Vedic
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Indra’s Paradise Is the Indian Paradise
Published on 30th April, 2023, in Mid-day. Swarga or paradise of the gods, full of wish-fulfilling trees, damsels and musicians, is described in Buddhist and Jain mythologies, not just Hindu mythology. When Buddha attains nirvana, he first travels to the…
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A Serial Killer From Vedic Times
Published on 16th April, 2023, in Mid-day. The Jaiminiya Brahmana is the prose section of the Sama Veda, composed almost 2,800 years ago. It tells the story of one Yavkri, the first serial rapist and murderer of Hindu mythology. The text states…
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Reframing Hindu Gods As Saviour Gods
Published on 9th April, 2023, in Mid-day. As per Christianity mythology, Jesus was crucified on Friday and he resurrected himself on Sunday. By defying death, he declares his status as Son of God. He is the saviour. Why do humans…
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Why Puranas Represent a Wider Indian Ethos Than the Vedas
Published on 5th April, 2023, in Times of India. The Puranas are called the fifth Veda, but they are not quite Vedic. We realise this from a single incident that took place in Maharashtra at the start of the 20th…
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How Was I Conceived?
Published on 2nd April, 2023, in Mid-day. In Ramayan, Sita is ploughed out from the earth. She is called the daughter of the earth. Earth is her biological mother but she has no biological father. Janaka, King of Mithila, is…
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Veda 360 degrees
Veda 360 degrees is a deep dive into India’s oldest scripture, the soul of Hinduism, where we learn about Vedas, its origin, its structure, its content and how is it connected to current Hindu customs and beliefs.
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Pre-history of Aryans They Don’t Tell You
Published on 11th March, 2023, in Times of India. Nationalists on social media argue that the Mahabharata war took place 5,000 years ago, in 3,000 BCE, based on verses from 2,000-year-old manuscripts. They believe that Krishna and Arjuna rode a…
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Are You a Harappan or Vedic Woman?
Published on 5th March, 2023, in Mid-day. Harappan cities thrived between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE. The Vedic culture thrived between 1000 BCE and 500 BCE. Almost 1,000 years apart, the two cultures reveal two different worlds for women. When…
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Parshuram’s Tryst With Kshatriyas
Published on 26th February, 2023, in Mid-day. Parshuram was born in a Brahmin family of the Bhrigus. His father, Jamadagni, was a sage who performed rituals in exchange for which he received cows. His mother was a princess. Parshuram is…
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Why the Location of Shiva’s Pillars Has Become So Controversial
Published on 25th February, 2023, in Times of India. The Assam government’s claim that the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is located in the northeastern state has spawned yet another religious flashpoint. This is what happens when mythology is assumed to be history…
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Veda, Vedanga, Vedanta
Published on 19th February, 2023, in Mid-day. Hinduism can be divided into three major eras. Veda dominated 3,000 years ago, Vedanga dominated 2,000 years ago, and Vedanta became central 1,000 years ago. These are approximations of course, but a good…
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Donation of Courtesans
Published on 17th February, 2023, in Economic Times. Chanakya’s Arthashastra talks about appointing a superintendent for the ganika, variously translated as pleasure women, prostitutes or courtesans. This is done in a matter-of-fact way. No morality is attached. Ganikas were valuable…
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Diversity Amongst Brahmins
Published on 12th February, 2023, in Mid-day. Our textbooks teach us that Hindu society is divided into four groups: Brahmin, Kshatriyas, Vaishya, Shudras, consisting of priests, landed aristocrats, merchants and servants. This is the Vedic varna system. However, this is…
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Oxus Between Harappans and Aryans
Published on 5th February, 2023, in Mid-day. No conversation about Harappans and Aryans is now complete without discussing the Oxus civilisation. Cities of the Oxus civilisation, in what is now Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, traded with cities of the Harappan civilisation…
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How Gods, Demons Formed India’s Mountains, Rivers and Seas
Published on 28th January, 2023, in The Times of India. One of the ways you map India is through the Shakti Pithas. It is said that when the goddess got angry with her father, Daksha, for insulting her husband, Shiva,…
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How the Gayatri Mantra, composed by men, heard by men, for a male deity, became embodied as a goddess
Published on 27th January, 2023, in The Hindu. Mantra is a carefully crafted sound formula that has the power to invoke and anchor divine energy for the benefit of humans: this is what Hindus, Buddhists and Jains believe. Rig Veda…