Religions
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Eden: An Indian Exploration of Jewish, Christian and Islamic Lore
Eden is the garden of happiness that humanity was cast out of when Adam and Eve, the first human couple, disobeyed the one true God, and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. To this garden we shall return if…
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Gods of the Week
Published on 5th December, 2021, in Mid-day. The seven-day-week is not based on any natural phenomena. The ancient Mesopotamians decided that the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days after the new moon were days of rest and that is how…
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Why Does Hindutva Not Like Historians?
Published on 4th December, 2021, in Times of India. The subject that we know as history emerged only in the 19th century. Before that, memory, legends and evidence-based history were all combined as a single unit. They were stories from…
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‘Dharma’ Always Comes With ‘Dharma-sankat’
Published on 4th December, 2021, in The Hindu. In a crime, the victim accuses the villain. But when the villain counter-accuses the victim, and insists the victim is villain too, we call it ‘whataboutery.’ This word is a neologism, first…
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Do Vedas Permit a Man to Marry a Man?
Published on 30th November, 2021, in Economic Times. The world’s oldest wedding hymn is found in the Rig Veda. A thousand year later, dharma-shastra speaks of eight ways in which a man can marry a woman. One of them, not…
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Was the Harappan Civilisation Hindu?
Published on 28th November, 2021, in Mid-day. We often trace the origin of Hinduism to Rig Veda, dated to 1,500 BCE. But the Rig Veda contains ideas that we can trace to Harappan civilisation. For example, Rig Veda mantra 8.47.17…
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Marathi: How to Become Rich
Translated version of How to Become Rich: 12 Lessons I Learnt from Vedic and Puranic Stories Lakshmi is worshipped as the goddess of wealth. Her arrival is considered auspicious, while her departure is bad and inauspicious. In temples, gods are…
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Hindu vs Hindutva: A Mythic Dissonance
Published on 24th November, 2021, in India Today. Hindus are at odds with the world in terms of its underlying mythic structure. By contrast, Hindutva is very much aligned to the dominant global discourse. We realise this if we meditate…
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Loss and Return in the Bible
Published on 21st November, 2021, in Mid-day. The Bible is the holy book of the Christians. It has two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament refers to Jewish stories of prophets and kings. The New…
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How Did Hinduism Come to Dominate India?
Published on 20th November, 2021, in Times of India. Nearly 2,000 years ago, there were Buddhist stupas across India. Nearly 1,500 years ago, there were Buddhist caves in the Deccan. But 1,000 years ago, Buddhist structures were overshadowed by Hindu…
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Study of Myths: How Has Mythology Evolved Over the Years
Published on 14th November, 2021, in Mid-day. The subject of mythology emerged in the 19th Century, as the world discovered the subject of history. Before that, memories, legends, myths, parables, folklore and history were all bundled together in one basket.…
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Temples of Swaminarayan
Published on 13th November, 2021, in Economic Times. Most Indians are familiar with Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his Brahmo Samaj and link it with the 19th Century Hindu reformation. But very few know about Sahajanand Swami or the reforms…
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How Many Types Of Sanyasis Are There?
Published on 6th November, 2021. in Times of India. The idea of hermits, or the wandering ascetic, unwed, and nomadic, was an idea elaborated in post-Vedic literature, dated to 2,500 years ago, when we started hearing about shramanas India is…
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What Creates Culture Also Creates Cult
Published on 5th November, 2021, in The Hindu. Cult refers to religious groups, or brainwashed communities, who believe in the occult, the mystical, the spiritual, the paranormal or the supernatural. Culture refers to a community’s aesthetic expression: food, fashion, customs,…
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Brief History of Hindu Mythology
Published on 31st October, 2021, in Mid-day. Hindu mythology is not static. It has changed over history. In the Rig Veda (1,500 BCE), we are introduced to Indra. He is a powerful celestial being who rides chariots and who defeats…