jabdakhata

Probably the people who have initiated legal action should follow this example. They need to study in greater depth their own scriptures and also Western philosophy, be a master of history and then counter the claims made by the relevant scholar. They need to understand that hard work and sacrifice goes a long way in countering falsifications than mere obstinacy and opposition. They also need to understand that when they oppose anything just because it does not match their own conviction, without fighting it logically and rationally, they are merely following their own ego. Whosoever believes that this work would cause damage to Hinduism and therefore should be withdrawn from market is extremely ignorant, because he/she has underestimated the resilience of the mother of all religions. He/She is simply making the scholar undeservedly a hero or worse a martyr in the  intellectual  circle. Instead one should expose their hollowness and intellectual shallowness. That is precisely what Vi

It was at this juncture when calumnies upon calumnies were heaped upon it that Hinduism not only survived but was rejuvenated under a towering figure whose knowledge of both Eastern scriptures and Western science and philosophy put his adversaries to shame. He was none other than Vivekananda. While several noted Hindu scholars had earlier defended their faith against the propaganda and vilification campaigns, notable among them being Bankim Chandra, Aurobindo and Tilak, Vivekananda fought the battle on the enemy’s turf and on a much grander scale. He had to endure attacks from many fronts, even from the orthodox section of his own country whom he was defending, from the missionaries who identified him as their number one enemy, from the offshoot sects like Brahmos and theosophists. But he was undaunted and unmoved. Any lesser mortal would have been overwhelmed by the combined attack, esp. on a foreign soil, but not Vivekananda. He was made of stronger mettle. In his lecture in Detroi

There is a lot of hot debates and discussion over certain scholar’s “scholarly” depiction of Hinduism. There has been much heartburn over it and now the publisher has withdrawn the book from Indian market. In the past 5000 years or more of Indian history there have been thousands of such scholars who have attacked and denigrated Hindu religion in particular and India in general. Did anything earth shattering happen? In the past two hundred years many European intellectuals and scholars unearthed a lot of hidden meanings, mostly with sexual connotation in the various symbols of Hinduism. Their findings were based on what they saw and what they wanted to believe – stories in Puranas with tales of adultery etc, famous temples with erotic curving, the devdasis in the Soutern temples, the worship of Shiva Linga or phalanx and Yoni or the Shakti principle, the Tantras, esp. the Vamachara with explicit sexual practices prescribed by the aspirants, the Rasa Leela with its apparent erotic s

It is evident that the composer of Mahabharata and Purana, Vyasa, knew very well the true significance of the Vedic Gods. He knew that when Veda speaks about Indra or Agni, they are not eulogizing a few minor Gods, but rather they, through the Karmakanda, are actually trying to reach out to one Supreme Being in various names and forms which would appeal to  worshipers  of various temperaments. The same concept is then being developed as a higher stage of spirituality in the Upanishads. Karmakanda is thus a step in the ladder to climb up and reach the roof of spiritual ascent, viz. Advaita. Since Shakti is not given due importance in Vedas and yet, got a lot of importance in Mahabharata and Puranas, it is evident that the Vedic sages considered God as an entity without sex. If they had promoted the male principle then Mahabharata and Puranas would have no other option than to follow suit and Tantra would not have become popular. Thus it is also evident that there is a progressive deve

Rik Veda is claimed to be polytheist by many scholars. In a way it is because there are hymns addressed to apparently various Gods. Most of the hymns are addressed to Indra and Agni, several to Mitra-Varuna, others to different divine entities like Tvasta, Pushana, Savitri, Soma, Ashwins, Rudra and so on. Since these entitles also represented a particular form of nature, many may think that the sages, being awed by the power of nature, composed hymns by ascribing to every natural phenomenon a divine power. The Western scholars also assert that Vedas to Mahbharata to Upanishads represent an evolution of spiritual thought, with Karmakanda of the Vedas with nature worship as the predominant goal is the first stage, Some prominent Puranas with myriads of forms and personal gods the second, Mahabharata with Vishnu as the Supreme Being and Gods relegated to secondary position is the third stage and almost in parallel with the Puranas. Upanishads are the final stage where theology is fully