January 2020
Dharmarāja went to the Himalayas with his younger bothers and gathered the ingredients required for the Aśvamedha-yāga. He also found large quantities of wealth there. He got them loaded on to the backs of elephants and camels and got his servants bring them to the capital city. Days rolled on and the day of the yāga came closer. Kṛṣṇa came to Hastinagara with his sister Subhadrā, brother Balarāma and several other Yādavas. Uttarā gave birth to...
“Kālidāsa composed poems in Kannada”:
वाणीवीणागुणरणनचिन्माधुरीमोदयुक्त्या
गौरीशर्वाद्वयनयजयप्रीतिसंस्फूर्तिशक्त्या।
देशस्यास्य प्रसृमरकलाशास्त्रविज्ञानरक्त्या
कर्णाटोक्त्या कवनमकरोत् कालिदासः कवीन्द्रः॥[1]
Attuning his words to the lilting melody of Sarasvatī’s lute, being inspired by the unalloyed love of the inseparable couple Śiva and Pārvatī, and enriching the all-round culture of our country, Kālidāsa composed his poems in Karṇāṭa-bhāṣā....
Here is a verse composed by Naraṣiñyācārya, dedicated towards his teacher.
ಗೋಪೀನಾಥಗುರಂ ವಂದೇ
ಗೋಪೀಚಂದನಧಾರಿಣಮ್ |
ಅಂಗಾರತುಳಸೀಯುಕ್ತಂ
ಆರ್ದ್ರಚಿಕ್ಕಪಟಾನ್ವಿತಮ್ ||
I bow down to my teacher Gopīnathācārya, who bears Gopī-candana, adorned with Aṅgāra[1] and Tulasī[2], covered by small wet cloth.
‘Cikka’ here refers to small (washed and sanctified) cloth which is typically worn during the worship of the deities. ‘Ārdra’ signifies that it is still wet....
‘Kamala Lectures’
In 1926, the Culcutta University invited Srinivasa Sastri to deliver talks as a part of the Kamala Lectures series. The word ‘Kamala’ that appears in the title of the lecture series was the name of the daughter of Ashutosh Mukherjee, the Vice Chancellor of the University. He had initiated the series of endowment lectures and had donated for the purpose. As per the rules of the series, the person invited to deliver lectures at...
গীতায় কৃষ্ণ একজন “স্থিতপ্রজ্ঞ” ব্যক্তি হয়ে ওঠার বিষয়ে একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ধারণার অবতারণা করেছেন, অর্থাৎ, একজন ব্যক্তি যিনি বিচার-বিবেচনাপূর্ণ এবং অবিচলিত বুদ্ধিমত্তার অধিকারী। তিনি বলেন, “যিনি স্বার্থপরতা বর্জন করে শুধুমাত্র সত্যের স্বরূপেই পরিতৃপ্তি লাভ করেন, তিনিই ‘স্থিতপ্রজ্ঞ’ “(ভ. গী. ২.৫৫)। অন্যভাবে বলা যায়, তিনি অর্জুনকে ‘দেহাভিমান’ ত্যাগ করতে বলছেন, যার অর্থ সেইপ্রকার মনোভাব, যখন জীবনের প্রতি নিবদ্ধ দৃষ্টি একরকম দেহ ও বস্তুভিত্তিক ঘোরের...
Dharmarāja offered tarpaṇa to Bhīṣma and as he neared the shores of Ganga, he collapsed out of sorrow. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Kṛṣṇa, Vyāsa and everyone else present there consoled him and got him back to his senses. Dhṛtarāṣṭra said – “Get up, Yudhiṣṭhira! Take care of the things that you need to hereafter. Rule the kingdom that you have won over as per the dharma of the Kṣatriyas! It is only Gāndhārī and I who will need to lament at this juncture. The...
There is another variety of poetic challenges in which every foot of a verse is composed by a different poet. The one who composes the first line has the responsibility to provide enough room for other poets to develop on the idea. Metrical feet should ideally grow in complexity and culminate in the fourth line. Doubtless, all four lines should be self-complete, and the verse, taken as a whole, should appear as a single unit. We provide a couple...
ಸಭಾಪರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ದ್ರೌಪದಿ ಅನುಭವಿಸುವ ಅಪಮಾನ ಮನಃಕ್ಲೇಶಗಳು ಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು ಅನುಭವಿಸಿರಬಹುದಾದ ದಾರುಣ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ನಾವು ಊಹಿಸುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತವೆ. ದ್ರೌಪದಿ ಪಾಂಡವರಂತಹ ಮಹಾವೀರರನ್ನು ಗಂಡಂದಿರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದು, ಅರಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಮಹಾರಾಣಿ. ಅಂತಹ ಹೆಣ್ಣನ್ನು, ಅದೂ ಅಗ್ನಿಕನ್ಯೆ ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧಳಾಗಿದ್ದವಳನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿದ ರಾಜ ಸಭೆಗೆ ಎಳೆದುತಂದು ವಸ್ತ್ರಾಪಹರಣದ ತನಕ ಹೋದರೆಂದರೆ, ಇದೆಂಥ ಶಿಷ್ಟ ಸಮಾಜ? ಅಪಮಾನ ಮಾಡಿದವರು, ಶಸ್ತ್ರಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳು, ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳು ಮುಂತಾದ ಸಕಲ...