shravaNa: The Rashtram Podcast

In this episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram Podcast, Rashtram Accelerator Programme learner Sri Anshuman Panda talks to Smt Sahana Singh, author of Revisiting the Educational Heritage Of India and other books, about the educational methods and techniques that have been historically practised in the Bharatiya civilisational context and how elements thereof may be contemporized in the context of modern educational practices.   

In this episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram Podcast, Prof Sampadananda Mishra interviews spiritual practitioner and poet Sri Ramachandra Roddam. The conversation brings out Ramachandra Ji's experience of teaching at Rashtram as a guest faculty for the Rashtram Accelerator Programme, the intricacies of the Baul tradition of Bengal and the Sahajiya Marga, and the significance of Sadhana or spiritual practice. Tune in to shravaNa for this deeply engaging dialogue. 

In this episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram Podcast, we attempt to understand the phenomenon popularly known as 'Cultural Marxism' through a conversation between author Dr Saumya Dey, Associate Professor of History at Jindal Global University and Sreejit Datta, Director of Centre for Civilisational Studies and Assistant Professor at Rashtram School of Public Leadership. Referring to a chapter on Cultural Marxism in Dr Dey's recently published book Narrativizing Bharatvarsha & Other Essays, the discussion traces the development of the phenomenon and explains its implications in the politics and culture of India and the world. Tune in to our channels across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and more to listen to the podcast. 

In this latest episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram Podcast, Rashtram Accelerator Programme learner Namrata Anantharam talks to author Ami Ganatra about the latter's newly released book, titled "Mahabharata Unravelled: Lesser-Known Facets of a Well-Known History" (Bloomsbury India, 2021), in light of Bharat's unbroken Itihasa-Purana tradition, distortions of several aspects of this tradition's interpretation through pop culture, the importance of yatra-s in understanding the tradition, and more. 

In this episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram podcast, we engage in conversation with Ms Rony Yedidia-Clein on the topic of 'Israel foreign policy objectives'. She is currently the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in New Delhi. The conversation delves deep into the topic to understand the governance model of Israel, the country's neighbourhood/Middle East policy, and finally, Israel's Asian engagement and COVID-19 situation. Hosted by Sagar K. Chourasia, Rashtram's Centre for Staretgic and Foreign Relations.

What connects the various ancient civilisations of the past and the myriad indigenous cultures from around the globe with the ancient yet living civilisation of Bharatavarsha or India? How does one straddle multiple identities while staying true to one's roots, and still pursue Dharmic values? What role do the state and law play in shaping the cultural aspects of a country? Do PETA campaigns about Indian Gaushala-s reflect the reality? What is the global relevance of the various indigenous cultures and what relevance does Hinduism hold for them? These interesting issues and more enliven the highly engaging conversation between Sri Brannon Parker and Dr Nagaraj Paturi in the latest episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram podcast, titled “Vedic Knowledge & Global Indigenous Resurgence: The Journey of an American Dharmic Activist”.   

The language of a land most effectively captures and communicates the worldview of its people. In ancient Bharat, Sanskrit was that medium that effectively encapsulated the breadth and depth of its civilisational aspirations in its basic sound structures, word-formations and syntactic expressions. Words like Dharma, embodying the CODE or the 'Collective Oath for Development and Excellence', represent the gold standards that generations strived to achieve concretely in every aspect of their individual and collective lives, leading to the enjoyment of a natural state of abhyudaya or prosperity, freedom in the material world, as well as nishreyasa or spiritual freedom at a personal level. This conversation is an attempt to decode the multi-layered thought-frames that are embedded in the wordscapes of this ancient and potent tongue.

In this fourth episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram podcast, Rashtram faculty & director of Rashtram's Centre for Civilisational Studies Sri Sreejit Datta interviews Sri Deep Halder, noted journalist and author of "Bengal 2021: An Election Diary" and "Blood Island: An Oral History of the Marichjhapi Massacre". Focusing on Deep's latest book "Bengal 2021: An Election Diary", published by HarperCollins Publishers India, this conversation between Deep & Sreejit brings out the key civilisational aspects & issues on which this year's West Bengal assembly elections are being fought, as well as their larger implications for Bengal and India.

In this third episode of shravaNa: the Rashtram podcast, Dr Pankaj Saxena interviews Padmashree Dr Kapil Tiwari, who has done extensive field research and study of India's folk traditions and culture. Dr Tiwari highlights India's folk culture  inseparability from Shastra-s which have comprehensively treated subjects like aesthetics, art, sculpting, painting, and many more. Tune in to this conversation for invaluable insights into India's oral traditions, knowledge systems and folk traditions.  

In this episode of shravaNa, the award-winning poet and best-selling author Kavindra Rishi, also known as Jeffrey Armstrong, talks to Smt. Shilpa Hak about understanding the multilayered challenges in presenting the timeless and profound wisdom of Sanatana Dharma to an English-speaking audience through translation. In the course of this discussion, Rishi ji brings up the distortions of meaning that have occurred in several English translations of the Bhagavad-Gita due to the indiscriminate use of culture-loaded English words, and why his latest translation The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive is radically different from the rest. Rishi ji also discusses the misinterpretation of the Gita by Western scholars and the ways to practise the values of the Gita in everyday life in today's competitive world.

shravaNa, the official podcast of the Rashtram School of Public Leadership, brings to you the prominent voices from the worlds of thought and action through deeply engaging conversations on fields that touch the various aspects of public and private life. On this very first episode of shravaNa, we will be talking to the renowned author and educator Ms. Sinu Joseph. In this podcast, recorded on the Vijaya Dashami tithi 2020, Sinu Ji talks to Reena George about understanding the many issues related to women and men through the profound insights provided by the Indic Knowledge Systems, including Prakriti: The Feminine Principle in Civilisational Leadership, the feminine and masculine thought processes, tantra, and also about her books Women and Sabarimala: The Science Behind Restrictions, and Ṛtu Vidyā: Ancient Science behind Menstrual Practices.

Welcome to shravaNa, the official podcast of the Rashtram School of Public Leadership. The concept behind shravaNa is inspired by the threefold path of acquiring knowledge in Vedantic traditions: Śravaṇa (listening), Manana (contemplating), and Nididhyāsana (internalising to embody knowledge). Through this podcast, we enable our audiences to connect with today's thought leaders and to listen to their ideas and experiences in deeply engaging conversations, with a special focus on Indic knowledge traditions and systems of thought. This, we believe, will set our audiences on the path to contemplating on what they have listened to, facilitating the processes of internalisation and embodiment of received knowledge. It is in this manner that the shravaNa podcast contributes to fulfilling Rashtram's larger objective of nurturing 'self-aware' and 'civilisationally-assured' leaders of tomorrow.