Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Silent Screams In Bhrigu’s Dreams
Published on 2nd October, 2022, in Mid-day. A large forest was torn down to make a helipad for a visiting minister, who is a strict vegetarian. The mountain was sold to miners, who are strict vegetarians. An air-conditioned hall was built for monks who are strict vegetarians. Every vegetarian insisted they were non-violent. They never…
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Articles
The Purpose of Rich People
Published on 30th September, 2022, in Economic Times. Imagine you go out for dinner with a person who has more wealth than you. He, or she, pays the bill. Then you experience their wealth. However, if you split the bill 50-50, or you pay the entire bill yourself, then you do not experience their wealth.…
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Articles
Mandhata, the Ancient King
Published on 25th September, 2022, in Mid-day. In folklore, Age of Mandhata refers to an ancient time, even before Krishna and Ram lived on earth. As per the Mahabharata, Mandhata was the son of Ram’s ancestor, Yuvanashva. Yuvanashva wanted a child. But he consumed the magic potion that was meant to make his wife pregnant.…
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Articles
Why East India’s Contribution to Hinduism Remains Forgotten
Published on 24th September, 2022, in Times of India. Whenever we talk about Hinduism of India, most of the attention is taken over by talk of North India, with Rajput lands to its west and Gangetic plains to its east. Attention then shifts to South India, followed by talk of the Aryan-Dravidian divide. Hardly any…
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Articles
Tales of the Horned Sage
Published on 18th September, 2022, in Mid-day. The story of Rishyasringa Muni is found in the Ramayana. Dashratha had three wives, but no children. So, he called a sage to perform the ritual that would get him children. The rishi selected was Rishyasringa Muni. In Odia miniature paintings, Rishyasringa is depicted as having two horns.…
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Articles
How Advaita Shapes the Indian Headshake
Published on 17th September, 2022, in Economic Times. The most popular school of Vedanta is called Advaita. Advaita means non-dual. In English it is often translated as monism. But there is a difference between the structure of the two words. Advaita is refuting the existence of two. Monism is acknowledging the existence of only one,…
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Articles
The Shaven Head of Adi Shankara
Published on 16th September, 2022, in The Hindu. Vedic Rishis are imagined with long hair, tied in a topknot. But Adi Shankara, the Vedanta philosopher, is depicted in popular artworks with a shaved head, covered with a drape. An enquiry into how the Hindu sage and monk treated his hair reveals how it has been…
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Articles
Why Origins of the Caste System Polarise Both Left and Right
Published on 11th September, 2022, in Times of India. A peculiar feature of the internet is finding a vast number of upper caste, mostly Brahmin, men who argue that there was no caste system prevalent in Vedic India. They further state that all talk of the caste system emerges after the British period, or perhaps…
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Articles
Sound and Meaning of Veda
Published on 11th September, 2022, in Mid-day. Mantra means a sound meant to connect the gods outside (deva) to the god inside (atma). Vedic people were convinced the Rishi did not craft these sounds; they ‘saw’ them in the universe and simply transmitted them. Historians see mantras of the Rig Veda as human compositions that…
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Articles
Speech, Offence and Victimhood
Published on 4th September, 2022, in Mid-Day. What is the opposite of freedom of speech? It is the right to get offended. Recently, Nupur Sharma commented about the Prophet Muhammad’s marriage on national television. She stated it in a debate and it was not meant to flatter. The Arab elite, otherwise mute spectators to global…
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Articles
Ballads That Make Kings
Published on 3rd September, 2022, in Economic Times. To be king, a man has to establish himself as belonging to a royal family. But what about the founder? How does he distinguish himself from the men he is supposed to rule over? How does he become a special man, a super human, with the power…
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Articles
Myth and Memories Before History
Published on 28th August, 2022, in Mid-Day. Vedic literature is full of stories informing us how rishis discovered and used the mantra to solve problems. These stories were called the itihasa, as they are reported by those who witnessed the events, as against puranas, which are simply old stories transmitted, not witnessed. These itihasas are…
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Articles
How a ‘Ram Rajya’ Was Established In South
Published on 27th August, 2022, in Times of India. About 700 years ago, on the banks of Tungabhadra, in Karnataka, as per legend, two brothers known as Harihara and Bukka, saw hares turning around and attacking hunting hounds. They realised that land was special – a place of resistance. So they decided to build a…
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Articles
Vishranti, That State of Repose
Published on 21st August, 2022, in Mid-Day. We spent our lives seeking opportunities to nourish our bodies and minds or defending it from threats. We seek food and pleasure and friendship and power and security. We also create things—goods and services and ideas and art. In other words, life is either about inputs or outputs,…
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Articles
When Somnath Temple Was Being Raided, Chola kings Were Reaching Vietnam
Published on 15th August, 2022, in Times of India. As per Brahmin lore, all civilisation in Tamil lands emerged in a mystical past after Agastya brought grammar from the Himalayan regions, along with mountains and rivers which became known as Southern Kailasa and Southern Ganga. But these are clearly later tales, composed less than thousand…