HINDUISM
Karan Singh (Dr)

Hinduism, New Dawn Press, 112 pp, Rs 99.00

Hinduism is the oldest and most varied of all the great religions of the world. It has evolved out of the collective wisdom and inspiration of great seers and sages from the very dawn of Indian civilisation.

Written by a scholar of Hindu philosophy, Dr Karan Singh, the book outlines the chief facets of Hinduism as a way of life. The word ‘Hinduism’ itself is a geographical term based upon the Sanskrit name for the great river, Sindhu, that runs across the northern boundaries of India. For those living on the other side of this river, the entire region to the south-east of the Sindhu, which the Greeks called the Indus, came to be known as the land of the Hindus, and the vast spectrum of faiths that flourished here acquired the generic name, Hinduism. The author says, “Hinduism calls itself the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal faith, because it is based not upon the teachings of a single preceptor but on the collective wisdom and inspiration of great seers and sages from the very dawn of Indian civilisation.”

He further explains that the Sanskrit word for philosophy, which is darshana or ‘seeing’, implies that Hinduism is not based merely on intellectual speculation but is based upon direct and immediate perception. This distinguished Indian philosophy from much of Western philosophical thought. As we already know the oldest and most important scriptures of Hinduism are the Vedas, which contain inspired utterances of seers and sages who have attained enlightenment. The Vedas are considered eternal, because they are not merely superb poetic compositions but represent the divine truth itself as perceived through the elevated consciousness of great seers.

The author has quoted extensively from the Atharva Veda, the Rig Veda and the Upanishads to prove that Hinduism is “not a passive, world-negating religion” but is “verily a vibrant, life-affirming faith, using ‘life’ in the deeper sense of that supreme poise that transcends the dualities of life and death.” Expounding on the five basic tenets that underlie Hinduism, he says that if properly understood, the tenets provide the key to an understanding of a faith that is bewildering in its apparent diversity and complexity. The first is the concept of Brahman, the unchanging, undying reality that pervades the entire cosmos. The Vedic seers saw that everything in the universe changes, and they called the creation, samsara, that which always moves in this “effulgent universe”.

The author then explains the four purusharthas or goals of life which are dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Dharma implies a total worldview, including a scheme of right conduct under various circumstances. Artha, or wealth, has its importance provided its acquisition and utilisation are in accord with the principles of life. The concept of kama has been enunciated in the Hindu ethos and finally moksha is release from suffering, old age and ultimately from death itself meaning liberation from the wheel of samsara.

He has talked of modern renaissance and how Hinduism rose from its lowest ebb after the Mughal rule. He has talked of Sri Ramakrishna (who proved that far from being a dying religion, Hinduism was an inexhaustible fount of spiritual inspiration), Swami Vivekananda (whose contribution was in the spread of Hindu thought abroad), Mahatma Gandhi (who called for the regeneration of Hinduism and the reform of Hindu society), Sri Aurobindo (who described as the pioneer of the supramental, the ‘integral yoga’), and Sri Ramana Maharshi (who believed in spiritual quest) and their efforts at revival of Hinduism.

This book analyses the impact of Hinduism in the context of modern-day life and is very relevant to the fast-changing mores and values.

Would a Pope ever speak Sanskrit?

Jump to Comments

The Pope giving his Easter blessing. Would a Pope ever speak in Sanskrit?

I was watching the Pope give his Urbi et Orbi Easter address the other day. As he spoke in Italian from the balcony of St. Peters Basilica, thousands of followers packed the concourse below him in the brilliant Rome sunshine. Delegations from different countries were indicating their presence to him by waving their country’s flag. In reciprocation, and after giving them a blessing in Latin, the Pope offered his Easter blessing in many different languages, much to the delight of the crowd.

One form of speech even older than ancient Latin is Sanskrit. Read more

Anti-Sanskrit movement?

One blogger StyleyGeek said...

"Daily meltdown

or This is what a PhD thesis does to your brain

I hate stupid Sanskrit with its stupid grammars written by old dead Germans who don't know how to use section headings or an index or even a freaking table of contents, and their stupid refusal to ever tell you EVER what order words go in, like it's possible to know a language without knowing anything about its word order* just as long as you can decline its stupid nouns and conjugate its stupid verbs, and I especially hate ones that are written in stupid French so I have to read extra slow, with no stupid glosses for the stupid Sanskrit examples, and most of all the ones with no freaking TRANSLITERATIONS like we all have nothing better to do while sitting around reading French written by old dead Germans than to try and decipher the freaking devanagari writing system just to see whether there's an adjective after that noun or not.

And did I mention stupid French grammars of Sanskrit (written by old dead Germans) that are full of examples that totally disprove my main argument for chapter six?

Because I hate them the most.

____________

* And don't tell me Sanskrit has "free" word order. I've heard that one from the tiny number of old dead Germans who mention word order at all, and if you want me to believe that sort of assertion then I want a corpus analysis with convincing statistics (or at the very least some freaking glossed examples) to demonstrate it."

IN answer to THESE reproaches...

Do you mean hating Sanskrit or only its stupid grammars written by German and French scholars? Do you really consider artificial programming Sanskrit language with boundless possibilities of expression to be stupid and English with its destroyed during the Great Phonetic Shift grammar and consecutive rigid word order to be flexible enough for optimized programming? Right, you cannot know anything without knowing something about its logical order. Grammar is logics or most essential part of it. Sanskrit logics is thousands times more complicated than English. Declination of its “stupid” nouns and conjugation of its “stupid” verbs is artificial highly sophisticated formal logical instrument removing any ambiguity within absolute freedom not only of words but even of syllables. This freedom of phonemic order is not attainable by any vernacular in the world least of all by rigid English. Freaking TRANSLITERATION is needed only in such degraded vernacular languages as English. Any really developed LANGUAGE DOES NOT need it. Especially, devanagari writing system with several hundreds letters, where the rule ‘what you here so you write’ is an axiom. Your stupid arrogance is baseless. European Sanskrit grammars of the 19^th c. might have been stupid; they all were products of a very young linguistics. But why cannot you apply your brilliant brain to the ancient Vedic algebraic grammar of Panini or Vedic metrics of Pingala? Why nobody can do it till present? Everybody understands that one life so dear to him or her is not enough for the purpose of decoding and deciphering the Vedas along the lines of autochthonous Vedic mathematical-logical tradition. Without mastering the science of full concentration and dedication (yoga), without cosmic ethics (Vedanta), without full-developed intuition and integral logics (nyaya-vaisheshika), whithout the knowledge of Vedic textology and chrono-programming (mimansa), without study of the Vedas (SCIENCES – ANALITICS OF LANGUAGE OR GRAMMAR ETC.), nobody of sound mind won’t dare to deny their value.

I strongly recommend you check out this site. You have to read my recent groundbreaking book Key to the Vedas. It can really help you get understanding of this highly intriguing matter.

Visit my site dedicated to the description of the Vedas decipherment

Thanks for taking the time to look through the Introduction to the first Part of the book.

You may drop some lines here

or using my email mihail [at] mogilev [.] by.

Your Friend,

Mikhail :).

The moment one hears the word Vedas; one associates the word with the
superstitious, orthodox, ritualistic Indian mythology. The Indian way
of living, the languages that we speak, the religion we follow, the
concepts of morals and ethics are but an offshoot of what the Vedas
hold in its wide spectrum. This tradition enjoyed supreme status once
upon a time.
It speaks of a rich cultural past, the incomprehensible treasure
troves of knowledge and an innate sense of well-being. Nothing about
Vedas appears to be contemporary or happening. Yet everything about
India is associated with rich Vedic culture tradition. In fact, the
language of Veda, Sanskrit, called Geervana Bharathi, suggests that it
is the language of Bharatha (India). The Indian term for culture -
Samskruthi - has been derived from the word Samskriti. In short, Vedic
tradition is the decoction of the very essence of India. Read more

1. Are science and technology a gift of the west only or did India also have a tradition of its own?

2. In which spheres had science been developed in India?

3. Was there any scientific knowledge in India about the final purpose of science and technology? And if there was any, what was special about it?

4. Does Indian science vision have any solution to the various problems the world is facing, with regard to the development of science and technology? Read more
   

Again, as Dr Narayanacharya puts it beautifully: “The Buddhist sense of growing identity, the Jain sense of moral purity and self-efforts to seek perfection, the Vedic goal of achieving victory over forces of evil in man, Sankara’s idea of man’s inherent Divinity, Ramanuja’s idea of inseparable relations between man and God, Madhva’s idea of eternal plurality, Vivekananda’s call for achievement of Perfection, Sri Aurobindo’s idea of man becoming Superman… are all signs of growing, living organic thought-current, life current for which there is no parallel anywhere in the world”. It is in the acceptance of this that makes for a peaceful world. Read more

A tale of Hindu genocide in Kashmir

Girdhari Lal Jalali: Jihad in Kashmir - A Critical Analysis, Vakil Publications, 286 pp, Rs 500.00

A number of books on the above subject have flooded the market since the onset of insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir, the Kashyap’s land. The book under review is written by a Kashmiri who was born and brought up in Kashmir and has been witness to years of turmoil and political strife since December 1989, when insurgency gained momentum catching unaware and unprepared the powers that be in Kashmir and Delhi. The author, executive director of The Kashmir Gazette, has closely studied the socio-political situation, which ultimately snowballed into a revolt by a particular community backed by India’s hostile neighbour, Pakistan. Read more

For the first time in the history, a westerner receives an award at Sanskrit Faculty, Benares Hindu University. Bhakta Demian was a Christian monk when he joined ISKCON in Brazil and after studying philosophy, classical literature and linguistics at university, he set for India to study Sanskrit. He was the first westener ever admitted at Sanskrit Faculty, B.H.U., where the traditional way of learning is still prevalent and the medium of instruction is spoken Sanskrit. Read more

Yudhamanyu tries to justify undiscriminated idea of Vedic and Sikh relationship.

Here are his quotes that show the relationship between Hinduism and Sikhism. This allegedly establishes the fact that Sikhism is a sect of Hinduism.

My reply.

We must apply viveka and logics everywhere, especially, in the domain of history, philosophy and religion. We must discriminate between different sects and their philosophies. Sikh religion and their mystic and heroic poetry belong to totally different epoch than the main source of ‘Vedic religion’. Moreover, the Vedas in no way represent laukika poetry. They belong to para-vidya (highest syncretic knowledge), integral synergetic computer science, which embraced higher discrete mathematics, astronomy of eternal calendar, cryptology, algebraic language analytics, integral philosophy with ALL special disciplines (mathematical and dialectical logics, parapsychology, universal ethics AND SO ON AND SO FORTH… Medieval sects are mainly expressions of bhakti towards the Vedas or this or that Vedic symbol… Integral Vedic knowledge based scientific tradition was heavily eroded with advent of Islam and is yet to be discovered with the aid of most sophisticated computers… Read my 3 vols. Key to the Vedas giving a bundle of answers to most enigmatic questions such as MANTRA, RISHI, DEVA, VEDIC SCRIPT, 12 VEDIC DIGITAL CODES, VEDIC ASTRONOMICAL RITUALS for more details.

Wishing you perfect knowledge of the Vedas!

Jayarava ("Song, cry or shout of victory"), a member of the Western Buddhist Order, has discovered an interesting peculiarity of ancient Vedic and Buddhist texts (see for further details his blog).
My comment.
You rightly point out that "The early Upanishads contain several little treatises on the associations of syllables with esoteric meaning - Chandogya 1.3.6 for instance". Yes, indeed, "Shabara has taken this to it's logical conclusion and given significance to all of the syllables". But not only Shabara. Panini and Pingala showed and explained the character of the meaning of Vedic syllables. ALGEBRA!!! PROGRAMMING!!! ASTRONOMY!!!! This Vedic or Vedangic methodology of Vedic interpretation does entirely solve the problem of logically establishing the scientific nature of the Vedas. The deciphering of this content is my project during the last 15 years. This deciphering revealed extraordinary important layers of precise mathematical-astronomical meaning. Visit my page http://key.itved.com

Justice Sachar Committee's gigantic political fraud-II

V SUNDARAM

"In Chapter 4, while pleading for the cause of Urdu for being considered as an elective subject in schools , the Sachar Committee trains its guns on the teaching of Sanskrit"... Read more

Post to http://hindublog.blogspot.com/2006/09/origin-of-hinduism-i.html Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The Vedas (Sciences) have no history, but Hinduism is its product, is a mixture of different cultures and religions, that's why you cannot define it. It is similar to Europeism, Asianism, Americanism, Sovietism or Africanism. All of them are territorial amalgamations of different cultures. Hinduism presents Nothing special. History in ancient terminology is parampara. Without respect to parampara India could not preserve its Vedic legacy. The great scientists-philosophers who gave us the Upanishads, Vedas and other Holy Scriptures, never talked about the history of their clan or kingdom. Why should they? What's the need to talk about your clan in a book on physics or astronomy? History is of no use only to animals not in any way to the mankind.

The great thoughts found in the Upanishads are really eternal, but they do not have any practical use in everyday life of an individual. They form the chronomatrix of an organized cosmos and are precious foundations of a peaceful and civilized society.

Our world is dominated not by religions, especially not by monolithic ones (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity are amalgamations composed of innumerable sects). Our world as any world is governed by Time (Shiva Mahakala). All religions have symbolic mythological founders (Hinduism is not an exception). But in reality, these founders were simply symbols of certain subdivisions of very complex Vedic (scientific) texts. Do not try to reduce the value of true Vedic religion to an abstract way of life. There are texts, which talk more about day-to-day obligations, but there are still others, which expound mathematics, programming, astronomy, linguistics and many other brunches of knowledge. Why cannot you see? The question ‘Who am I?’ is of primordial importance. Try to answer it first before jumping to unverifiable mundane conclusions about something ambivalent, extraordinary complex and eluding all plain explanations.

The question of origin of Hinduism is one of such difficult scientific problems. You are trying maybe unconsciously to denigrate the efforts of many scholars all over the world to solve this problem.

Read my book Key to the Vedas and find scientifically proved theory and methodology of Vedic interpretation.

Dr. Mikhail Mikhailov (Belarus)

http://key.itved.com

Next Nobel Prize for Indian literature?

Next Nobel Prize for Indian literature?

Which Indian language will have the distinction?

Kannada or Bengali, Malayalam? Tamil has no chance! So too Hindi & others!

As I finished writing on Tagore and Yeats my thoughts turned to contemporary Indian literature.

The Indian language literature. One of my recent preoccupations has been to promote Tamil, my mother tongue, its current literature to reach an all Indian audience, if not an international audience.

The Tamils are very proud people, proud about their 2,000 odd years of ancient literature, Tamil being a classical language on par with Sanskrit and other languages.

Yet, the current Tamil literary scenario leaves one rather bewildered if not down right sad and angry at once. The Dravidian politicians and their henchmen, some of these are poets, film poets and others and also the Tamil scholars are all thoroughly brain-washed by selfish interests in the political arena.

Read more

The Vedas

There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It is generally believed that the Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas and was composed about 1500 B.C. But this dating is arbitrary. It is unknown when it was finally comitted to writing, but this probably was at some point after the beginning of the C.E.

It is affirmed without sufficient proofs that the Vedas contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient India. See more on the Vedas and other sacred Indian texts

Indraprasth - The name Veda, which symbolises knowledge,
heritage and much more to Indians, has been appropriated
by a German firm, which has obtained trademark rights
over it.

The firm, VEDA GmbH of Germany, involved in development
of computer software has obtained exclusive rights over
the name, albeit for its computer products and registered
it in many countries.

Read more