Bhimasena and Ashwathama meet several times during the 18 day war in the Mahabharata. Bhima ends up with an upper hand every time in those duels. However, the most important fight between the two of them takes place on the 16th day of the war. This was immediately after the coronation of Karna as the... Continue Reading →
Minorities in India: Who Decides?
In the year 2017, Sri Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer and senior BJP leader had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court of India asking, primarily, for section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act of 1992 to be declared as void and unconstitutional. He later withdrew the petition stating that he would approach... Continue Reading →
Survival of Vedic Parampara: DVG’s Guidance
Sri D V Gundappa, the celebrated writer of Kannada literature of the 20th century, had published a series of books titled 'Jnapaka Chitrashale' (Theatre of Memories) in which he wrote short biographies of achievers in various fields such as arts, music, social service, literature and so on. The personalities he covered in this series of... Continue Reading →
Mahabharata: Draupadi Swayamvara
The episode in the Mahabharata in which the swayamvara of Draupadi takes place is one of the most debated and discussed portions of the great epic. Many versions of this incident exist, each of which narrates the happenings in the court of Drupada in a different way. The chief amongst the disputes is regarding the... Continue Reading →
Bhima’s Defeat of Karna – I
On the 14th day of the great war, Arjuna had taken a vow that he would slay Jayadratha - the main culprit in the brutal and adharmic killing of his son Abhimanyu - before sunset. If he failed, Arjuna had vowed to give up his life by entering into a pyre. Drona, the commander in... Continue Reading →
Appointment of Supreme Court Judges: Options Before The Constitution Makers
Article 124(2) of the Indian Constitution deals with the method of appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court. Its form, prior to the failed NJAC Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2014, was as follows: "Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with... Continue Reading →
Yoga: The Endeavour of Bhimasena
This post is in continuation of the series of posts highlighting the ten guNas that bhimasena displays in the mahabharata. The ten gunas have been explained by Sri Madhwacharya in his mahabharata tatparya nirnaya as follows भक्तिर्ज्ञानं सवैराग्यं प्रज्ञा मेधा धृतिः स्थिथिः | योगः प्राणो बलं चैव वृकोदरो इति स्मृतः || २-१४१ || Vrikodara is... Continue Reading →
Constitutional Morality And Religious Practices
In the recent Sabarimala judgment, one of the 'principles' used by the honourable judges was that of 'Constitutional morality' to decide that the ancient practice of restricting women of a certain age from entering the Sri Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala was unconstitutional. The conclusion drawn was that the rights under the Constitution that were related... Continue Reading →
The ‘Essential Practices’ of Hinduism
The recent Sabarimala judgment by the Supreme Court of India has once again thrown open the debate about ‘essential’ practices of a religion. The honourable judges have declared, yet again, that any practice that is not ‘essential’ to the religion shall be open to reinterpretation — by the non-religious, secular institution called judiciary! The honourable judges say... Continue Reading →
Hinduism and Religious Denominations
Once every 12 years, the Kumbha Mela takes place at Prayaga in Uttar Pradesh. Similarly three other Kumbha Melas take place at Haridwara, Nashik and Ujjain. Depending primarily upon the placement of Jupiter in the vedic astrological chart, the timings of these melas are determined. The mela at Prayaga is the world’s largest religious congregation... Continue Reading →
