Sati is perhaps the biggest humbug used to beat Hinduism. Very conveniently employed in different modes to discredit Hindu practices.
If they want to compare a Hindu practice with something and say look it is as evil as that, there is Sati. 1/n
If they want to show how Hinduism is progressive and undergoes reform by getting rid of evil religious practices, there is Sati. 2/n
And finally they want to show how Hindu society is full of evil practices but these are not essential Hindu practices so they must be discarded, then there is Sati. 3/n
In short, whenever you want to dismantle a Hindu practice, point towards Sati. No matter what your argument is, Sati is the precedence. One in common though is the narrative that Sati is inherently evil. 4/n
It is one thing to say Sati like all practices & institutions are open for abuse and there could be instances of such misuse. However it is definitely another thing to say that Sati is inherently & by design is an evil practice. 5/n
While scholars like Meenakshi Jain have done excellent work to bust many myths around Sati. I have not come across any work except mine which addresses the elephant in the room: Is Sati inherently & by design evil? 6/n
It is neither a defense of Sati, nor an argument that it should be practiced today. I merely & dispassionately examine the Hindu conception of Sati as conceived in Dharmashastra tradition. 7/7
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1. It's been two years since I finished writing 'The #Sabarimala Confusion- #Menstruation Across Cultures: A Historical Perspective'. It has been one of the most satisfying projects to me personally. #BookBoost
2. What started as a series of articles under the title 'Hindu views on Menstruation' in 2016 grew into a full-fledged book by 2018 having 350+ pages with references alone forming 50+ pages. The book published by @Vitastapublish is currently in 2nd reprint. #BookBoost
3. The book examines the notions and practices associated with #menstruation in cultures and religions across the world. Two themes of special focus in the book are: Impurity and Sacrality. #Women#Sabarimala#BookBoost
1. A few years back I had taken a vow I would not visit #Ayodhya until there is a grand temple housing Ram Lalla. For me to step into Ayodhya which did not give Ram Lalla His rightful place was a painful reminder of collective failure of Hindu civilization. #AyodhyaBhoomipoojan
2. Some time ago, I had written that the only reason Hindus have been unable to build a temple in Ayodhya was that Hindus have removed Bhagavan Rama from their hearts. #Ayodhya#AyodhyaBhoomipoojan
3. On the eve of #AyodhyaBhoomipoojan in #Ayodhya, I am very happy that I will be able to visit Ayodhya and have Darshan of Bhagavan Rama in this life itself. This is a historic moment for Hindu civilizational in its struggle reclaim its civilizational space and the lost glory.
1. While Varna in the Shastric sense of birth-based ritualistic classification have limited (but impt) utility today- viz. preservation of Veda mantra & Vaidika Karmas (both important in themselves & core to Hinduism, but its utility limited to few families)
2. Varna as a conceptual framework, especially its elements of Guna & Karma have wider applications and is relevant as a foundational block of Hindu worldview.
3. The Samkhyan 3-Gunas, the 4-categories of Varna, the 4-Purusharthas, Bhoja's 4-personality types- all these interrelated frameworks are very important for reviving Hindu approach to life and counter the effect of western modernism.
1. Post-independence, Indians have been made to believe that war is bad and Indians (read Indian kings) only fought battles in defense, never in offense (whatever that means). #indiachinastandoff
2. Further, 'resilience' rather than strong response to provocation, be it in form of terrorism or incursions, have been upheld as the ideal. [Remember the Mumbai's so called resilience in the face of 26/11 attacks?] #indiachinastandoff
3. However, this goes everything against Indian civilizational ethos and worldview. Our civilization never asked us to act like Dhimmis and cowards and its a colonial and Gandhian myth fed to us. #indiachinastandoff
ईश्वरो गुरुरात्मेति मूर्तिभेदविभागिने ।
व्योमवद्व्याप्तदेहाय दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः || (Manasollasa 1.30)
Salutation to Dakshinamurthy, who is all-pervading like space/ether, & who is manifest in different forms as Ishwara (God), Guru (teacher), & as Atman (the Self). #GuruPurnima
Since the publication of the paperback version of #SamanyaDharma book, there have been requests for @AmazonKindle version of book. Finally, I managed to work on this. Here is link- amazon.in/dp/B08941VKWK/
#SamanyaDharma means #ethics and ethical principles that are common and applicable to everyone. These are basic human values that every person is expected to develop, what makes a person a responsible human. #philosophy#Hinduism