha. In the Jain Mahabharata, known as Harivansha, the battle is not between Kauravas and Pandavas but between Krishna and Jarasandha. Krishna, like Lakshman, is a violent being, hence does not attain moksha immediately, but in a future lifetime. We are told that Krishna’s cousin, Nemi, refuses to get married when he hears the cries of animals being brought into the kitchen for the kitchen feast. He becomes a Jain monk and eventually another Tirthankara of this eon. Both Lakshman and Krishna are two of the nine Vasudevas who appear in each eon, along with their elder brothers, Ram and Balaram, the Baladevas or Balabhadras, who fight, Ravan and Jarasandha, the Prati-Vasudeva. The Jains believe that Krishna’s sister Subhadra’s nose was mutilated by Kansa, so she could not marry. She becomes a Jain monk. Tribal people, in the forest, think she is a goddess and offer her fruits and vegetables, which she does not eat as she has taken a vow of fasting. She is eaten by a tiger, and when the tribals return and find blood in place of the goddess, with the fruits not consumed, they conclude that the goddess wants blood sacrifice. This is the origin of blood sacrifice for the village goddess, according to Jain beliefs. Many old Tamil epics refer to Jain authors and characters. In fact, it is speculated that the concept of 63 Nayanars, or worshipers of Shiva, found in Tamil traditions, is perhaps influenced by the 63 Mahapurushas found in Jains, which include the 24 Tirthankaras, the 12 Chakravartis, the nine sets of warriors (Vasudeva, Baladeva and Prati-Vasudeva). One can argue forever on whether Jainism is a branch of the Hindu tree, or a tree in its own right in the forest of Sanatan Dharma. The Jains would simply say, in line with the Anekanta-vada philosophy, different people have different truths in different times and different places, as per the level of their psychological evolution. Published on 12th May, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror devdutt.com/the-non-violent-…

We are constantly told that Hinduism’s original text is the Veda. That it forms the foundation of Hindu thought. However, much of Hindu practices have roots outside Vedic customs. We often overlook contributions of people who lived outside the Ganga river basin, who were not privy to Vedic prose and poetry, but who nevertheless influenced the composers, as they were neighbours, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

Why is #Shiva known as #Mahadev?

The earliest Ramayana retellings do not refer to the Lakshman rekha. The earliest Mahabharata retellings do not refer to Draupadi’s vastra-haran. Both these ideas come from later versions of the epics. Does that make the oldest versions, composed in Sanskrit, the authentic narratives over which layers were added to make them more appealing to new target audiences? Read More ... thehindu.com/society/ramayan…

Science envy in God / Veda / Quran /Bible lovers......

The Muslims needed to eat meat which was Halal, involving slowly bleeding the animal to death. The Rajputs preferred Jhatka, where the animalʼs head is sliced off in a single stroke, avoiding slow bleeding. The Sikhs were particular that they would not accept food offered as part of a sacrifice, for example, to the Rajputʼs goddess; therefore, it should not be offered to any deity or image. The British, for the first time, realised the importance of diet rules in managing the army, and this is when the whole rationing system became very important. Read more .... On Jhatka and Halal deccanherald.com/opinion/on-…

How Ramayana imagery changed over time... from 500 AD till today ... from happy images to angry images.

People mostly talk about the oral and textual stories of the Ramayana tradition, but we do not talk about its sculpture, imagery and art traditions as much. In this exclusive video I talk about the changes in the art and imagery of Ramayana over centuries

Which Bharat are we referring to as Santani Hindutva shies away from its Sindhu (Hindu/India) heritage?

On popular demand, Devdutt’s much awaited talk on Mythology

Why is Shiva-ratri one of the few Hindu festivals to be celebrated in the not-so-auspicious dark half of the lunar cycle? Why is it celebrated just as winter draws to a close? These are questions to which “real” answers may never be known. However, one can always speculate. Speculation helps one explore sacred mysteries and thus gain insight into the divine. The traditional story is that on this night a thief climbed a Bilva tree, which is sacred to Shiva, to give his pursuers the slip. He spent the whole night on the tree, plucking leaves that – unknown to him – fell on a Shiva-linga. This act of unintended piety earned the thief an eternal place in the lord’s heart. Stories running along these lines are narrated on Shiva-ratri as devotees hold an all-night-vigil in Shiva-temples. But these narratives tell us why Shiva should be worshipped during Shiva-ratri. They do not tell us what makes Shiva-ratri sacred. One story, popular in some parts of South India, says that it was on this night that Shiva drank Halahala, the cosmic poison churned by the gods and demons from the ocean of milk. The goddess Parvati did not want the poison to enter her husband’s body, so she caught hold of Shiva’s neck. The gods did not want Shiva to spit the poison out. So they began singing songs in praise of Shiva. With bated breath, the gods stayed awake wondering how Shiva could save the world without annoying his wife. Finally, at dawn, Shiva locked the poison in his throat for eternity until it turned his neck blue. The all-night-vigil on Shiva-ratri commemorates Shiva’s benevolence. The unconventional tradition of worshipping Shiva in the dark half of the lunar cycle is not surprising considering there is nothing conventional about Shiva. He is the only god who does not adorn himself with flowers or jewels. He smears his body with ash, wraps himself with elephant hide and tiger skin and bedecks himself with serpents, wild Dhatura flowers and Rudraksha beads. He intoxicates himself with hemp, is surrounded by wild and fearsome Ganas and lives on icy barren mountains. The crescent moon on his head – the same moon that can be seen in the skies on Shiva-ratri – offers another possible reason why the 13th night of the waning moon is sacred to Shiva. The moon-god Chandra was married to the 27 Nakshatras, lunar asterisms, but he preferred only the company of Rohini. The neglected wives complained to their father, Prajapati Daksha, who ordered Chandra to change his ways. When the moon-god did not, he was struck with the dreaded wasting-disease. As the days passed, Chandra’s luster waned. No one came to his rescue for fear of incurring Daksha’s wrath. In despair, Chandra turned to Shiva who placed the moon-god on his forehead where Daksha’s curse had no effect. The crescent-moon on Shiva’s head is a reminder of how Shiva’s grace saved the moon-god from oblivion. Those who fear death, those who cannot come to terms with the fleeting nature of existence therefore take refuge in the cosmic ascetic who has transcended the eternal cycle of birth and death. In Tantra, the moon represents the cooler, submissive and fleeting aspect of Nature. The sun represents the warmer, dominating and eternal aspect of Nature. Together they represent the totality of life, the union of opposites. While Shiva represents lunar energy, Vishnu represents the solar. Shiva transcends worldly life, Vishnu actively participates in it. Shiva did not want to marry but Vishnu coaxed him into the cycle of existence. In Shiva’s willingness to be Devi’s groom one finds the reason why Maha-Shiva-ratri is celebrated just before the arrival of spring. It must be remembered that in the Hindu calendar, the festival to follow Shiva’s holy night is Holi, the festival of fertility, love and joy. Shiva’s marriage to Parvati is a major theme of Shaiva lore and is often narrated during Shiva-ratri. The union transforms the hermit into the householder and couples world-rejection with world-affirmation. With the Devi by his side, the yogi becomes a bhogi. A balance is achieved between the spirit and the flesh, the ego and the infinite. Maybe that is what Shiva-ratri is all about. A time to stay awake through the night contemplating on the dualities of life – of mortal desires and immortal bliss, earthly obligations and heavenly aspirations, material needs and spiritual demands. When the balance is met, when Shiva is in the arms of Shakti, when the dance is in perfect harmony, there is truth, awareness and bliss – sad, chit, anand. First published in Speaking Tree, 15th February, 1999 Read more ... devdutt.com/shiva-for-parent…

Tibetan Ramayana In the early 20th century, six incomplete manuscripts containing excerpts of the Ramayana were found in the Mogao caves of Dunhuang, an archaeological site at the eastern end of the Silk Road in Xinjiang province of China. Written in an early Tibetan language, dated to approximately the 8th century, it does not allude to Buddhist Ramayana, and has many plots at variance with Valmiki Ramayana. It belongs to the earlier genre of “royal” Ramyanas, popular with kings of South and Southeast Asia, unlike the later “bhakti” Ramayanas of India. Here Dasharatha worships Arhats (Buddhist sages?) and is given a flower by the gods, which his chief queen shares with the junior queen. The junior queen delivers a son, Ram, a few days before the senior queen delivers Lakshman. The king dies unable to decide who should be king. Ram, the elder son of the junior queen, is chosen but he abdicates for Lakshman, who in turn, places Ram’s footwear on the throne, and chooses to be minister. We do not hear about Bharata and Shatrughna here, nor anything about the forest exile. Sita here is the daughter of Ravana (as in Jain Ramayana). Advised by oracles, he puts her in a copper box, throws her into the sea. The baby makes her way to a water channel being dug by a farmer. She eventually marries Ram. Ram and Sita’s separation happens not only because of Ravana’s sister named Phurpala here, who is upset at being rejected by Ram, but also because Sita wrongly accuses Lakshman of vile thoughts so that he goes to Ram’s rescue, while he is out hunting Ravana’s demon-deer. To abduct Sita, Ravana first takes the form of a beautiful elephant enticing her to sit on him, and then he takes the form of a horse. When she refuses both times, he abducts her by picking up the earth under which she stands (as in Tamil Ramayana) for fear of bursting into flames if he touches her without her consent. While looking for Sita, Ram encounters a black river which is blood flowing from Sugirva’s eyes, ears and nose after he has been beaten by his elder brother Bali. Sugriva ties a mirror to his tail, challenges Bali to a duel and gets Ram to kill his violent elder brother, promising to find Sita in exchange. During the search for Sita, Hanuman encounters Swayamprahha in a cave and the wingless Sampati on the sea-shore (as in Valmiki Ramayana). A unique feature of the Tibetan Ramayana is letter writing. Ram writes letters to Sugriva when he delays the attack on Lanka. He writes letters to Sita to tell her that he’s coming, Sita replies with another letter. Later Hanuman manages the kingdom of Sugriva after Sugriv’s death, and Ram writes letters and admonishes him for not keeping in touch. During the war, Ravana becomes invisible. Ram challenges him to show at least one part of his body in keeping Kshatriya dharma. Ravana then reveals only his right toe. Looking at the right toe Ram is able to figure out where his ten heads are located and shoots the arrow at the right head to kill him. The first of Ravana’s ten heads is that of a horse/donkey (as in Pahari miniature paintings), which is where his life is located. In the Tibetan Ramayana, Ram doubts the chastity of Sita and sends her out of the palace. Hanuman argues his case of Sita’s innocence successfully and Rama and Sita are united and they stay together happily. Published on 12th March, 2023, in Mid-day. devdutt.com/tibetan-ramayana…

You cannot escape caste in India, by getting better jobs, by rejecting your surname or by enforcing policy decisions. The Indian word for caste is jaat and it is popularly defined as ‘that which never goes away’ (jo jaati nahin). So, despite efforts to annihilate it, it continues to flourish, manifesting as car stickers in hinterland India, and unspoken recruitment practices of Indian migrants across American tech companies. Read more ... Annihilating caste, defending religion deccanherald.com/opinion/ann…

What is Ram's ambition, I ask. Answers reveal so many assumptions about the epic.

Before the British documented caste in their records, caste was actually a fluid varna system. You could choose to be Brahmin if you wanted to, and Shudra if that was your aspiration. This is a lie. Read more... How caste manifested before the British ecoti.in/0zX1Ca

In India, poor families go bankrupt as they spend their life's savings on dowries and weddings trying to outdo relatives, neighbours and imagined rivals. This social competition is one of the major causes of debt, and the ruin of families. Read more ... ecoti.in/9t6zLZ

Many Hindutva intellectuals think Santa Claus is the Christian God... he is not... do read if knowledge interests you .... The story goes that an American visited a Japanese shopping mall and discovered to his horror that a Santa Claus effigy was on a cross! He thought this was a joke, or maybe a political protest, or a post-modern installation, but then he realised this was it was done innocently by store people who just assumed Jesus Christ and Santa Claus were the same people. This is not surprising when you see American serials where parents debate on whether to tell their children if Santa is real, or not. In fact, over time, in many homes, Jesus Christ has been removed from the Christmas discourse. It is all about Santa. Who is Santa? There are many theories. The most popular urban legend is that it was a creation of Coca Cola because Santa Claus wears the same colours as a Coke can. And Santa Claus has become popular to prop up consumerism and is in many ways, what secular capitalism can do to religious rituals. For now you have a father figure who gives you gifts if you are ‘nice’ and no gifts if you are ‘naughty’. So Santa Claus is a kind of God who rewards you with stuff if you do what your parents tell you to do. A perfect capitalist-consumerist bastardisation of the Old Testament Abrahamic God who sends flood and fire and brimstone on people who do not do as he says. In many ways, Diwali is going this way as increasingly people are separating the feasting and gifting from all religious trope. In Germanic Europe, before Christianity arrived, the belief was that in the middle of winter the one-eyed wise and bearded old Odin rides out of his eight-legged horse with a band of hunters across the sky during the festival of Yule. This perhaps has now metamorphosed into the idea of Santa Claus travelling across the sky on his reindeer sleigh, moving down chimneys, to stock gifts for nice children near the Christmas tree, an old pagan symbol. We must remind ourselves that Christmas is the birth of Jesus, and he was born in the desert. There was neither snow nor coniferous trees around the manger that he was born in. Then there is generous St Nicholas of the Byzantine Empire, and Father Christmas of 16th century England and Sinterklaas of the Netherlands, all generous and jolly old men, who helped the poor in the nights when Christ was remembered inside Churches by rich barons and bishops, while outside it was dark and bitterly cold and the serfs starved. While St Nicholas is more like a bishop, Father Christmas and Sinterklaas are jolly old men dressed in red and green coat, lined with fur. A whole Santa cult has emerged, complete with theme parks and letter writings and stories of his elves and Hollywood movies about his wife and his son, and his gift making abilities. Somewhere it competes, even overshadows, the idea of Jesus Christ and his birth in the humble manger surrounded by farm animals, shepherds and visited by three wise men under the special star. Is it the result of old pagan traditions that refused to give way to Church puritanism? Or simply the rise of commerce that invariably jostles for space during festival time? Or is it a deliberate attempt of a festival to distance itself from religion and make the festival less about praying and more about shopping? Things we need to think about as we unwrap those gifts our secret Santas gave us in our offices and schools. devdutt.com/from-jesus-chris…

In 1956, many countries around the world celebrated 2,500 years of the Buddha’s Parinirvana, or his final departure from the world. Sri Lanka and many Southeast Asian countries believe that this event took place in 544 BC. Hence, in writings, people assume that the Buddha lived about 2,500 years ago. But is that really so? Is that fact or belief? Scholars have been debating this for the past 100 years, and no one has come out the wiser. Read more ... When was the Buddha born? mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

Almost all Hindu temples, built before Muslims, tell stories of that one "impure" devotee not allowed to enter the temple by Brahmins. Was that based on varna or jati or caste or "Vedic science"? Someone please explain it to confused vegetarians. devdutt.com/the-saint-outsid…

A Sanskrit Scholar who thinks he is better than others is Ravan. A Sanskrit Scholar who feels no need to show-off is Hanuman. We meet mostly flashy Ravanas, claiming Brahmin roots, flying in "jets". Hanuman is happy eating bananas in his plantain forest, remembering Ram.

Why is Holi celebrated more in north India than south India? devdutt.com/why-is-holi-cele…

Nine form of Durga The concept of Nava-durga is extremely popular during Navratri. Navratri refers to the nine nights that lead to the celebration of Vijayadashmi. The Goddess is worshipped in nine forms. The nine forms are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, SkandaMata, Kaatyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddharaatri. These are not nine separate goddesses. They represent the nine phases of the goddess’ life. The nine nights of Navratri are a celebration of the Goddess in her entirety. The Goddess is shakti, who brings meaning to Shiva, who disembodied pure consciousness. The first stage is Shailaputri, where Shakti is the goddess of the mountains. She is born of the mountains and she decides to marry the mountain hermit, Shiva. He, however, does not want to marry. He withdraws into his mountain cave, stubbornly refusing to be with her. In the second phase, she becomes Brahmacharini, a hermit, who performs tapasya. She mimics Shiva, who is a tapasvi himself. As she does exactly what he does, Shiva realises what would happen, if all men and women choose to become hermits. The next generation will not be created. The world will cease to exist. The rock (shiva-linga) becomes the plant (bilva), the object turns into an organism, as Shiva realises without Shakti, he is a dead body (shava). Shiva agrees to marry Shakti and the goddess then takes her third form, which is Chandraghanta. The Chandraghanta, or the bell-shaped moon, represents the first day of the waxing moon, when only an arc of the moon is seen. If Shiva is the waning moon (destroyer), with Shakti he becomes the waxing moon (creator). Now, as Shiva’s wife, she enjoys the companionship of Shiva and her body is filled with warmth. This makes her Kushmunda, gently aroused. In her fourth form, she becomes radiant like the sun, in the presence of Shiva. The fifth form is when she becomes a mother. She is Skanda’s mother. She has domesticated Shiva, who was a hermit into a householder called Shankara and also made him a father. In the sixth form of Kaatyayani, she becomes the outraged warrior who fights Mahishasura—who cannot be defeated by any other deva. He arrogantly declares that no man can defeat him; forgetting that a woman can defeat him. In her seventh form, she becomes even more fierce as Kalaratri—Kaali who kills Chanda and Munda. She adorns her body with his entrails, limbs and head. It is the fiercest and darkest form of the goddess, after which she quickly calms downs. She then becomes the eighth form: Mahagauri, the homemaker. Gauri is the one who is domestic: her hair is no longer unbound. She doesn’t run amok, naked on the battlefield. She sits at home preparing food, to feed her husband Shiva, in the form of Annapurna. In the final form, she is Siddharaatri , the accomplished one. She has completed her work and now takes her rightful place as one half of Shiva’s body. She completes him. This is her greatest accomplishment; she has connected Shiva to worldly life, made him realise his purpose, to animate the world, and make the world realise its value and purpose. This is the ultimate role of the Goddess in Hindu mythology. Published on 18th October, 2020, in Mid-day. devdutt.com/nine-forms-of-du…

Happy Rath Yatra.... Learn about that always-smiling Hindu god who no politician has been able to control, over the centuries.

Many people asked me what is the significance of Chhat puja. They want to know a story, for example, there is a story of Ram’s return to Ayodhya on Diwali, and Lakshmi entering the house on Diwali. So there must be a story associated with Chhat Puja. Yes, we can tell stories that this is related to the Sun, to goddess Sasthi who protects mothers, or the six Krittika stars who raised Kartikeya, that this is a festival performed by Sri Rama and Sita after the return from 14 years of exile, and by Draupadi and the Pandavas, in order to restore their fortune after they lost everything in the gambling match. Stories about kings performing these rituals in order to get children. But these stories came later. Before stories there was the ritual. The doing was more important than the story. In the oldest religions, the practice (karma kanda) is more important than the intellectual reason (gyan kanda). There may be emotion (bhakti) linked to action (kriya), but the latter is most important. Diwali for example is about lighting lamps. Why? Some say because Ram returned to Ayodhya. Some say to show Lakshmi the path to enter our house. And others says to help our ancestors return to Pitr-loka after they pay visit to us during Pitr-Paksha before Navaratri. No one story is accepted by all. But everyone agrees, the festival is about lights. Likewise Chhat Puja is primarily performed by housewives, the matriarch of the household. In Bihar and parts of Nepal, the larger Magadhi region, the women fast for many days, stay awake all night waiting for the sun to rise, make offerings on baskets, special baskets containing all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Special significance is attached to the sugarcane, to coconuts. If one tries to analyse the ritual, one realises this has something to do with fertility and growth, and prosperity and the health of the household where the woman plays a central role. There is no role of the Brahmin. Occasionally, a katha may be told, a katha of how ritual when performed solved the problems of people and how those who did not perform this ritual faced many problems. Connections with Ramayana and Mahabharat seem superfluous, supplementary information, not critical. The ritual has to do more with the body and family, and less with the mind, or soul. It’s Tantrik we can say, Tantra being about the body (tanu). The sun is important here, water is important here. The earth is important here as women approach the river by continuously lying on the ground, making their body one with the earth. Prayers are offered facing the sun, half immersed in the water. It indicates a connection with nature, with flora and fauna. An awareness of the body, a heightened sensation created by fasting and staying awake all night. These are some of the oldest ritual practices in India. We may want to classify it as Vedic or tantric. But these are women’s festivals which may have been performed in India for thousands of years, perhaps long before Vedic culture crossed the Gandak river. These were old practices related to life and reflect Hinduism in its most primal form, and must be respected as such without the need to explain them using Vedic or Puranic framework that were created by men. Tell Me the Story of Chhat Puja Published on 30th October, 2022, in Mid-day. devdutt.com/tell-me-the-stor…

"Pure" vegetarian Dharma = give untalented son highest posts in world's richest sports institution that pays no taxes to government Krishna's Dharma = Not That 👆👆👆👆😅

Was in Varanasi, Kashi for a conference. Noticed these two beautiful women carrying pots. Then realised they are riding a turtle and a dolphin. In other words, these are images of Yamuna and Ganga. If you look at images carefully, they reveal so much more.

Diwali in north India celebrates the return of Ram from Ayodhya. Diwali, or rather Deepavali, in south India celebrates the defeat of Narakasura by Krishna. Read more ... Diwali for Ram, Krishna, Lakshmi, Yama, Asuras and Ancestors devdutt.com/diwali-for-ram-k…

1200 AD = Jain temples broken by Turkish warlords in Delhi 1700 AD = Jain temples built in Delhi funded by Mughal kings Power of Ahimsa and Anekantavada. History no one will tell you. amazon.in/Bahubali-63-Insigh…

The idea of Krishna holding the flute also comes to us from South India. If you look at the early Krishna artworks from Mathura in the Kushan period, they show him as a warrior boy killing the horse, the donkey, the elephant, the snake, uprooting trees, raising mountains, overturning carts, but they never show him playing a flute. There are images of Gandharvas playing flute, but never one of a cowherd. Read More ... timesofindia.indiatimes.com/… timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…

In Buddhist and Jain mythology, there is no concept of one all-powerful god; there are multiple small gods who will eventually bow to the Tirthankara or the Buddha, who speak not of power to control the world, but the power to overpower desire, hunger, jealousy, anger, pride. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

What is the price of service?

What was Ravana's surname, from his mother's side?

On the Internet, one finds a lot of quotations claiming scientific truths within the Vedas. This affliction is not unique to India, or Hindus. There are people who claim that the Bible has all information about later scientific discoveries. We are told that the Quran contains everything from relativity to quantum mechanics to Big Bang theory to black holes to thermodynamics. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

A mythological perspective..... about God, state, institutiions and the circle of kings.

Keepers of Guru-dwara seem to be focussed on policing pilgrims rather than spreading wisdom, love and joy. Like what Brahmins priests did. Like what Mullahs do. Like Catholic priests did. Unity in Diversity?

Bypassing the womb In Buddhist and Hindu mythology, birth from the female body brought one into the circle of life and death, or samsara. So, the womb-born, or yonija, experience birth as well as death. Ram is born from the womb of Kaushalya, Krishna is born from the womb of Devaki, and, therefore, both of them experience death. In Puranic literature, we come across the concept of ayonija, someone who is not born from the womb, and consequently, is able to bypass or rise above the cycle of birth and death. The story of Ganesha is a case in point. Ganesha is not born from a mother’s womb. He is born when his mother moulds him from the ointments of her body and his head is replaced with the head of an elephant by his father Shiva. Similarly, Shiva’s other son Kartikeya is not born from a mother’s body. Shiva’s seed first falls in fire, then in wind, and finally, in the river, Ganga, setting the riverbank reeds aflame. From the ashes emerges Kartikeya, as the six-headed warlord. Thus, he is born outside the womb and is called ayonija. Another son of Shiva, who is ayonija, is Ayyappa. He is born when Shiva merges with Vishnu to become Harihara. Two male gods thus come together and a child is created. There are other such characters in mythology that are born outside the womb. There is the famous story of Mandhata. A king called Yuvanashwa accidentally drinks a magic potion meant to make his wife pregnant and, in doing so, becomes pregnant himself. The child, Mandhata, is born from his side, because Yuvanashwa does not have a womb or a womb passage. Mandhata, thus, becomes a special king, having being born in a special way. In later Buddhist stories, there are suggestions that Buddha was not born in the normal way. He was born from the side of his mother, not through the vaginal canal. The idea spread as far as Europe and we have early Christian church fathers speaking about how Jesus was conceived immaculately, without sex, and perhaps was born bypassing the womb. Thus, the woman’s body came to be associated with death and the cycle of rebirth. In the Mahabharata, death is even visualised as a woman, although the god of death, who regulates rebirth, is a male god called Yama. Ayonija is an important concept in mythology. Another concept that is popular is Swayambhu, someone who is self-created. All living creatures who are subject to death are born of a woman. However, the divine being is Swayambhu, not born of a woman, and thus, with no source; he is self-created. One wonders if this discomfort with the female genitalia, and its association with death, is the reason menstrual blood has always been feared and seen as a negative side of nature. Hence, menstruating women are kept in seclusion, often in special rooms, away from the rest of the family. This practice is not just seen in India, but in many tribes across the world, revealing a discomfort with nature’s obsession of giving all living creatures an expiry date. First published on 17th November, 2018, in Mid-day devdutt.com/category/content…

Diwali is also about Krishna & Yama & Lakshmi & Bali. It is also a Jain festival marking the ascent of Mahavira to the heaven of Tirthankaras. People have found many reasons to celebrate this festival, suggesting it predates all narratives. Read more ... indianexpress.com/article/ex…

In Hindu mythology, gods sing, dance and make music and this is what makes Hinduism stand out from most other religions. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

In Vedic prose, i.e., Brahmana literature, this idea is further elaborated. Manu saves a small fish from big fish. Big fish eating small fish or matsya-nyaya (fish justice) is Vedic metaphor for jungle law. The ‘big fishʼ is the symbol of those who exploit and extract wealth from the ‘small fishʼ. By protecting the small fish in a pot, Manu declares that culture (as man-made as a pot) is where the meek are provided for and protected by the mighty. Is this LW or RW ideology? Read More ... deccanherald.com/opinion/was…

Waiting for Ram After a long crawl through a narrow cave in the hills of Jammu, you finally see Vaishno-devi embodied as three outcroppings of rock, draped with red cloth with gold tassels, flowers, with umbrellas hanging from above. The three rocks represent Maha-Lakshmi, Maha-Saraswati and Maha-Kali, the three forms of the Goddess. The air is rent with the jubilant cries of devotees, ‘Jai Mata Di,’ which is Punjabi for ‘Jai Mata Ki.’ It is important to clarify this as many assume that ‘di’ is a proper noun, a local name of the Goddess, rather than a preposition. Vaishno-devi is now a very popular pilgrimage. She is one of the many mountain goddesses found in the Punjab and Jammu regions. Some identify her as part of the seven sisters, or seven maidens, who are part of Indian folklore, mysterious women who run in the forest, unattached to any man, and who can be dangerous if threatened and benevolent if appeased. The image of seven maidens has been traced to the Indus Valley cities. Who were these seven sisters? Are they the Matrikas, the female form of male gods: Shivani from Shiva, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Vinayaki from Vinayaka, Kaumari from Kumara, Indrani from Indra, Varahi from Varaha, and Narasimhi from Narasimha? Are they the Pleiades constellation, the Krittikas, who collectively are known as the mother of Shiva’s warlord son Kartikeya? Were they once the wives of the seven sages, the Sapta Rishis? Were they ancient goddesses of the forest and rivers? In Maharashtra, they are known as ‘sati asara’, seven stones, worshipped by women who have trouble conceiving, and pregnant women who fear miscarriage, and women whose children have viral fever with skin rashes? We really cannot be sure. Textual references give us tantalising glimpses of a long oral tradition that simmers along the rivers and plains of India, whispered for millennia by common folk, who have either chosen to stay away from, or have been kept out of, orthodox Sanskrit Brahminical traditions. What is most peculiar about Vaishno-devi, like many goddesses of Punjab and Jammu region, is that she is a vegetarian goddess. Typically, in Puranic and Tantrik traditions, the Goddess is worshipped with blood sacrifice. During navaratri, the festival of nine nights, celebrated in spring (vasant) and autumn (sharad) during which she battles asuras, she is offered the blood of buffaloes, and goats, and roosters. But not at Vaishno-devi, who is strictly vegetarian, an idea that may assume, even disconcert, a Shakta from Bengal, Assam and Odisha. When the old Vedic ritual ways gave way to the Puranic traditions, two gods emerged who competed for supremacy: Shiva and Vishnu. Shiva embodied the monastic side of Hinduism while Vishnu embodied the householder side. Shiva challenges Vedic orthodoxy overtly. In his tales he beheads Brahma and Daksha. Vishnu also challenges Vedic orthodoxy, but covertly, as the royal Ram and the pastoral Krishna. Tensions rise between the two schools of thought. Shiva became increasingly associated with Tantrik practices especially the ritual use of alcohol and meat and sex, and Vishnu with milk, cows, vegetarianism and continence. Shiva’s followers speak of siddha, or magical powers obtained through yogic practices. Vishnu’s followers speak of dharma, or governance of society. Shiva withdraws from the world. Vishnu engages with the world. It is the Goddess who reconciles the two deities. As Shakti she becomes Shiva’s wife, turns the fierce hermit into the docile householder. As Lakshmi she becomes Vishnu’s responsibility, forcing him to descend from his high heaven of Vaikuntha, and participate in human affairs as the avatars Ram and Krishna. These tales emerge about a thousand years ago and it is these cultural shifts that help us understand the shrine of Vaishno-devi. For Vaishno-devi is identified as a princess from the south of India, who encounters Ram and wishes to marry him. But Ram is ekam-patni-vrata, faithful to a single wife, Sita. He tells her that he cannot marry her as Ram but in a future life will surely be her husband. So the princess moves to the mountain and becomes a hermit. She is sometimes identified as Trikuta, and sometimes as Veda-vati. Ravana, a worshipper of Shiva, tries to make her his wife, but she enters fire, and is reborn as Vaishno-devi, meditating and waiting for Ram to return as a future avatar of Vishnu. While meditating, she draws the attention of Bhairava, who follows the Tantrik rituals, and asks food from her. She feeds him. But for him ‘food’ includes sex (maithuna in Tantrik rituals). This, the goddess refuses. She informs Bhairava that she is waiting for Ram, and he should respect her wishes. But Bhairava refuses and tries to force his will. The Goddess runs and the path she takes is the path taken by pilgrims today. Bhairava pursues, fighting Langur-vira, the monkey-hero, who tries to stop him. Some people identify Langur-vira as Hanuman. Finally, exasperated by his pursuit, the Goddess turns around and takes the form of Chandi, the fierce one, and beheads Bhairava. His body remains on the mountain and turns into a boulder, still seen today. His head falls in the valley below. Bhairava repents and apologises for his transgression. ‘A son can be a bad son, but a mother cannot be a bad mother,’ he says. Vaishno-devi calms down and forgives him and declares that her worshippers will visit his shrine too, where his head will be worshipped, as it is even today. Thus we see a story that involves the three streams of Puranic thought: Shakta, Shaiva and Vaishnava. Here the Shakta tradition aligns with the Vaishnav tradition of Ram, and shuns the Shaiva tradition of Bhairava. But eventually, all is reconciled. Bhairava is punished but also forgiven and finally venerated. This transformation of Bhairava is something that is unique to Hindu culture, where no one is ‘villain’ in the eyes of God. Everything changes – even those who ignore the consent of the Goddess are forgiven, and given respect, after due repentance and admonishment. Published on 21st August, 2016, in Mumbai Mirror. devdutt.com/waiting-for-ram/

Veda is 3,000 years old and is made up of poetry (mantra) and prose (brahmana). Within the prose we find stories (itihasa) about conflicts over resources between humans, between gods and sometimes between humans and gods. It makes us realise Vedic people had issues similar to contemporary issues. We still fight over resources. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

So many mothers, and tongues The devas were threatened, as usual, by the rise of yet another asura. This time it was Taraka, and he was exceptionally powerful. He had declared that only a six-day-old child could kill him. The devas wondered who could father such a powerful child and they concluded it could only be Shiva, the great ascetic, the one who had withdrawn all his senses, and was completely withdrawn from worldly life. Since Shiva did not engage with anything in this world, all his energy was contained within his body. In Tantrik versions, which are not very coy, specific reference is made to his semen. Never been spilt, empowered by eons of meditations and contemplation, it was full of potent occult energy. A child born of such energy would surely be a superman: he would be fully developed at the time of birth, fully capable of going to battle shortly thereafter. In edited versions, Shiva gives his seed to the devas. But in unedited versions, the devas sent Kama, the god of desire, to arouse Shiva into spilling his semen. Shiva is not amused and so burns Kama to death with a glance by opening his fiery third eye. The gods then beg the Goddess to help them and she takes the form of Parvati, daughter of the mountains, and she impresses Shiva by her own ascetic practices and secures a boon from him to marry her. But though he makes love to her, he does not spill semen. Frustrated, the gods finally beg Shiva to help them out. And Shiva, momentarily distracted, lets a drop of his bodily fluid fall into fire. But that drop is so fiery that Agni, the fire-god, gets burned and begs Vayu, the wind-god, to take hold of it. Even Wind cannot calm it down. So Vayu drops it in Ganga, the river. The river boils and the reeds on the riverbank catch fire. When the fire subsides, from the ashes emerge six children who are nursed by the Krittikas, the six stars of the Pleiades constellation. Finally, Parvati arrives to claim Shiva’s child. She hugs the six children and they become one. This child, of multiple mothers, leads the deva army against Taraka and kills him, earning the adoration of the devas who declare him celestial commander and warlord. He is called Kartikeya, the child nursed by the Krittikas. He has other names such as Skanda, Guha, Shanmukha, Murugan, Kumara, Saravarna, Gangeya, reminding all of his many mothers: two devas (male gods incidentally), a river-goddess, a goddess of the reed (Sara) forest (vana), six stars, and a mountain princess. Whenever people ask me what my mother tongue is, I always tell them the story of Kartikeya’s many mothers. In India, we have many mother tongues: one from our mother, several from the mother land: some connect us with our roots, some help build relations with neighbours, some get us good international jobs. All mothers are good and wonderful and delightful. The petty create a hierarchy between them. #InternationalMotherLanguageDay devdutt.com/so-many-mothers-…

Mamdani's surname reveals his roots: Gujarat. Specifically, the Khoja world-mercantile Muslim communities that trace descent from the Prophet through the Shia line but function socially like Hindu caste trade guilds. Read more ... economictimes.indiatimes.com…

"pure" vegetarians are saying corruption is of three types... Satvik, Rajasic and Tamasic...justifying their criminal investments. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Human beings across the world are the same, and we react to sacred narratives in the same way. The scientific way of thinking enables us to decode these mythological stories and find out the metaphors expressed through them, what they could possibly represent or mean. However, the faithful reject the scientific analysis and prefer belief systems, or ideas that reinforce their beliefs. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

Yayati is a character from Mahabharata who wanted to stay young, and so begged his sons to give him their youth. The son who refused to do so, was stripped of inheritance, and the son who gave away his youth was allowed to ascend the throne, but was too old to enjoy life’s pleasures. The ancient epic draws attention to jealousy of older generations, feeding on youngest generation. They feel Gen Z is not grateful for everything they got so easily. Read more ... Work-life balance: Those who worked never enjoyed what they created. Now, they want their kids to do the same economictimes.indiatimes.com…

Food in India, as in other parts of the world, is a marker of tribal identity. Jews have Kosher food. Muslims have Halal food. No argument is possible against these foods as they claim to be following Godʼs law. In India, food laws, traceable to Bhagavad Gita, refer to a three-fold (tri-guna) division of food that creates the four-fold caste division of society (chatur-varna). Read more at: deccanherald.com/opinion/can…

In Mumbai, there is a circle called Hutatma chowk. Most people do not know what it means. Many people assume it is the name of a person. However, it is a newly crafted Hindi/Sanskrit word for martyr. It is a neologism. A new word that was created to meet the new requirements of modern times. The word was invented by Savarkar. Read more ... Words of Savarkar mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…

Sati Savitri and other FEMINIST tales they don't tell you ....now in all bookshops....There is no Eve or Pandora in Hindu or Jain or Buddhist mythology.... why?

Sigma glorifies ambition. Dharma insists on reciprocity. Sigma thrives on distancing. Dharma is rooted in engagement. When people call Ram or Krishna sigma, they erase the essence of their stories. Ram & Krishna do not seek to defeat. They seek to uplift, enable, empower.

Is a baba real or fake? Is it only a Hindu phenomenon? A creation of "pure" folks? Answers here: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…

I delete old tweets. Old ideas are like dead bodies. To be created, consumed, and discarded. As we move through time. I let "pure" vegetarians scavenge them, store them, rant over time.... for they know their lies do not work anymore.

Images of Buddha are popular in modern homes and health spas. It evokes peace, tranquillity and freedom from stress. It is the kind of artwork patronised by privileged people who are not very generous, but are forever in a state of gratitude. But the Buddha image evoked many other realities besides this one. ecoti.in/_H-MKZ

A little bit of history of Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary in Vietnam

Ramayana describes Ravana as a Vedic Brahmin, author of many books related to medicine and astrology and engineering. But he does not respect humans. He strives to be dominating and territorial. He drives his brother out of the house and claims his property. He demands complete loyalty and submission from his brothers. He does not respect a woman’s consent. This lack of empathy indicates knowledge without wisdom that Sanatkumars are referring to. This Brahma-vidya is the lodestone of Indian Knowledge Systems. mid-day.com/news/opinion/art…