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What are Vedic values, aka ‘Indian Ethos’ of the Hindus?
Published on 27th August, 2016, on dailyo.in The concept of “values” comes from the corporate world. And every corporate world, even the most corrupt, has “values” printed on its annual general report....
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Judging Surpanakha and Ravana
Published on 11th September, 2014, in Mid-Day In the Ramayana, a rakshasa woman called Surpanakha desires Ram and wants to be his lover. He rejects her advances. She approaches his brother, Lakshman,...
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A Jain Jatayu
Published on 16th October, 2016, in Mid-Day Many Jain scholars have retold the Ramayana epic. Here, Ram is addressed as Padma and is considered a Baladeva, one of the 63 types of great men who live in...
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Reverse devotion
Published on 6th November, 2016, in Mid-Day Bhakti is translated as devotion. And, generally, devotion is viewed as something feudal, a kind of loyalty, the kind demanded by cult or tribal leaders from...
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When did events of Ramayana and Mahabharata actually occur?
Published on 30th November, 2016, on www.dailyo.in It all depends on what answer you are prepared to receive, for the answer is complicated and mired in politics. There are essentially two kinds of...
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Epics as Novels
Published on 8th January 2017, in Mid-day Most people in India are not familiar with the Sanskrit Ramayana or Mahabharata. We read popular versions, which in turn are based on regional retellings,...
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Do Hindus lose their caste when they travel abroad?
Published on 15th January, 2017, on www.dailyo.in Answering this question depends on whether you value caste, or you are indifferent to it. If you value caste, then this thought can be depressing, even...
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If not Valentine, then Kama?
Published on 12th February, 2017, in Mid-day Here it comes. 14th February. The day dreaded by some earnest Indian youth leaders who are convinced that love and desire and sex are foreign contaminations...
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How different are the Jain Ramayana and Jain Mahabharata from Hindu narrations?
Published on 28th February, 2017, on www.dailyo.in Jainism, like Hinduism, considers itself to be sanatan dharma, the eternal faith, with no beginning (anadi) and no end (ananta). Historians, however,...
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Dharma in the forest
Art by Devdutt Pattanaik Published on 9th April, 2017, in Mid-Day In the beginning was the forest. Humans domesticated the forest to create culture, a space where they could feel secure. However, as...
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The Immortals
Published on 23rd April, 2016, in Mid-day In Hindu mythology, whenever an asura asks for immortality, Brahma tells them that they can have whatever they wish except that. The clever asura then asks...
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What is Tamil Veda?
Published on 15th May, 2017, on www.dailyo.in Depending on who you ask, you will find one of three books identified as the Tamil Veda, locally known as Dravida Veda or Tamil Marai: 1) Thirukkural, a...
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Why do Hindus prefer birth anniversaries to death anniversaries?
Published on 15th July, 2017, on www.dailyo.in Hindus do prefer birth anniversaries (jayanti) over death anniversaries (punya tithi). However, we can qualify this by saying most Hindu festivals are...
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Brahmins who rejected Ram
Art by Devdutt Pattanaik Published on 17th September, 2017, in Mid-day One of the codes for feminism in India is to decry Ram, hero of the Ramayana, for abandoning his pregnant wife in the forest....
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Who is a Hindu? Karma, caste and free will.
Published on 29th October, 2017, in Mumbai Mirror The other day, a journalist kept repeating over and over again how she found the doctrine of karma problematic. Of course, her understanding of karma...
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Old rishis, new rishis
Art by Devdutt Pattanaik Published on 5th November, 2017, in Mid-day Hindus believe that knowledge (“veda” in Sanskrit) comes not from a human source, but from nature at large. This knowledge reveals...
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Does Hinduism have anything to say about mind, perception and cognition?
Published on 15th November, 2017, on www.dailyo.inz Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism give as much value to cognition as Judaism, Christianity and Islam give to commandments. This can be seen as the...
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Who is a guru?
Published on 30th November, 2017, on www.dailyo.in The word guru traditionally meant “one with gravitas”. In recent times, a neo-etymology has become popular where guru is one who takes one from...
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Exploring Hanuman Chalisa
Published on 16th July, 2017, in Mid-day One of the things that catch your eye in the middle of a horrifyingly crowded Mumbai local train is the sight of people sitting or standing in a corner, reading...
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Is divorce permitted in Hinduism?
Published on 1st September, 2017, on www.dailyo.in The Naradasmriti dharmashastra (XII 97), a Hindu law book, states: “When her husband is lost, or dead, becomes an ascetic, is impotent, or is expelled...
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