2021
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Rivalry of Sants and Naths
Published on 10th October, 2021, in Mid-day. In 13th Century Maharashtra, Dyaneshwar translated the Bhagavad Gita into the local language. It was a great cultural revolution. He encouraged people to use emotions and feelings to connect with the divine. This…
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Should a Deity Have Two Arms or More?
Published on 9th October, 2021, in The Hindu. In Kushan coins, minted over 1,800 years ago, we come across images of a woman holding the horn of plenty. She is identified with the Roman Goddess Fortuna, the Greek goddess Tyche,…
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The Courtesan’s Autonomy
Published on 3rd October, 2021, in Mid-day. In Mohenjo-daro, archaeologists found a tiny bronze statue of a young naked girl, with bangles in her left hand, standing erect with an attitude, right arm on a hip. Despite no evidence, they…
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When Does Krishna Justify War?
Published on 2nd October, 2021, in Economic Times. Mahatma Gandhi famously argued that Bhagavad Gita needs to be seen as a metaphor of internal war, and has nothing to do with violence. Western scholars argue that the book does the…
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Is Shiva the Destroyer of Evil?
Published on 26th September, 2021, in Mid-day. In popular understanding of the mythology, Brahma is called the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva, the destroyer. When you ask people why Shiva is called the destroyer, they will answer, it is…
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Is Criticism Of Caste the Same As Hinduphobia?
Published on 25th September, 2021, in Times of India. Recently, a conference was held on the theme of ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’. It was sponsored by American universities tired of Hindutva bullying. However, the decision to hold it immediately after the…
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Tombs of Holy Men
Published on 19th September, 2021, in Mid-day. Since the time of the Buddha, when a holy man would die, he would be buried. His burial site would become a shrine, or a memorial. This shrine would be visited by people,…
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View: Understanding Economies and Their Role In Rendering Old Models Of Caste Irrelevant
Published on 18th September, 2021, in Economic Times. Caste (jati) is how resources and respect was inherited and distributed in traditional Indian society. The distribution pattern varied across India. The thousands of jatis were classified neatly into a four-fold varna…
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Festival Of Women, By Women, For Women
Published on 12th September, 2021, in Mid-day. The word ‘teej’ refers to the third day of the lunar cycle when women fast, stay awake in all night vigils, hoping to find good husbands if not married, and praying for the…
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Is Hinduism Answerable to Western Gaze?
Published on 10th September, 2021, in Times of India. The word religion initially applied to only Christianity. Everyone else was either heretic or pagan. But in the 19th Century, Europeans were forced to acknowledge the validity of Japanese faith if…
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Taoism and Tantra
Published on 5th September, 2021, in Mid-day. There is much in common between the Chinese path of Taoism and the Indian path of Tantra. Both value the body and the material world. Both see all power coming from nature. They…
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Why India Needs To See Marital Relationships in Political and Economic Terms
Published on 4th September, 2021, in Economic Times. Zeus, king of the gods, in Greek mythology had children by many women, both mortal and immortal, nymphs and goddesses and titans. But he had only one wife. The Roman Empire celebrated…
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Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitha
Published on 29th August, 2021, in Mid-day. Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitha is a line that is found in Manusmriti. If you assume dharma to be religion or state or law, it means if you protect religion or state or law, the…
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Why Is Secret Love So Important In Gita Govinda?
Published on 28th August,2021, in Times of India. Krishna on television appears in bright light, with fair complexion and light eyes. No one is outraged or offended, even though Krishna means someone with a dark complexion, a fact reiterated by…
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Privileging Political Independence
Published on 15th August, 2021, in The Hindu. The story of the eagle Garuda stealing the nectar of immortality from Indra’s paradise to liberate his mother from slavery reminds us of Greek heroes who go on quests to fight monsters…
