September 2016
For the primitive man, who led his life like an animal, hunting was the primary means of livelihood. The current article examines the process by which a rustic activity such as hunting helped in the evolution of sophisticated theatrical art forms. We will need to closely examine the relation between reality and the ideality, livelihood and life, the worldly and the sublime while dealing with this subject. When we question ourselves thus, we...
Which is the oldest religion in the world? Nobody knows. Ask the foremost historian or the greatest saint but they will not have an answer. We know so little about the earliest humans who inhabited our planet. But we can take an educated guess about the first god. Keep aside for a moment the view that god created the universe and just consider how humans visualize god. Most probably, the first god that humans recognized and worshiped was the sun...
In our tradition, of the lineage of seers, the family that stands out is the Bhrguvamsha (or the Bhargavavamsha). Bhargava was one of the leaders of our country’s rise in material prosperity; he even tried to reach out to other-worldly wealth. Chyavana, one of the founders of Ayurveda; the seer-poet-artiste Shukracharya, who was a master of the Arthashastra and skilled in martial science; the seer Dadhichi who sacrificed his own body for the...
The agnishomiya vyuha – the Agni-Soma formation – is the cosmic structure, the eternal arrangement. It is the eternal establishment that binds the consumer and the consumed. This concept has been discussed in the Upanishads and the Yogavasishtha. Krishna speaks about this in the Gita when he identifies himself with the sun, the moon, fire, energy, sap, thought, etc. (BG 15.12-15).
While agni represents the consumer, soma represents the consumed...
ಶ್ರೀ ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯರು ಅದ್ವೈತಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತದ ಪರಮಾಚಾರ್ಯರೆಂಬುದು ಸುವಿದಿತ. ಭಾರತದೇಶದ ನಾಲ್ಕು ದಿಕ್ಕುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ ಆಮ್ನಾಯಪೀಠಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಶೃಂಗಗಿರಿಯ ಶಾರದಾಪೀಠವೂ ಒಂದು. ಶಂಕರರ ಶಿಷ್ಯೋತ್ತಮರಾದ ಸುರೇಶ್ವರರು ಈ ಪೀಠದ ಪ್ರಥಮಾಚಾರ್ಯರೆಂಬುದು ಅದರ ಹಿರಿಮೆಗಳಲ್ಲೊಂದು. ಹೀಗೆ ಆಚಾರ್ಯ ಶಂಕರರಿಗೂ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕಕ್ಕೂ ಸಾವಿರವರ್ಷಗಳಿಗೂ ಮೇಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಗಾಢ ನಂಟಸ್ತಿಕೆ ಇದೆ. ವಿಷಾದದ ಸಂಗತಿಯೆಂದರೆ, ಇಷ್ಟು ಗಾಢವಾದ ಸಂಬಂಧವಿದ್ದರೂ ಕನ್ನಡನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಂಕರರ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು ೨೦ನೆಯ ಶತಮಾನದ ಮಧ್ಯಭಾಗದವರೆಗೂ ಹೊರಬರಲಿಲ್ಲವೆಂಬುದು.
ಪ್ರಸ್ಥಾನತ್ರಯಗ್ರಂಥಗಳಿಗೆ (...
साहित्ये सुकुमारवस्तुनि दृढन्यायग्रहग्रन्थिले
तर्के वा मयि संविधातरि समं लीलायते भारती ।
शय्या वास्तु मृदूत्तरच्छदवती दर्भाङ्कुरैरास्तृता
भूमिर्वा हृदयङ्गमो यदि पतिस्तुल्या रतिर्योषिताम् ॥
In the previous story we were introduced to Sriharsha, the preeminent poet and scholar of Sanskrit. We also learned that he went to the court of Jayachandra and sought a debate with Udayanacharya, the resident scholar. His father’s defeat at the scholar’s...
Awareness of Kshaatra in Kalidasa
Arguably the greatest of poets, Kalidasa, shows clearly in the Raghuvamsha how a kingdom should nurture kshaatra and how it should shine brightly if the kingdom has to prosper. By comparison and contrast, Kalidasa shows us how these values should be. Having wages and won wars in all four directions, having beaten the drums of victory all through, hailed as 'राजा प्रकृतिरञ्जनात्' (RV 4.12), such a saga belonged...
Subhashitas (su = good, bhashita = spoken) are self-contained verses that are witty, romantic, wise, puzzling, devotional, sarcastic, or didactic. While many of the subhashitas are standalone compositions by various poets, some of them are extracts from major works of poetry or drama (like Raghuvamsham). Many languages have such standalone verses that deal with a specific topic and set to a poetic meter (of varying lengths; couplets, tercets,...
Do you love your spouse? Do you love your child? Do you love your parents? Do you love your wealth? Do you love wisdom? Do you love power? Do you love god? Most of us would answer with a yes to at least a few of these questions, but according to a famous story in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (2.4.1-5) the answer is no.
As the story goes, the renowned sage Yajnavalkya had two wives – Katyayani and Maitreyi. Before a man retired from active public...
A freewheeling chat with modern-day polymath and Sanskrit scholar, Shataavadhaani Dr. R. Ganesh about sanatana dharma, religion and modernity, text and spirit, community, and how to approach the study of Indian philosophy (darshana) in general. Enlightening, humourous, and charming by turns, this is a must watch!