Tattva

The following is an excerpt from the book Glimpses of Hindu Genius, by Ravi Kumar.

An interesting development is taking place these days: Many foreigners have taken inspirations from Bhagwad Gita and they are putting their efforts to promote it. Once upon a time we were fighting our battles all alone. But now with these educated and resourceful persons joining Hindu forces, our strength has increased. Every time someone utters uncharitable remarks on India or Hinduism, Francois Gautier (the French journalist based in India) gives a fitting reply. Some of our people have been sold out to the foreign media. But Francois Gautier is there. Koenraad Elst and Michel Danino are there. They are a special breed of people who have been inspired by Hindu philosophy and Hindu way of life. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a continuation of the article on Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya from the June/July edition of Tattva.

Coronation:

Figure 2: Painting of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya’s Coronation [4]

Victorious Hem Chandra entered Delhi on October 6, 1556 as a sovereign [4]. It’s difficult to imagine the exact thoughts in his mind. But it was a historical moment for India. After 350 years of almost unbroken Islamic rule, a Hindu king had entered Delhi! Hem Chandra must be acutely aware of the significance of this moment. That is why he assumed the title of Vikramaditya – a title assumed by many illustrious Hindu emperors in the history of India! No wonder then that Muslim historians have described him in the nastiest of words. Badayuni – a bigot and fundamentalist – writes, ‘through treachery, deceit and fraud great Delhi fell into the hands of Hindu Hemun’ [2]. He conveniently forgets that numerous great empires in the history of mankind have been built by great men coming from humble origins. Read the rest of this entry »

His achievements notwithstanding, he is not a household name in India. His name does not ring any bells in the collective memory of Hindus. I am not even sure if any physical memorial of this Hindu Hero exists. Anecdotally, Prithvi Raj Chauhan is considered as the last Hindu ruler of Delhi. Even I had made the same assertion in one of my previous articles in Tattva [1]; and it took me a while to realize my error! It is incorrect to think that Hindus made no efforts to liberate Delhi in medieval India. Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya – the Hero of our story – made one such effort that succeeded Read the rest of this entry »

(This is the second of a series of three articles. Please read the first article of the series here and the second here)

We also have Goddesses such as Hecate. She is practically a replicate of Durga or Kali. She has the same significance as Mother Kali or Durga as well. Hecate was known as Kurotrophos (Nurse of the

Children and Protectress of mankind)  This is Durga as Shashti, The Protector of Children. Also Note the word Kuro which is most likely related to the Sanskrt word Kuru. This may indeed be more evidence verifying that some of India’s Kurus did indeed migrate to Greece.  Like Durga’s Navratri Festival, which starts the day after the New Moon, Hecate was also worshipped on the New Moon. Like Kali Mata, Dogs are sacred to Goddess Hecate and they are both worshipped on new moon nights as well. The Serpents are also an obvious similarity between Hecate and Kali Mata. Chandi is Durga as a Moon Goddess and Hecate is also connected to the Moon as seen in the carving below. Even the items held in Hecate’s hands, Fire, Weapons, Elephant Goad, Water pot and Discus, replicate those held by the Vedic Durga. Read the rest of this entry »

(This is the second of a series of three articles. Please read the first article of the series here.)

A vivid example of the confusion caused by Homer can be seen when we look at his view on Kronos the Greek God of Time. Our word Chronology is rooted in the word Kronos. Homer presents the God Kronos as a disturbed and psychotic being who kills and eats his own children. The image is horrific, dark and blatantly asuric-demonic in nature. However when we apply the Vedic perspective to this image it becomes clear that Homer took ancient knowledge and repackaged it to suit his own ideas. Kronos is God as Time. In the Bhagavad-Gita Krsna as the Supreme Being states,” Time I am, the Devourer of worlds.” Homer took this concept and turned it into an actual human-like entity that brutally murders and eats his own children. However the original concept points to an actual and obvious law of nature. Recognizing Time as the all consuming and merciless destroyer, the Ancients were in awe of this power. This concept was well known throughout antiquity and still rings true today. Read the rest of this entry »

The historic connections between India and Greece are many. Recognition of this reality is of great import and value. Properly identifying the many commonalities between not only India and Greece but those of ancient Egyptian or the Coptic civilization as well will do much towards the development of an accurate understanding of the entire history of human civilization.

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Krishnadeva Raya was generous to his people and patronized arts and letters. He was very much concerned about the welfare of the people and undertook regular tours of the empire to get first hand information. Read the rest of this entry »

In spite of a continuous onslaught of Islam and Christianity that have swallowed Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, the population in the small island of Bali is still around 90% Hindu – the magic of adaptive changes. Read the rest of this entry »

The following is a narration of how one of the foremost warriors of the world fell into a state of worry and doubt, but was guided by his guru to follow his Dharma.

The air was charged with devotion. Tuka says, “Let my tongue ever sing your glory.” So saying, Santha Tukarama sang the glory of Vitthala. The audience was spell bound. Lust was frightened and fled from the place. Her sister Greed felt scorched and followed her soon. Their brother-in-law, Worry, and his wife, Fear, were themselves enveloped with fear of their sustenance, and they also followed suit. Such was the discourse of Tukaram Maharaj.

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For more than two millennia, India has suffered one bloody invasion after another, leaving a Holocaust of millions of lives and a civilization and culture left in near ruins. Through it all, India is the only one of the great ancient civilizations that has survived today. Hinduism is the most ancient and only continuously surviving religion and culture that has successfully maintained itself while so many other cultures and civilizations have vanished. No other ancient civilization has retained its ancient religion and culture under the onslaught of the western Abrahamic monotheist religions. Read the rest of this entry »