Category: Uncategorized
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On monarchy in literature and life
Monarchy has been a feature of human societies since time immemorial, and is ensconced in our literary traditions. The two passages above are both taken from the funerals of famous leaders depicted in literature, and remind us of recent scenes following the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. That is to say, they…
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ल्येतुवा-देशात् तृणमणि-विषय एकाऽऽख्यायिका
पूरा त्वाकाशे सूर्यौ द्वावेवास्ताम् ।
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मिस्रदेशे मम यात्रा
अस्मिन् वर्षे अहं मिस्रदेशं गतवान् | मिस्रदेशस्य सभ्यता, भाषा, साहित्य च खलु प्राचीनाः सन्ति |
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Ethics in the Upanishads
Literature from across the world engages with ethical questions and moral quandaries, and plays a role in cultivating our moral sensibilities. Religious literatures often present ethical teachings indirectly, such as in the form of parables, or more directly, such as moral commandments. In the Upanishads of late Vedic India, we find both ethical and metaphysical…
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The theft of the mead
In a recent article, I discussed the theft of fire in the Rig Veda, and this may remind us of another similar incident of theft from the gods, viz. the theft of mead or soma by a falcon.
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On stealing from the gods
wisdom, forbidden knowledge, and access to divinity itself. Divine trickery may be involved. And the theft may be followed by divine anger and punishment. This article will briefly review and compare three such myths, that of the eating from the ‘tree of knowledge’ in the Garden of Eden, the Greek myth of the theft of…
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Emotions and our sense of time
time. The deepest parts of our personalities are structured in terms of our sense of time, such as our memories from the past, our hopes and dreams for the future, and our awareness of our own mortality.
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The rage of the warrior in literature
I previously discussed how strong emotions such as grief and rage well up from a very deep place within the self, expressing themselves in ways which go beyond the usual range of human expression, and how, according to the Indian tradition, the first poetic verse utterance emerged as an expression of deep sorrow. We see…
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Some Indo-European thoughts on time
Our day-to-day experience of time passing can be highly non-linear and subjective, as we move from giving rapid presentations to enjoying lazy Sunday afternoons. Science too has studied how our brains have the ability to slow down and speed up our perception of time. In this way, our lived experience of the flow of time…
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Some meaningful numbers and number systems in history
According to a famous comic tale, there was once a very beautiful and intelligent young lady who was highly conceited about her profound spiritual knowledge. She had rejected many suitors for her hand in marriage, mockingly telling them that their intellectual level was far below hers. Some of these disgruntled suitors then plotted together to…
Desire To Think 