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This anthology, consisting of fourteen essays, deals with a variety of themes that are of central importance for an authentic appreciation of the philosophical core of the Indian culture. The readers will find here illuminating discussions on various issues that bear witness to the critical thinking and deep reflection on the part of the author that have enabled her to carefully expose the subtle internal divergences that nourish the Indian conceptual world.
Based on arduous and painstaking research, these essays focus on a range of topics. There are several essays on multiple aspects of the large themes of time and consciousness, penetrating analysis showing how in the ancient discourse ideas of klesha (affliction), abhyasa (practice) and karuna (compassion) as well as on women and values are dealt with. There are also deliberations on the themes of religious diversity and the need for an encounter of world religions along with the attempt to explore India’s self-image. All these have contemporary relevance, as these essays clearly bring out the distinctive character of a living culture.
The volume speaks about the civilisational dimensions of religion and culture in India, unity and diversity of Indian civilisation, idea of civilisation, ecological crisis in the modern world, relationship between tribal and non-tribal religions, religious philanthropy, Christian influence on Hindu way of life in India, and concept of composite culture of India.
The volume deals with the civilizational dimensions of religion and culture in India. It underlines the point that religion and culture are important elements of all civilizations but it is their interplay that has given a unique feature to Indian civilization.
The essays interrogate the various western sociological discourses on civilization and articulate the alternative conceptualizations available in Indian sociology. They underline the unity and diversity of Indian civilization, present the idea of civilization as conjoined with the idea of civil society and study the ecological crisis in the modern world. They focus on the dialogical relationship between tribal and non-tribal religions, link between religion and environment, religious philanthropy and Christian influence on Hindu way of life in India. They also delve into the concept of composite culture in India, scrutinising aspects of folk religion and cultures to show, for instance, how art forms get accumulated into the idea of culture.
The volume will be of immense interest to a variety of scholars and students associated with the study of Indian religion and culture.
This interesting compendium highlights the importance and stature of women Rishikas in the Vedic literature as epitomes of spiritual attainments, and emphasises that the gender discrimination as seen in the Hindu traditional thought was a later phenomenon. It provides a list of women Rishikas and mantras envisioned by them.
The volume presents a study of the famous women Rishikas mentioned in the Vedic literature.
The book describes the great respect offered to seers in the Vedic literature and the equal importance given to Rishikas when compared to Rishis. Discussing how even women of the Vedic period were epitomes of spiritual attainment, the book admiringly points out that the gender discrimination seen in the Hindu traditional thought was a later phenomenon (such as that women are not adhikaris for the study of the Vedas). It states that there are twenty-seven women mantra-drashtarah in the Rigveda. It provides a list of these women Rishikas and deals with the mantras envisioned by them. The Rishikas are mentioned in the study on the basis of those who praised the deities, those who conversed with the seers and deities, and those who praised the self. The Rishikas mentioned in the Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda are also mentioned. Rishikas whose individual contributions are taken up in detail include Vagambhrni, Surya-Savitri, Shraddha, Daksina, Aditi, Ratri, and Urvashi, among others.
The volume is bound to be a handy reference book for all those interested in Indology, particularly students and scholars of Vedic and gender studies.
This book covers a spectrum of topics related to culture and development that Dr Kapila Vatsyayan presented on different occasions and platforms. Economic development programmes should be inclusive of cultural and educational programmes, and should have a universal value.
This book covers a spectrum of topics related to culture and development that Dr Kapila Vatsyayan presented on different occasions and platforms. Culture has a wide meaning and varied interpretations. The term development is equally loaded and complex. Both the terms mean different to different persons. Development sans cultural values and ethos makes no sense. Therefore, interlinking of developmental programmes with cultural and educational programmes is imperative.
The volume thus discusses topics such as underlying concepts of the Indian cultural heritages; cultural configuration; profiling of cultural development; cultural tourism, its scope and impacts; new educational policy and the need to incorporate cultural goals in it; cultural osmosis between India and Indonesia; cultural patterns of India; what is culture from the Indian perspective; challenges in institutionalizing culture; cultural relations between India and Indo-China countries; and the contribution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for providing a unique identity to Indian culture.
It also deals with Mahatma Gandhis blueprint on development and the report of World Commission on Culture and Development; Lenins role in making culture available to the Soviet masses and speaks about an ecology of human resources; and contributions of the Orientalists and the present status of Oriental institutes, among some other topics.
Dr. Samanta studies the sacred complex of Ujjain the ksetra itself, the Sipra river, bathing ghats, etc. He also investigates the linkages between this cultural centre and the cultural area and compares this sacred complex with others.
An anthropologist of wide repute here profiles Ujjain: a millennia-old, pilgrim centre that has been celebrated in history, legend and mythology. Located on the eastern bank of the Shipra in Malwas culture-area in Madhya Pradesh (Central India), it is a major link in the sacred network of the Hindu India. And has been traditionally venerated all across the subcontinent as one of the barely four sites for the periodic kumbha melas (religious congresses). This ancient city of Avantika (or Ujjayini), in fact, exhibits all that has gone into the shaping of Hindu ritualistic behaviour. Yet the crowning glory of Ujjain is centred around Mahakal: Lord Shivas temple, which is believed to be old beyond history. In opening out the cultural panorama of Ujjain, Dr. Samanta spotlights everything that reinforces the sanctity of this sacred complex: like, for instance, the ksetra itself, the Shipra river, bathing ghats, crematoriums, priests, preachers, pilgrims, mystifying rituals, religious discourses, festivals, yatras, pageants, ascetics congregations, and godmens institutions with meticulous description of the Mahakal temple which, generation after generation, has compelled country-wide attention. The book also investigates the linkages between this cultural centre and the cultural area, and how this sacred complex compares with its counterparts elsewhere in India. The author has, for this study, employed standard anthropological techniques, coupled with several spells of his fieldwork and his personal interviews with a number of key informants. Also included here is a painstakingly compiled glossary of non-English words.
This book tries to look at samnyasins and the samnyasashrama in their long existence from the times of Shankara to the present day and also throws light on how scholars, common people, as well as the samnyasins themselves view their roles, both as individual personalities and as persons living in an institution relating to society as a whole.
The present book, Samnyasins in the Hindu Tradition: Changing Perspectives, covers a wide territory, trying to look at the samnyasins and the samnyasashrama in their long existence from the times of Shankara to the present day. This book traverses a slightly different trajectory from the usual book on samnyasins as it attempts an overview of the samnyasin and the institution over a long period from Vedic to post-Independence times and speculates on the future of the institution as well. Samnyasins and scholars not only from India, but from countries as diverse as Canada, South Africa, UK and USA also figure in this collection. The samnyasashramas covered also range from the traditional Advaita, Vishishthadvaita and Dvaita to include many more later ashrams such as the Vira Shaiva (Lingayat), Dharmapuram Adheenam, Arya Samaj, Shivananda Ashram, Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Narayan and many others. Another departure from other books on the subject is that it also compares institutions like the Ramakrishna Mission for instance, as they function in India and in foreign countries where they have established ashrams. In the midst of varied opinions regarding the samnyasin and the samnyasashrama this book will throw light on how scholars, common people, as well as the samnyasins themselves view their roles, both as individual personalities and as persons living in an institution relating to society as a whole.
The book, proceedings of an international seminar, contains fourteen high-value research papers. It delves deep into the contributions of Sanskrit across varied fields of the knowledge system like linguistics, phonetics, philosophy, mathematics, grammar, medicine, ecology, management, Natya, public administration, poetry and poetics, among others.
This volume, a compilation of fourteen research papers of high value, presented at an international seminar organized by the Rajiv Gandhi Campus of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Srngeri, highlights the contribution of Sanskrit to the development of world thought.
The first available text of the entire human race is Rigveda, and it is in Sanskrit. Since then the text-writing tradition of Sanskrit through ages has significantly contributed to the world thought, be it philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, grammar, medicine, ecology, public administration, poetry and poetics, among many other branches. Taking a cue from such a historical lineage, this volume showcases topics the contributions of ancient Indian thinkers to linguistics; some speculations on the contribution of Sanskrit to the world thought; significance of Ramayana in world literature; Sanskrits influence on Western phonetics; arthamatralaghava; elements of ecology in Ramayana; techniques of Theodor Stcherbatsky and his followers in translating Sanskrit philosophical texts; Sanskrits contribution to conscious studies; donation and value: its concept and expansion; Abhinavaguptas sarvamsarvatmakam; management wisdom which permeates in Sanskrit texts; twists and turns of Yoga in America; perspective of inspirational leadership from Gita; and reception of Natya in Europe, specifically in Croatia.
The icing on the cake is that the book presents research papers of the top three Sanskrit scholars of the world. This, with other scholarly articles, makes the volume a collectors choice.
This book explains the concept of life across different religions Þ Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, Muslim and Christian Þ based on Shastras; life and its essence based on Upanisads, Gita, and other Shastric and Puranic teachings; and attempts to understand life in a scientific way with the help of modern science, along with the mysteries of life from various angles.
This book, divided into three parts, presents the independent thoughts of distinguished scholars on the satiety of life, its various styles and meanings in reference to religion and scriptures vis-à-vis modern science. The essays in the first part, based on the Shastras, try to explain the conception of life in Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, Muslim and the Christian religions. The second part aims to understand the subject of Life and also to explain its essence on the basis of the Upanishads, Gita and other Shastric and Puranic teachings. The writings focus on, among other things, the mystery of life and death, the regularity of life, the effect of music on life, and the calculation of life on the basis of astrology. The third part (Modern Science) is a sincere attempt to understand life with a scientific approach. A logical explanation has been crafted on dependence on each other in life analyzing several literary references. This part discusses two aspects of life internal and external, life from a void to infinity, life being always out of bounds of time, life in a continuous flow of thoughts in Indian philosophy, etc. This anthology tries to explain the mysteries of life from various angles and will prove to be benefical to the researchers and students of Indian culture.
A compilation of seminar papers by Indian and foreign experts brings alive ancient Indian developments in science, technology and medicine. The book presents Vedic quest in science and metaphysics with a special emphasis on ancient science and contemporary ideas.
The volume comprises seminar presentations by experts from India and abroad involved in the study of development of the natural sciences in ancient India. It offers eighteen papers from the seminar that showcase and project the Vedic literature as a treasure trove of vast knowledge that covers various branches of learning. The papers in particular discuss the ancient developments in science and technology: logic, mechanics in Sanskrit literature, Indian mathematics and its application in the Vedas, besides production technology and mechanical engineering, environmental science and roots, applicative wonders and scientific validation of Ayurveda. They involve a deep study of the Vedic understanding and description of sound and speech as para, pashyanti, madhyama and vaikhari. They also deal with the Indian perspective on the spirit and some mahakavyas of Indian philosophy. They scrutinise various theories on matter, causation, metals, dreams and motion, according to the Vaisheshika philosophy and underline the relevance of ancient knowledge to the contemporary world, especially in relation to the Vedic physics, environmental science and Ayurveda. They reiterate in unison the scientific vision of the ancient sages who held the keen eye of a poet-artist even while bringing to light modern and advanced ideas. The papers include references to various commentaries and studies on scientific and mathematical treatises, like Katyayana’s Shulbasutra and Vaimanikashastra of Bharadvaja.
The book will interest Indologists, particularly concerned with the study of ancient science, technology and mathematics, as they evolved in ancient India.
The Atharvaveda delineates the life of the common man in ancient Indian village community. The book focuses on farming and cattle breeding, crafts, religion, daily preoccupations and fashions, role of women and their problems, etc.
Of the Vedas the Atharvaveda, the Veda of the masses, is unique. Unlike the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas, the Atharvaveda delineates the life of the common man in the ancient Indian village community the village farmer, craftsman and others who formed the core of the agriculturist society of the time. Modern scholarship has focused much on the vedatrayi but little has been written on the Atharvaveda. Society in the Atharvaveda not only attempts to address the dearth of scholarly studies on the Atharvaveda but it is also perhaps, in recent years, the first ever study of the Atharvaveda from the point of view of the common people. The Atharvavedic verses throw light upon a wide range of themes and all these are discussed here: topics from farming and cattle breeding, village crafts, religion, daily preoccupations and fashions of the people, role of women and their problems in day-to-day life, crime and degenerative practices like adultery and gambling, to trade and travel means and routes, loan facility, taxation, political administration and mans response to his environment. The author traces this Veda as the source of many traditional folk songs that are sung even today by the common man at work in the villages. This systematic survey dispels the widespread notion that the Atharvaveda is subordinate to the vedatrayi; rather the author shows that it occupies an unrivalled importance in Vedic literature largely owing to its preoccupation with the life of the people at large. The book abounds with Atharvavedic verses; a number of verses are cited to bring out each and every aspect of common life and living. With meaningful appendices, this scholarly work would provide interesting and useful research and reference material to Vedic scholars especially those keen on studying the Veda of the masses in a fresh perspective.
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