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Should we view Bhima-Hidimba union purely in mythic terms?

Or should we view it as an early illustration of Aryan intermingling with aborigines in North India?

Does it tell us much about the mechanics of "Aryanization"?

Ghatotkacha has a Kshatriya father
Yet remains a rAkShasa
In later times, Aryan society looked kindly upon anulOma marriages, but not pratiloma

But in this early story from the Epic age, we do not see Ghatotkacha being co-opted into Aryan society
In fact Ghatotkacha is the eldest son of any of the Pandavas. Clearly older than Abhimanyu or Prativindhya

Yet there is no question anywhere in the epic of regarding him as the oldest Kuru of the next generation

The Kuru line continues through Parikshit, not Ghatotkacha's son
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Śrīkānta Kṛṣṇamācārya
@shrikanth_krish
I know Indians get upset when the term "mythology" is used

But what is mythology? It concerns "traditional accounts concerning the early history of a people"

Mythology can have large dollops of truth (not just grains)
Without being strictly verifiable history
The reason "Mythology" offends us is because it has assumed pejorative meanings in other quotidian contexts

E.g. We often talk of "Myths vs reality" when discussing common misconceptions around us

But mythology in itself is not such an inaccurate word to describe the itihAsas
A legitimate counter to this can be -

We dont use the term "mythology" to discuss early Abrahamic history...e.g. the prophets of the Old Testament, or for that matter even Jesus

That's a totally fair riposte

In my view that's mythology too
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Śrīkānta Kṛṣṇamācārya
@shrikanth_krish
What % of the Indian business class supported the nationalist movement? How did that change over time (from 1910 to 1940)?

The TV soap Buniyaad depicts a rooted Khatri family in Lahore that is unambiguously pro-British despite being not very anglicized in any way

Made me wonder
Were the hartals of Gandhi (at least in the early 20s) viewed as a needless annoyance? That caused a great deal of strife and loss of business?

It must have hurt the businesses engaged in trading and retailing badly. Especially the ones invested in selling foreign wares
Also to what extent was there a religious dimension to the freedom movement in Punjab?

Were Arya Samajis likelier to be nationalist? While "Sanatanis" likelier to be pro-British controlling for all other factors?
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Śrīkānta Kṛṣṇamācārya
@shrikanth_krish
Thoughts on "conservative politics" in India

The base of H-Right is motivated by religious insecurity, H-Rashtra urges, minority appeasement

Policy wonks on the Right want economic reform, institutional reform

These two planks don't come together in the BJP
Sharp contrast to US, where the intellectual ecosystem of the Republican party embraces both the social conservatism of the Christian Right and the Reaganite policies with respect to governance / economy

Until Trump emerged, at least
So if you take a conservative think tank like Hoover Institution in US, it connects to the Republican Party in both ways

A TV show hosted by Hoover - Uncommon Knowledge - embraces not just libertarian economics, but also social conservatism
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