The concept and popularity of hero worship is as old as time. Who then, can be classified as a hero? Are heroes born or created? Can hero worship endure long after the hero is gone?
Anshul Kalia explores all this, with special emphasis on the propensity of the Indian populace to hero-worship political leaders.
"To fully understand the social significance of Mandirs, one must delve into their profound philosophical underpinnings, historical moorings and cultural importance. Our Mandirs are the veritable embodiments of our culture, philosophy, and spirituality. Rooted in ancient Hindu tradition, Mandirs play a vital role in shaping the social and cultural fabric of India."
"For a long time, Marxist historians had a hegemonic hold on only one type of discourse. Marxist linear history represents India and its traditions as the past, or decadence, and the West as the future, or progress. In a world where globalisation, trade, and mutual exchange are a given, it is disagreeable to argue that perhaps we needed an invasion or colonisation to open our eyes to the world."
"Rather than getting entangled in doctrinal differences, it might serve us better to find the confluences, the shared understandings, and the universal truths that have guided humanity for millennia. In that spirit of unity, the river of consciousness presents a philosophical bridge, beckoning us to ponder, reflect, and ultimately understand."
An analytical look at some of the more controversial actions of Shri Rama, from the lenses of ancient as well as modern thoughts.
Shashank Poddar throws light on the shastrik view and importance of grihashta ashrama in this beautifully researched piece.
Ancient and mediaeval Indian kingdoms relied heavily on active commerce, both domestic and international. Indian economy has come full circle, after a long period of colonial suppression followed by oppressive socialist policies post-Independence, rediscovering its identity as a capitalist economy built on the industriousness and innovation of small producers and merchants.
This article is a summary and paraphrasing of three of the important essays by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy on the English education of those times (Education in India; Memory in Education; and Music and Education in India).
These three brilliant essays appear in the book Essays in National Idealism. He wrote on an overwhelming variety of topics, which perhaps would require a lifetime of study for any individual.
The aim of this article is to stimulate readers to undertake a serious journey to the writings of Coomaraswamy, a person whose rediscovery means a lot to present India, confused by a mass of rhetoric eulogising the notions of "modernity" and progress.
The reality of a hundred years ago, that he highlights in these essays, is unambiguously still relevant to India, with its acceptance of both the English language as the major medium of instruction and secularism as the guiding principle of our curricula.
In this article, Rohan Raghav Sharma talks about degeneracy and blind gratification of carnal desires becoming the norm in the West and all modern societies inspired by the West, and suggests that the Hindu framework of the four Purusharthas - Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha; can provide guidance for a balanced view of life.
"The application of logical interpretations of the Mimamsa Rules of Prabhakara could aid in developing reasoning tools to deal with deontic concepts, such as prohibitions and obligations, paving the way for ethical decision-making in artificial intelligence."
The golden age of Indian thinkers was a fertile period of intellectual richness. The preservation and study of this intellectual heritage will help us in gaining better understanding of our shared philosophical history. The intellectual legacy of Mimamsa and other Indian schools of thought is a rich resource for contemporary philosophical and ethical discourse, Ram Sharma writes.