December 2020
According to the Hindu calendar, a span of sixty years is counted as a paryāya. From the start of the Prabhava saṃvatsara till the end of the Akṣaya saṃvatsara is a period of sixty years.[1] We can imagine these to be sixty spokes in the wheel of kāla-puruṣa’s chariot.[2] From one Prabhava to the next Prabhava is one complete rotation of that wheel. Or from Vibhava to Vibhava, Śukla to Śukla, and so on. A cycle of sixty saṃvatsaras is what makes...
His younger contemporary, Abhinavagupta, of Kashmir, is a giant in every sense of the word. By his own admission, he was not short of guidance, and it shows in his works. In his commentaries, he fondly mentions two of his Gurus: Bhaṭṭatauta, who taught him Nāṭya-śāstra,[1] and Bhaṭṭendurāja, who taught him Dhvanyāloka.[2] Both were from Kashmir and, by Abhinavagupta’s own description, were masters of Aesthetics. Abhinavagupta is best known for...
The greatest and most expansive epic in the world, the Mahābhārata, is a unique Itihāsa treatise that captures all the prominent events of the Dvāpara-yuga[1]. Bhagavān Veda-vyāsa, who has obtained an exalted position among the ranks of the cirañjīvīs[2] of our tradition, is not merely the creator of the Mahābhārata but is also an important character in it. The narration of events that transpired over a long period of time, the advocacy of all-...
The next morning, when he regained his senses, the man was ashamed looking at his state. He cleaned up and rushed to Parivrājikā's house. He tied his head with a piece of cloth to hide the embarrassing seal and pretended to have a severe headache. He wanted the rest of them to face the kind of humiliation he had undergone. He said, ‘As I was returning from her place, thieves robbed me of all my belongings.’
The next three nights, the other three...
Childhood and Education
During his childhood he lost eyesight in one of his eyes while playing gilli-daṇḍa[1]. By 1947 he lost eyesight in the other eye too. Thus all his main works were dictated and written by a scribe. His writing skills and his memory were extraordinary.
He hailed from a traditional, erudite household. (Birth: 4th November 1893 in Nanjangud, Mysore. Death: 7th January 1971 in Bangalore). Sri. Nageshwara Jois was his father....
The Style of a Conversation between Friends
The sequence of the Gītā appears jumbled at times. The Gītā is referred to as a śāstra. Its theme does make it one. But in the Gītā’s method of instruction, we do not see a systematic division and order in its topics as in a school textbook. There is a chapter-wise division for sure. But the matter apposite to a specific chapter-topic shows up admixed in a different one. Another chapter’s issue shows...
Tenth Century CE
With the continuing decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, Arabs continued to hold only a small part of Sindh even after 300+ years since their first attack on Bhārata.[1] The empire and the army of the mighty Gurjara Pratiharas were continuously knocking on the borders of Sindh and only an incredulous lack of foresight seemed to have held them back from annihilating the Islamists in Sindh.[2] However, the beginning of the tenth...
- « first
- ‹ previous
- 1
- 2
- 3