A three-part series by SN Balagangadhara What happened in Ayodhya: a pran prathistha, a consecration, or something else? What happened in Ayodhya: Mehta’s heroics, Varshney’s warning, and Palshikar’s guilt What…
Read morePudgala
I II Regarding the Katha Upanishadic verse 1.3.3-4 : multiple ways of glossing that passage exist. Consider this simple version: Aatma( = Dehin) +Indriya+Manas = Bhokta. RHS says ‘the enjoyer’, which refers…
Read moreWestern intellectuals are not idiots
1. He says: “Doniger translates “dharma” as “religion”. Apparently, Indians should not criticize that because we know neither what the English word “religion” means nor do we know what “dharma”…
Read moreSpirituality = Adhyatma?
One could justifiably see spirituality (the Jewish, Christian and Islamic) as ‘Adhyatma’ if one focusses on the psychological transformations that a human being undergoes in the process of moving from…
Read morePeoples and Nations
The Ancient Romans spoke of ‘Peoples’ and ‘Nations’. They saw traditions making a group into a people and distinguishing people (and, sometimes, ‘nations’) from each other. Different peoples (distinguished from…
Read moreBalagangadhara’s interview with Swarajya
Part I, Part II, Part III , Part IV (Appeared on 04/13/2022 through 04/15/2022) S.N. Balagangadhara, emeritus professor at Ghent University, Belgium, has spent more than 40 years studying the…
Read moreColonial Mindset and Servitude
[ Published on swarjyamag Aug 26, 2022] Let me recollect the question we agreed upon: how does the combined phrase (colonial mindset and servitude) make sense within the framework of…
Read moreExperience and truth
Of course, you can use Kant (or anyone other philosopher of your liking) to talk about what experience is. But if you use these thinkers (of the last 1000 years…
Read moreHow to understand corruption?
[Transcript appeared in pp 206-8 “Classical Indian Thought and the English Language” edited by Mullick, et al] Let us take the word ‘duty’ for the moment. Conflict in duties does…
Read more