Mumbai Mirror

Published on 5th June, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. The Ramayana has been seen differently by different people. It’s a story rooted in Vedic culture that thrived in 1,000 BCE, in the Gangetic plains. But it was put down in writing only 2,000 years ago, in classical Sanskrit. There are many Sanskrit texts claiming to be the original Valmiki Ramayana, but there are many differences between them. Besides written texts, a whole bunch of oral traditions exist, that bypassed Sanskrit texts and appear in regional versions, in written, visual and oral form, a diversity that disturbs politicians who seek homogeneity. One written retelling tells the story ..

Published on 22nd May, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Buddhism speaks of the discourses given by the Buddha to thousands of monks, nuns and lay people at Jetavana. Jainism speaks of samavasaran, when the Tirthankara reveals Jain wisdom to all creatures, earthly and heavenly, who sit around him in a circle. Jewish folk speak of Moses speaking from atop Mount Sinai. Christians speak of Jesus delivering the sermon on the mount. Muslims speak of Muhammad giving his final farewell sermon after his first Haj pilgrimage after the conquest of Mecca. But Hindus? Do Hindu gurus give sermons? Yes, in the 21st Century. Following the Buddhist and ..

Who is a Hindu? Are Brahmins a single, homogenous group? Published on 25th April, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Brahmins have to be distinguished from rishis, who actually ‘saw’ the mantras and transmitted them in the Vedas. They were different from tapasvis, sanyasis and sramanas who meditated, practiced yoga, and performed tantric rites. In theory, they were aware of “brahmana”, the impersonal divine that animates the cosmos. In practice, they were men who memorised and transmitted Vedic chants and Vedic rituals. Killing them was akin to destroying a library as writing was unknown in the Vedic times, and all chants were passed down by word-of-mouth. So, ..

Who is a Hindu? Why is there no Judgement Day in Hinduism? Published on 11th April, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Hindus believe in rebirth and so greater value is given to debt to the world and liberation from the world, and less to what is right and wrong. Qayamat is an important concept in Islam. On this day, after death, humans will be judged. The good who followed Allah’s laws (halal) will go to heaven (Jannat) and the rest who broke Allah’s law (haram) will go to hell (Jahannum). This idea is painted by Michelangelo on the walls of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Jesus, ..

Published on 14th March, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. The Bhil Bharata is a tribal version of the Mahabharata. There is much it shares with the classical Sanskrit Mahabharata. However, when it comes to women, it has an altogether different take. In this retelling, Goddess Shakti takes the form of an eagle and impales herself on the trident of the seven sages. From its bones is born Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas. From its flesh and blood, is born Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas. One night the Pandavas discover the true nature of their mother Kunti. They find the gods, including Indra, coming down ..

Published on 28th February, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Temples dedicated to Ravana in MP, and rulers claiming descent from him in this region, indicate that Lanka may not be across the ocean as imagined, but very much within Indian territory. Many people are convinced that the Ramayana they saw on television is history, and that Sri Lanka is Ravana’s Lanka, and that Karnataka is Sugriva’s Kishkinda. This is reaffirmed by pilgrim spots in Nashik (from where Sita was abducted), Hampi (where Ram met Hanuman), and Rameshwaram (from where Ram’s bridge was built), and the many tourists spots in Sri Lanka identified as Ravana’s palace and ..

Published on 30th January, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Hindutva keeps saying that Hindus never invaded foreign lands; that India has always been invaded. They speak mostly of Muslim invasion and ‘thousand years of slavery’ but rarely of Persian, Greek, Scythian, Kushan (Chinese) invasions that took place 2,000 years ago. And they completely ignore the invasion of Malaysia by the naval fleet of the Tamil Chola empire, in1068 CE (less than 50 years after Mahmood of Ghazni raided the Somnath temple) or claim Malaysia as part of ‘Akhand Bharat’. Somehow internal invasions are not counted as invasions. No one seems to know of the Maratha attacks ..

Published on 16th January, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Desire is a recurring theme in some of earliest verses of Hindu tradition, found in the Rig Veda. It is what inspires creation itself. It is what Apala craves when Indra offers her a boon. It is what Lopamudra demands from her husband Agastya, who is distracted by rituals. It is what makes the apsara Urvashi fond of the human king Pururava, before she abandons him for the pleasures of Paradise. There is also a rather bizarre hymn where the mighty Indra’s desirability and virility is paradoxically dependent on his queen, Indrani, copulating with the even more ..

Published on 3rd January, 2021, in The Times of India. Social Justice warriors will often tell the story from the Uttara Ramayana of how Ram beheaded the ‘low’ caste Shambuka for breaking caste rules and performing austerities like a dvija or a twice-born, ‘upper’ caste Savarna. But they will not tell you that the same Uttara Ramayana reminds us that Ravana, killed by Ram, was also a Brahmin, a Vedic scholar, son of Rishi Vishrava, grandson of Rishi Pulatsya, great grandson of Brahma. So why does Ram – the alleged patron of Hindutva politics – behead a Brahmin? And why does Krishna encourage the killing ..