In the wonderland of Samskrit The word संस्कृत means polished or refined. It is allied to words like संस्कृति (samskriti), meaning culture or civilization, and संस्कार (samskara), meaning purification ceremony or sacrament. Most Indian languages, to a greater or lesser degree, trace their roots in Sanskrit. In that sense, more than a mother tongue, Sanskrit is a grandmother tongue. Indeed, that influence extends beyond the boundaries of today’s India, to elsewhere in Asia. Nepal’s motto is जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपी गरीयसी . This is taken from the Valmiki Ramayana and means, “The mother and the mother-land are superior to heaven.” The name of the national airline of Indonesia is Garuda, which is also a Samskrit word and is believed as a carrier of Bhagwan Vishnu. There are several such instances in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The name of the Bangkok airport in Thailand is called “Swarna Bhoomi”,...
RSS and Intellectual Kshatriyataa: Hand not in Glove This article is partly in response to the article that I read captioned “The Indic Intellectual’s RSS Angst”* sometime in August last year and partly my own calling in the light of my own experience during my 10 years journey with HSS in Canada. *(https://medium.com/@DharmaU/the-indic-intellectuals-rss-angst-cad394637de5) सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यम् अप्रियम् ! प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयात् एष : धर्म : सनातन : !! (Manusmriti 4.138) Let one say what is true, let one say what is pleasing, let one utter no disagreeable truth, and let one utter no agreeable falsehood; that is the Sanatana dharma. Interestingly, the very next shloka is this: भद्रं भद्रमिति ब्रुयाद्भद्रमित्येव वा वदेत् । शुष्कवैरं विवादं च न कुर्यात्केनचित्सह ।। (Manusmriti 4.139) Always speak t...
Opening Thoughts Sri Aurobindo once observed that Bharat is a sacred land, divinely ordained by Brahman as His Karmabhumi for the current Chaturyuga , a cycle of four Yugas—Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaparyuga, and Kaliyuga —that represents the eternal, beginningless, and endless nature of the universe, which forms the core essence of Sanatana . It is, therefore, no coincidence that this hallowed soil has birthed hundreds of thousands of Mahamanavas (illustrious beings) over the millennia. While historical records preserve the names of many, countless others have left an indelible imprint through their profound contributions to humanity, remaining anonymous even as their legacies endure. The intellectual landscape of Bharat is adorned with luminaries across every conceivable discipline: from the epic narratives of Valmiki and Ved Vyas to the poetic mastery of Kalidas; from the linguistic precision of Panini to the foundational yogic philosophy of Patanjali. In the realm...
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