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Let's set the scene - you are the epic warrior of the Mahabharata, Arjuna, distraught on the battlefield. Unable to decide- to fight or not to fight? The classic Hamlet: to be or not to be? What is the right side? In our own day-to-day lives, we experience similar hurdles of the right thing to do vs the thing you wanna do. Or sometimes what is expected of you vs the right thing to do? How do we navigate these hurdles of passion, duty and desire. How do we dissect our intentions on our paths towards spiritual development. In this sanctuary of The Philosophy of Now, we are all seekers. And as we reflect together, we certainly want to go on this narrative journey of asking this deeply introspective question.To kick off Season 5 of The Philosophy of Now, we speak with the renowned speaker, Sanskrit scholar and bestselling author of The Mahabharata Unravelled 1 and 2, Ami Ganatra.She helps us break down this very question - how do we know our intentions are righteous, or on the side of Dharma? How do we know we are acting out of duty and not desire? Through her expertise and analysis of The Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita, Ami Ganatra guides us through our own story and a reflective journey to finding our own answers - Together. Listen to the full episode!Ami Ganatra's latest book, Why Are We This Way: A Guide to Hindu Shastras is available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
Let's dive in to Essential Verse 18 of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. In Chapter 5, Verse 22, Shri Krishna explains that sense pleasures are temporary and become the seat of pain. By following the wise, affirming our willpower, and reducing sensory indulgences, we invest in long-term Peace and lasting Joy.➡️ To maximize your experience of this season, we encourage you to request your FREE copy of the Essential Love eBook. Incorporating accessible translations and practical application, the eBook accompanies each episode with additional ways to learn, synthesize, and reflect on key insights.
Ahead of her new book What's So Great About the Great Books? coming out in April, Naomi Kanakia and I talked about literature from Herodotus to Tony Tulathimutte. We touched on Chaucer, Anglo-Saxon poetry, Scott Alexander, Shakespeare, William James, Helen deWitt, Marx and Engels, Walter Scott, Les Miserables, Jhootha Sach, the Mahabharata, and more. Naomi also talked about some of her working habits and the history and future of the Great Books movement. Naomi, of course, writes Woman of Letters here on Substack.TranscriptHenry Oliver: Today, I am talking with Naomi Kanakia. Naomi is a novelist, a literary critic, and most importantly she writes a Substack called Woman of Letters, and she has a new book coming out, What's So Great About the Great Books? Naomi, welcome.Naomi Kanakia: Thanks for having me on.Oliver: How is the internet changing the way that literature gets discussed and criticized, and what is that going to mean for the future of the Great Books?Kanakia: How is the internet changing it? I can really speak to only how it has changed it for me. I started off as a writer of young adult novels and science fiction, and there's these very active online fan cultures for those two things.I was reading the Great Books all through that time. I started in 2010 through today. In the 2010s, it really felt like there was not a lot of online discussion of classic literature. Maybe that was just me and I wasn't finding it, but it didn't necessarily feel like there was that community.I think because there are so many strong, public-facing institutions that discuss classic literature, like the NYRB, London Review of Books, a lot of journals, and universities, too. But now on Substack, there are a number of blogs—yours, mine, a number of other ones—that are devoted to classic literature. All of those have these commenters, a community of commenters. I also follow bloggers who have relatively small followings who are reading Tolstoy, reading Middlemarch, reading even much more esoteric things.I know that for me, becoming involved in this online culture has given me much more of an awareness that there are many people who are reading the classics on their own. I think that was always true, but now it does feel like it's more of a community.Oliver: We are recording this the day after the Washington Post book section has been removed. You don't see some sort of relationship between the way these literary institutions are changing online and the way the Great Books are going to be conceived of in the future? Because the Great Books came out of a an old-fashioned, saving-the-institutions kind of radical approach to university education. We're now moving into a world where all those old things seem to be going.Kanakia: Yes. I agree. The Great Books began in the University of Chicago and Columbia University. If you look into the history of the movement, it really was about university education and the idea that you would have a common core and all undergraduates would read these books. The idea that the Great Books were for the ordinary person was really an afterthought, at least for Mortimer Adler and those original Great Books guys. Now, the Great Books in the university have had a resurgence that we can discuss, but I do think there's a lot more life and vitality in the kind of public-facing humanities than there has been.I talked to Irina Dumitrescu, who writes for TLS (The Times Literary Supplement), LRB (The London Review of Books), a lot of these places, and she also said the same thing—that a lot of these journals are going into podcasts, and they're noticing a huge interest in the humanities and in the classics even at the same time as big institutions are really scaling back on those things. Humanities majors are dropping, classics majors are getting cut, book coverage at major periodicals is going down. It does seem like there are signals that are conflicting. I don't really know totally what to make of it. I do think there is some relation between those two things.Ted Gioia on Substack is always talking about how culture is stagnant, basically, and one of the symptoms of that is that “back list” really outsells “front list” for books. Even in 2010, 50 percent of the books that were sold were front-list titles, books that had been released in the last 18 months. Now it's something like only 35 percent of books or something like that are front-list titles. These could be completely wrong, but there's been a trend.I think the decrease in interest in front-list books is really what drives the loss of these book-review pages because they mostly review front-list books. So, I think that does imply that there's a lot of interest in old books. That's what our stagnant culture means.Oliver: Why do you think your own blog is popular with the rationalists?Kanakia: I don't know for certain. There was a story I wrote that was a joke. There are all these pop nonfiction books that aim to prove something that seems counterintuitive, so I wrote a parody of one of those where I aim to prove that reading is bad for you. This book has many scientific studies that show the more you read, the worse it is because it makes you very rigid.Scott Alexander, who is the archrationalist, really liked that, and he added me to his blog roll. Because of that, I got a thousand rationalist subscribers. I have found that rationalists at least somewhat interested in the classics. I think they are definitely interested in enduring sources of value. I've observed a fair amount of interest.Oliver: How much of a lay reader are you really? Because you read scholarship and critics and you can just quote John Gilroy in the middle of a piece or something.Kanakia: Yeah. That is a good question. I have definitely gotten more interested in secondary literature. In my book, I really talk about being a lay reader and personally having a nonacademic approach to literature. I do think that, over 15 years of being a lay reader, I have developed a lot of knowledge.I've also learned the kind of secondary literature that is really important. I think having historical context adds a lot and is invaluable. Right now I'm rereading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. When I first read it in 2010, I hardly knew anything about French history. I was even talking online with someone about how most people who read Les Miserables think it's set in the French Revolution. That's basically because Americans don't really know anything about French history.Everything makes just a lot more sense the more you know about the time because it was written for people in it. For people in 1860s France, who knew everything about their own recent history, that really adds a lot to it. I still don't tend to go that much into interpretive literature, literature that tries to do readings of the stories or tell me the meaning of the stories. I feel like I haven't really gotten that much out of that.Oliver: How long have you been learning Anglo-Saxon?Kanakia: I went through a big Anglo-Saxon phase. That was in 2010. It started because I started reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. There is a great app online called General Prologue created by one of your countrymen, Terry Richardson [NB it is Terry Jones], who loved Middle English. In this app, he recites the Middle English of the General Prologue. I started listening to this app, and I thought, I just really love the rhythms and the sounds of Middle English. And it's quite easy to learn. So then, I got really into that.And then I thought, but what about Anglo-Saxon? I'm very bad at languages. I studied Latin for seven years in middle school and high school. I never really got very far, but I thought, Anglo-Saxon has to be the easiest foreign language you can learn, right? So, I got into it.I cannot sight read Anglo-Saxon, but I really got into Anglo-Saxon poetry. I really liked the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Most people probably would not like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle because it's very repetitive, but that makes it great if you're a language learner because every entry is in this very repetitive structure. I just felt such a connection. I get in trouble when I say this kind of stuff, because I'm never quiet sure if it's 100 percent true. But it's certainly one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Europe. It's just so much older than most of the other medieval literature I've read. And it just was such a window into a different part of history I never knew about.Oliver: And you particularly like “The Dream of the Rood”?Kanakia: Yeah, “The Dream of the Rood” is my favorite Anglo-Saxon poem. “The Dream of the Rood” is a poem that is told from the point of view of Christ's cross. A man is having a dream. In this dream he encounters Christ's cross, and Christ's cross starts reciting to him basically the story of the crucifixion. At the end, the cross is buried. I don't know, it was just so haunting and powerful. Yeah, it was one of my favorites.Oliver: Why do you think Byron is a better poet than Alexander Pope?Kanakia: This is an argument I cannot get into. I think this is coming up because T. S. Eliot felt that Alexander Pope was a great poet because he really exemplified the spirit of the age. I don't know. I've tried to read Pope. It just doesn't do it for me. Whereas with Byron, I read Don Juan and found it entertaining. I enjoyed it. Then, his lyric poetry is just more entertaining to read. With Alexander Pope, I'm learning a lot about what kind of poetry people wrote in the 18th century, but the joy is not there.Oliver: Okay. Can we do a quick fire round where I say the name of a book and you just say what you think of it, whatever you think of it?Kanakia: Sure.Oliver: Okay. The Odyssey.Kanakia: The Odyssey. Oh, I love The Odyssey. It has a very strange structure, where it starts with Telemachus and then there's this flashback in the middle of it. It is much more readable than The Iliad; I'll say that.Oliver: Herodotus.Kanakia: Herodotus is wild. Going into Herodotus, I really thought it was about the Persian war, which it is, but it's mostly a general overview of everything that Herodotus knew, about anything. It's been a long time since I read it. I really appreciate the voice of Herodotus, how human it is, and the accumulation of facts. It was great.Oliver: I love the first half actually. The bit about the Persian war I'm less interested in, but the first half I think is fantastic. I particularly love the Egypt book.Kanakia: Oh yeah, the Egypt book is really good.Oliver: All those like giant beetles that are made of fire or whatever; I can't remember the details, but it's completely…Kanakia: The Greeks are also so fascinated by Egypt. They go down there like what is going on out there? Then, most of what we know about Egypt comes from this Hellenistic period, when the Greeks went to Egypt. Our Egyptian kings list comes from the Hellenistic period where some scholar decided to sort out what everybody was up to and put it all into order. That's why we have such an orderly story about Egypt. That's the story that the Greeks tried to tell themselves.Oliver: Marcus Aurelius.Kanakia: Marcus Aurelius. When I first read The Meditations, which I loved, obviously, I thought, “being the Roman emperor cannot be this hard.” It really was a black pill moment because I thought, “if the emperor of Rome is so unhappy, maybe human power really doesn't do it.”Knowing more about Marcus Aurelius, he did have quite a difficult life. He was at war for most of his—just stuck in the region in Germany for ages. He had various troubles, but yeah, it really was very stoic. It was, oh, I just have to do my duty. Very “heavy is the head that wears the crown” kind of stuff. I thought, “okay, I guess being Roman emperor is not so great.”Oliver: Omar Khayyam.Kanakia: Omar Khayyam. Okay, I've only read The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward Fitzgerald, which I loved, but I cannot formulate a strong opinion right now.Oliver: As You Like It.Kanakia: No opinions.Oliver: Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.Kanakia: Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. I do have an opinion about this, which is that they should make a redacted version of Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. I normally am not a big believer in abridgements because I feel like whatever is there is there. But, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, first of all, has a long portion before Boswell even meets Johnson. That portion drags; it's not that great. Then it has all these like letters that Johnson wrote, which also are not that great. What's really good is when Boswell just reports everything Johnson ever said, which is about half the book. You get a sense of Johnson's conversation and his personality, and that is very gripping. I've definitely thought that with a different presentation, this could still be popular. People would still read this.Oliver: The Communist Manifesto.Kanakia: The Communist Manifesto. It's very stirring. I love The Communist Manifesto. It has very haunting, powerful lines. I won't try to quote from it because I'll misquote them.Oliver: But it is remarkably well written.Kanakia: Oh yeah, it is a great work of literature.Oliver: Yeah.Kanakia: I read Capital [Das Kapital], which is not a great work of literature, and I would venture to say that it is not necessarily worth reading. It really feels like Marx's reputation is built on other political writings like The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and works like that, which really seem to have a lot more meat on the bone than Capital.Oliver: Pragmatism by William James.Kanakia: Pragmatism. I mean, I've mentioned that in my book. I love William James in general. I think William James was writing in this 19th-century environment where it seemed like some form of skepticism was the only rational solution. You couldn't have any source of value, and he really tried to cut through that with Pragmatism and was like, let's just believe the things that are good to believe. It is definitely at least useful to think, although someone else can always argue with you about what is useful to believe. But, as a personal guide for belief, I think it is still useful.Oliver: Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw.Kanakia: No strong opinions. It was a long time ago that I read Major Barbara.Oliver: Tell me what you like about James Fenimore Cooper.Kanakia: James Fenimore Cooper. Oh, this is great. I have basically a list of Great Books that I want to read, but four or five years ago, I thought, “what's in all the other books that I know the names of but that are not reputed, are not the kind of books you still read?”That was when I read Walter Scott, who I really love. And I just started reading all kinds of books that were kind of well known but have kind of fallen into literary disfavor. In almost every case, I felt like I got a lot out of these books. So, nowadays when I approach any realm of literature, I always look for those books.In 19th-century American literature, the biggest no-longer-read book is The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, which was America's first bestseller. He was the first American novelist that had a high reputation in Europe. The Last of the Mohicans is kind of a historical romance, à la Walter Scott, but much more tightly written and much more tightly plotted.Cooper has written five novels, the Leatherstocking Tales, that are all centered around this very virtuous, rough-hewn frontiersman, Natty Bumppo. He has his best friend, Chingachgook, who is the last of the Mohicans. He's the last of his tribe. And the two of these guys are basically very sad and stoic. Chingachgook is distanced from his tribe. Chingachgook has a tribe of Native Americans that he hates—I want to say it's the Huron. He's always like, “they're the bad ones,” and he's always fighting them. Then, Natty Bumppo doesn't really love settled civilization. He's not precisely at war with it, but he does not like the settlers. They're kind of stuck in the middle. They have various adventures, and I just thought it was so haunting and powerful.I've been reading a lot of other 19th-century American literature, and virtually none of it treats Native Americans with this kind of respect. There's a lot of diversity in the Native American characters; there's really an attempt to show how their society works and the various ways that leadership and chiefship works among them. There's this very haunting moment in The Last of the Mohicans, where this aged chief, Tamenund, comes out and starts speaking. This is a chief who, in American mythology, was famous for being a friend to the white people. But, James Fenimore Cooper writing in the 1820s has Tamenund come out at 80 years old and say, “we have to fight; we have to fight the white people. That's our only option.” It was just such a powerful moment and such a powerful book.I was really, really enthused. I read all of these Leatherstocking Tales. It was also a very strange experience to read these books that are generally supposed to be very turgid and boring, and then I read them and was like, “I understand. I'm so transported.” I understand exactly why readers in the 1820s loved this.Oliver: Which Walter Scott books do you like?Kanakia: I love all the Walter Scott books I've read, but the one I liked best was Kenilworth. Have you ever read Kenilworth?Oliver: I don't know that one.Kanakia: Yeah, it's about Elizabeth I, who had a romantic relationship with one of her courtiers.Oliver: The Earl of Essex?Kanakia: Yeah. She really thought they were going to get married, but then it turned out he was secretly married. Basically, I guess the implication is that he killed his wife in order to marry Queen Elizabeth I. It's a novel all about him and that situation, and it just felt very tightly plotted. I really enjoyed it.Oliver: What did you think of Rejection?Kanakia: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte? Initially when I read this book, I enjoyed it, but I was like, “life cannot possibly be this sad.” It's five or six stories about these people who just have nothing going on. Their lives are so miserable, they can't find anyone to sleep with, and they're just doomed to be alone forever. I was like, “life can't be this bad.” But now thinking back over it, it is one of the most memorable books I've read in the last year. It really sticks with you. I feel like my opinion of this book has gone up a lot in retrospect.Oliver: How antisemitic is the House of Mirth?Kanakia: That is a hotly debated question, which I mentioned in my book. I think there has been a good case made that Edith Wharton, the author of House of Mirth, who was from an old New York family, was herself fairly antisemitic and did not personally like Jewish people. What she portrays in this book is that this old New York society also was highly suspicious of Jewish people and was organized to keep Jewish people out.In this book there is a rich Jewish man, Simon Rosedale, and there's a poor woman, Lily Bart. Lily Bart's main thing is whether she's going to marry the poor guy, Lawrence Selden, or the rich guy, Percy Gryce. She can't choose. She doesn't want to be poor, but she also is always bored by the rich guys. Meanwhile, through the whole book, there's Simon Rosedale, who's always like, “you should marry me.” He's the rich Jewish guy. He's like, “you should marry me. I will give you lots of money. You can do whatever you want.”Everybody else kind of just sees her as a woman and as a wife; he really sees her as an ally in his social climbing. That's his main motivation. The book is relatively clear that he has a kind of respect for her that nobody else does. Then, over the course of the book, she also gains a lot more respect for him. Basically, late in the book, she decides to marry him, but she has fallen a lot in the world. He's like, “that particular deal is not available anymore,” but he does offer her another deal that—although she finds it not to her taste—is still pretty good.He basically is like, “I'll give you some money, you'll figure out how to rehabilitate your reputation, and later down the line, we can figure something out.” So, I think with a great author like Edith Wharton, there's power in these portrayals. I felt it hard to come away from it feeling like the book is like a really antisemitic book.Oliver: Now, you note that the Great Books movement started out as something quite socially aspirational. Do you think it's still like that?Kanakia: I do think so. Yeah. For me, that's 100 percent what it was because I majored in econ. I always felt kind of inadequate as a writer against people who had majored in English. Then I started off as a science fiction writer, young adult writer, and I was like, “I'm going to read all these Great Books and then I'll have read the books that everybody else has read.” In my mind, that's also what it was—that there was some upper crust or literary society that was reading all these Great Books.That's really what did it. I do think there's still an element of aspiration to it because it's a club that you can join, that anyone can join. It's very straightforward to be a Great Books reader, and so I think there's still something there. I think because the Great Books movement has such a democratic quality to it, it actually doesn't get you to the top socially, which has always been the true, always been the case. But, that's okay. As long as you end up higher than where you started, that's fine.Oliver: What makes a book great?Kanakia: I talk about it this in the book, and I go through many different authors' conceptions of what makes a book great or what constitutes a classic. I don't know that anyone has come up with a really satisfying answer. The Horatian formulation from Horace—that a book is great or an author is great if it has lasted for a hundred years—is the one that seems to be the most accurate. Like, any book that's still being read a hundred years after it was written has a greatness.I do think that T. S. Eliott's formulation—that a civilization at its height produces certain literature and that literature partakes of the greatness of the civilization and summarizes the greatness of the civilization—does seem to have some kind of truth to it.But it's hard, right? Because the greatest French novel is In Search of Lost Time, but I don't know that anyone would say that the France in the 1920s was at its height. It's not a prescriptive thing, but it does seem like the way we read many of these Great Books, like Moby Dick, it feels like you're like communing with the entire society that produced it. So, maybe there's something there.Oliver: Now, you've used a list from Clifton Fadiman.Kanakia: Yes.Oliver: Rather than from Mortimer Adler or Harold Bloom or several others. Why this list?Kanakia: Well, the best reason is that it's actually the list I've just been using for the last 15 years. I went to a science fiction convention in 2009, Readercon, and at this science fiction convention was Michael Dirda, who was a Washington Post book critic. He had recently come out with his book, Classics for Pleasure, which I also bought and liked. But he said that the list he had always used was this Clifton Fadiman book. And so when I decided to start reading the Great Books, I went and got that book. I have perused many other lists over time, but that was always the list that seemed best to me.It seemed to have like the best mix. There's considerable variation amongst these lists, but there's also a lot of overlap. So any of these lists is going to have Dickens on it, and Tolstoy, and stuff like that. So really, you're just thinking about, “aside from Dickens and Tolstoy and George Eliot and Walt Whitman and all these people, who are the other 50 authors that you're going be reading?”The Mortimer Adler list is very heavy on philosophy. It has Plotinus on it. It has all these scientific works. I don't know, it didn't speak to me as much. Whereas, this Clifton Fadiman and John Major list has all these Eastern works on it. It has The Tale of Genji, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Story of the Stone, and that just spoke to me a little bit more.Oliver: What modern books will be on a future Great Books list, whether it's from someone alive or someone since the war.Kanakia: Have you ever heard of Robert Caro?Oliver: Sure.Kanakia: Yeah. I think his Lyndon Johnson books are great books. They have changed the field of biography. They're so complete, they seem to summarize an entire era, epoch. They're highly rated, but I feel like they're underrated as literature.What else? I was actually a little bit surprised in this Clifton Fadiman-John Major book, which came out in 1999, that there are not more African Americans in their list. Like, Invisible Man definitely seemed like a huge missed work. You know, it's hard. You would definitely want a book that has undergone enough critical evaluation that people are pretty certain that it is great. A lot of things that are more recent have not undergone that evaluation yet, but Invisible Man has, as have some works by Martin Luther King.Oliver: What about The Autobiography of Malcolm X?Kanakia: I would have to reread. I feel like it hasn't been evaluated much as a literary document.Oliver: Helen DeWitt?Kanakia: It's hard to say. It's so idiosyncratic, The Last Samurai, but it is certainly one of the best novels of the last 25 years.Oliver: Yeah.Kanakia: It is hard to say, because there's nothing else quite like it. But I would love if The Last Samurai was on a list like this; that would be amazing.Oliver: If someone wants to try the Great Books, but they think that those sort of classic 19th-century novels are too difficult—because they're long and the sentences are weird or whatever—what else should they do? Where else should they start?Kanakia: Well, it depends on what they're into, or it depends on their personality type. I think like there are people who like very, very difficult literature. There are people who are very into James Joyce and Proust. I think for some people the cost-benefit is better. If they're going to be pouring over some book for a long time, they would prefer if it was overtly difficult.If they're not like that, then I would say, there are many Great Books that are more accessible. Hemingway is a good one and Grapes of Wrath is wonderful. The 19th-century American books tend to be written in a very different register than the English books. If you read Moby Dick, it feels like it's written in a completely different language than Charles Dickens, even though they're writing essentially at the same time.Oliver: Is there too much Freud on the list that you've used?Kanakia: Maybe. I know that Interpretation of Dreams is on that list, which I've tried to read and have decided life is too short. I didn't really buy it, but I have read a fair amount of Freud. My impression of Freud was always that I would read Freud and somehow it would just seem completely fanciful or far out, like wouldn't ring true. But then when I started reading Freud, it was more the opposite. I was like, oh yeah, this seems very, very true.Like this battle between like the id and the ego and the super ego, and this feeling that like the psyche is at war with itself. Human beings really desire to be singular and exceptional, but then you're constantly under assault by the reality principle, which is that you're insignificant. That all seemed completely true. But then he tries to cure this somehow, which does not seem a curable problem. And he also situates the problem in some early sexual development, which also did not necessarily ring true. But no, I wouldn't say there's too much. Freud is a lot of fun. People should read Freud.Oliver: Which of the Great Books have you really not liked?Kanakia: I do get asked this quite a bit. I would say the Great Book that I really felt like—at least in translation—was not that rewarding in an unabridged version was Don Quixote. Because at least half the length of Don Quixote is these like interpolated novellas that are really long and tedious. I felt Don Quixote was a big slog. But maybe someday I'll go back and reread it and love it. Who knows?Oliver: Now you wrote that the question of biography is totally divorced from the question of what art is and how it operates. What do you think of George Orwell's supposition that if Shakespeare came back tomorrow, and we found out he used to rape children that we should—we would not say, you know, it's fine to carry on to doing that because he might write another King Lear.Kanakia: Well, if we discovered that Shakespeare was raping children, he should go to prison for that. No. It's totally divorced in both senses. You don't get any credit in the court of law because you are the writer of King Lear. If I murdered someone and then I was hauled in front of a judge and they were like, oh, Naomi's a genius, I wouldn't get off for murder. Nor should I get off for murder.So in terms of like whether we would punish Shakespeare for his crime of raping children, I don't think King Lear should count at all, but it's never used that way. It's never should someone go to prison or not for their crimes, because they're a genius. It's always used the other way, which is should we read King Lear knowing that the author raped children, but I also feel like that is immaterial. If you read King Lear, you're not enabling someone to rape children.Oliver: There's an almost endless amount of discussion these days about the Great Books and education and the value of the humanities, and what's the future of it all. What is your short opinion on that?Kanakia: My short opinion is that the Great Books at least are going to be fine. The Great Books will continue to be read, and they would even survive the university. All these books predate the university and they will survive the university. I feel like the university has stewarded literature in its own way for a while now and has made certain choices in that stewardship. I think if that stewardship was given up to more voluntary associations that had less financial support, then I think the choices would probably be very different. But I still think the greatest works would survive.Oliver: Now this is a quote from the book: “I am glad that reactionaries love the Great Books. They've invited a Trojan horse into their own camp.” Tell us what you mean by that.Kanakia: Let's say you believed in Christian theocracy, that you thought America should be organized on explicitly Christian principles. And because you believe in Christian theocracy, you organize a school that teaches the Great Books. Many of these schools that are Christian schools that have Great Books programs will also teach Nietzsche. They definitely put some kind of spin on Nietzsche. But they will teach anti-Christ, and that is a counterpoint to Christian morality and Christian theology. There are many things that you'll read in the Great Books that are corrosive to various kinds of certainties.If someone who I think is bad starts educating themselves in the Great Books, I don't think that the Great Books are going to make them worse from my perspective. So it's good.Oliver: How did reading the Mahabharata change you?Kanakia: Oh yeah, so the Mahabharata is a Hindu epic from, let's say, the first century AD. I'm Indian and most Indians are familiar with the basic outline of the Mahabharata story because it's told in various retellings, and there's a TV serial that my parents would rent from the Indian store growing up and we would watch it tape by tape. So I'm very familiar with it. Like there's never been a time I have not known this story.But I was also familiar with the idea that there is a written version in Sanskrit that's extremely long. It is 10 times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. This Mahabharata story is not that long. I've read a version of it that's about 800 pages long. So how could something that's 10 times this long be the same? A new unabridged translation came out 10 years ago. So I started reading it, and it basically contains the entire Sanskrit Vedic worldview in it.I had never been exposed to this very coherently laid-out version of what I would call Hindu cosmology and ethics. Hindus don't really get taught those things in a very organized way. The book is basically about dharma, the principle of rightness and how this principle of rightness orders the universe and how it basically results in everybody getting their just deserts in various ways. As I was reading the book, I was like, this seems very true that there is some cosmic rebalancing here, and that everything does turn out more or less the way it should, which is not something that I can defend on a rational level.But just reading the book, it just made me feel like, yes, that is true. There is justice, the universe is organized by justice. It took me about a year to read the whole thing. I started waking up at 5:00 a.m. and reading for an hour each morning, and it just was a really magical, profound experience that brought me a lot closer to my grandmother's religious beliefs.Oliver: Is it ever possible to persuade someone with arguments that they should read literature, or is it just something that they have to have an inclination toward and then follow someone's example? Because I feel like we have so many columns and op-eds and “books are good because of X reason, and it's very important because of Y reason.” And like, who cares? No one cares. If you are persuaded, you take all that very seriously and you argue about what exactly are the precise reasons we should say. And if you're not persuaded, you don't even know this is happening.And what really persuades you is like, oh, Naomi sounds pretty compelling about the Mahabharata. That sounds cool. I'll try that. It's much more of a temperamental, feelingsy kind of thing. Is it possible to argue people into thinking about this differently? Or should we just be doing what we do and setting an example and hoping that people will follow.Kanakia: As to whether it's possible or not, I do not know. But I do think these columns are too ambitious. A thousand-word column and the imagined audience for this column is somebody who doesn't read books at all, who doesn't care about literature at all. And then in a thousand-word column, you're going to persuade them to care about literature. This is no good. It's so unnecessary.Whereas there's a much broader range of people who love to read books, but have never picked up Moby Dick or have never picked up Middlemarch, or who like maybe loved Middlemarch, but never thought maybe I should then go on and read Jane Austen and George Eliot.I think trying to shift people from “I don't read books at all; reading books is not something I do,” to being a Great Books card-carrying lover of literature is a lot. I really aim for a much lower result than that, which is to whatever extent people are interested in literature, they should pursue that interest. And as the rationalists would say, there's a lot of alpha in that; there's a lot to be gained from converting people who are somewhat interested into people who are very interested.Oliver: If there was a more widespread practice of humanism in education and the general culture, would that make America into a more liberal country in any way?Kanakia: What do you mean by humanism?Oliver: You know, the old-fashioned liberal arts approach, the revival of the literary journal culture, the sort of depolitical approach to literature, the way things used to be, as it were.Kanakia: It couldn't hurt. It couldn't hurt is my answer to that question.Oliver: Okay.Kanakia: What you're describing is basically the way I was educated. I went to Catholic school in DC at St. Anselm's Abbey School, in Northeast, DC, grade school. Highly recommend sending your little boys there. No complaints about the school. They talked about humanism all the time and all these civic virtues. I thought it was great. I don't know what people in other schools learn, but I really feel like it was a superior way of teaching.Now, you know, it was Catholic school, so a lot of people who graduated from my school are conservatives and don't really have the beliefs that I have, but that's okay.Oliver: Tell us about your reading habits.Kanakia: I read mostly ebooks. I really love ebooks because you can make the type bigger. I just read all the time. They vary. I don't wake up at 5:00 a.m. to read anymore. Sometimes if I feel like I'm not reading enough—because I write this blog, and the blog doesn't get written unless I'm reading. That's the engine, and so sometimes I set aside a day each week to read. But generally, the reading mostly takes care of itself.What I tend to get is very into a particular thing, and then I'll start reading more and more in that area. Recently, I was reading a lot of New Yorker stories. So I started reading more and more of these storywriters that have been published in the New Yorker and old anthologies of New Yorker stories. And then eventually I am done. I'm tired. It's time to move on.Oliver: But do you read several books at once? Do you make notes? Do you abandon books? How many hours a day do you read?Kanakia: Hours a day: Because my e-reader keeps these stats, I'd say 15 or 20 hours a week of reading. Nowadays because I write for the blog, I often think as I'm reading how I would frame a post about this. So I look for quotes, like what quote I would look at. I take different kinds of notes. I'll make more notes if I'm more confused by what is going on. Especially with nonfiction books, I'll try sometimes to make notes just to iron out what exactly I think is happening or what I think the argument is. But no, not much of a note taker.Oliver: What will you read next?Kanakia: What will I read next? Well, I've been thinking about getting back into Indian literature. Right now I'm reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. But there's an Indian novel called Jhootha Sach, which is a partition novel that is originally in Hindi. And it's also a thousand pages long, and is frequently compared to Les Miserables and War and Peace. So I'm thinking about tackling that finally.Oliver: Naomi Kanakia, thank you very much.Kanakia: Thanks for having me. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk
This episode is a conversation about translation — but also about voice, memory, the body, and the extraordinary journey of carrying one poet's interior world into another language. i, Salma is not simply a translated collection — it is the bringing together of poetry, lived experience, and linguistic transformation. And at the heart of this process are two translators whose own literary sensibilities shape how we encounter Salma in English — K. Srilata and Shobhana Kumar.Salma is the pen name of Tamil writer Rajathi Samsudeen. Overcoming orthodoxy and having been confined within her home, Salma has now become an international literary figure and spokesperson for women's rights. Her works have received acclaim globally and she is renowned in contemporary Tamil literature. With three volumes of poetry, three novels, two collections of short stories and a travelogue, Salma has made her mark as a distinctive Indian literary voice. She is also a a committed public servant and activist, and represents her constituent Trichy in Rajya Sabha. i, Salma is a collection of her poems, translated into English by poets K. Srilata and Shobhana Kumar. Shobhana Kumar is a poet, translator and chronicler of industrial, corporate andleadership histories. Her book of haibun, A Sky Full of Bucket Lists, won theRabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for 2021-2022, and The Touchstone DistinguishedBooks Award (HM), 2021, instituted by The Haiku Foundation, United States. She is currently working on two collaborative translation projects, which you will hear of in the course of our conversation. Shobhana is also the founder of Small Differences, an NGO that works with marginalized communities, including transgenders, single women and children, and serves on the board of several renowned NGOs.Srilata Krishnan is a poet, fiction writer, translator and academic. A Fulbright fellow and a recipient of the Charles Wallace Writing Fellowship, her books include seven collections of poetry including the best-selling “Footnotes to the Mahabharata, a novel Table for Four longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2009 and a non-fiction title This Kind of Child: The ‘Disability Story' named by The Better India in their list of Eight Best Bookson Disability. Srilata has also edited several anthologies and published translations. She is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor at Shiv Nadar University, Chennai and co-curator of the CMI Arts Initiative. i, Salma is important not only because it introduces Salma's poetry to English readers in a sustained way, but because the translations preserve the emotional intensity and political courage of the original work. At its heart, i, Salma is both a literary journey and a human one — a movement through silence, resistance, memory, and becoming.This is a peerless episode from Red River Sessions presented to you by Uncut Poetry. In Red River Sessions, we talk to published poets, about their poetry, their craft and what haunts them. It is brought to you by Red River, which is the premier independent publisher of poetry books and Uncut Poetry, a much-loved poetry podcast.You can find books published by Red River online at redriverpress.in , on Amazon and in select bookstores.
In our second episode on the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic from c. 300 BCE, we dive into what is perhaps the most famous section of it: the 700 verses that make up the Bhagavad Gita. We discuss the main points of this foundational Hindu scripture, which recounts a discussion between the warrior Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna on the eve of an apocalyptic battle. We also discuss debates around its authorship and explore the profound influence it had on Mahatma Gandhi, who didn't read it until he was a young law student in London, when some friends he made at a vegetarian restaurant recommended it to him. Want to read the transcript? Click here. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating or review about our show! It helps other listeners find us. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
Bright on Buddhism - Avatamsaka Sutra - Book 30 - The IncalculableJoin us as we read and discuss Book 30 of Thomas Cleary's translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra!Resources: Prince, Tony (2014). Universal Enlightenment, An introduction to the teachings and practices of Huayen Buddhism. Kongting Publishing Company Ltd. Taiwan.; Beer, Robert (2003), The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, Serindia Publications; Burley, Mikel (2007), Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge; Cook, Francis H. (1977), Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra, Penn State Press, ISBN 0-271-02190-X; Debroy, Bibek (2013), Mahabharata, Volume 7 (Google eBoek), Penguin UK; Jones, Ken H. (2003), The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-365-6; Goudriaan, Teun (1978), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers; Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Watson, Gay; Batchelor, Stephen; Claxton, Guy (2000), Indra's Net at Work: The Mainstreaming of Dharma Practice in Society. In: The Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Science, and Our Day-to-Day Lives, Weiser, ISBN 1-57863-172-6; Lee, Kwang-Sae (2005), East and West: Fusion of Horizons, Homa & Sekey Books, ISBN 1-931907-26-9; Malhotra, Rajiv (2014), Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity, Noida, India: HarperCollins Publishers India, ISBN 978-9351362449 ISBN 9351362442, OCLC 871215576; Odin, Steve (1982), Process Metaphysics and Hua-Yen Buddhism: A Critical Study of Cumulative Penetration Vs. Interpenetration, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-87395-568-4; Ram, Tulsi (2013), Atharva Veda: Authentic English Translation, Agniveer, pp. 910–911, retrieved 24 June 2014____________At the time of recording, the list of people murdered by ICE includes -Victor Manuel Díaz - no fundraiser link currently availableGeraldo Lunas - https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-bring-their-father-home-for-goodbyeLuis Gustavo Nunez - https://www.gofundme.com/f/ayuda-para-regresar-a-mi-hermano-a-casaLuis Beltrán Yanez Cruz - https://www.gofundme.com/f/luis-beltran-yanez-cruz Heber Sanchez Dominguez - https://www.gofundme.com/f/heber-sanchez-dominguezParady La - https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-parady-las-family-and-fight-ice-for-changeKeith Porter Jr. - https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-franceolas-granddaughters-futureAlex Pretti - https://www.gofundme.com/f/alex-pretti-is-an-american-heroRenee Good - donations currently pausedWe can get through this. Our strongest weapon is solidarity. Stay strong and help where you can. Thank you.Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by emailing us at Bright.On.Buddhism@gmail.com.Credits:Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-HostProven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
Shri Krishna reveals the sign of one who has practiced the path to Self-knowledge: humility and the vision of equality. By seeing beyond names and forms and focusing on the essence—the Creator in all—we treat everyone equally and live anchored in the Truth. This is Essential Verse 17: Chapter 5, Verse 18.➡️ To maximize your experience of this season, we encourage you to request your FREE copy of the Essential Love eBook. Incorporating accessible translations and practical application, the eBook accompanies each episode with additional ways to learn, synthesize, and reflect on key insights.
What if the most powerful character in the Mahabharata was a boatwoman?In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with debut author Rupeen Popat to explore his novel Satyavati, a bold retelling of the Mahabharata's origin story through the eyes of a woman history forgot. Satyavati begins as a ferrying boatwoman, but her courage and resilience transform her into the queen who steered the fate of kingdoms.Rupeen takes us behind the scenes of his lifelong fascination with Indian epics, sharing his research process, stepping into the shoes of Satyavati, and deep dives that brought this book and the morally complex world of Hastinapur to life. From Bhishma's unbreakable vows to Ganga's enigmatic actions, the episode explores the conflicts, morally grey areas, and leadership lessons these timeless stories hold for readers today.He also opens up about his publishing journey with Jaico, what makes Indian mythology different than Western, and hints at the next books in the series that will shine a light on other overlooked characters. If you've ever wondered what really shapes history, or simply love epic storytelling, you won't want to miss this episode.Books and TV shows mentioned in the episode:Mahabharat (1988)Game of Thrones (2011)The Lord of the Rings (Film trilogy)How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreatApply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz‘Books and Beyond with Bound' is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D'costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India's finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
Le Mahabarata n'est pas seulement une guerre de personnages mythologiques ;c'est une quête intérieure, une traversée des dilemmes humains :agir ou renoncer, tenir ou lâcher, pardonner ou résister.À travers ses figures puissante cette épopée nous parle du courage d'être juste,de la complexité des choix, et de la possibilité d'un équilibre entre force et paix.Ni morale simpliste, ni dogme figé : le Mahabharata nous offre une sagesse vivante pour habiter notre monde avec lucidité, engagement et humanité.Conférence par Daniela Molina, philosophe, présidente de Nouvelle Acropole Lyon.*****Saviez vous que Nouvelle Acropole est réalisée à 100% par des bénévoles ? Nous dépendons donc beaucoup de nos étudiants et amis pour la divulgation !N'oubliez pas de vous abonner à la chaîne et si possible de la partager sur vos réseaux sociaux.Ce sera d'une grande aide !
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
De reis met professor dr. Peter Bisschop van de Universiteit Leiden gaat verder: in de tweede aflevering van een fascinerend tweeluik over het Mahabharata kijken we deze keer naar een bijzonder werk in dat grotere epos: de 'Bhagavad Gita'. Wat is dit voor 'werk in een werk'? Wie spelen er een rol in dit verhaal? Welke rol speelt de Bhagavad Gita vandaag de dag nog in India... en wereldwijd? En welke positie neemt de Bhagavad Gita in in het Mahabharata? Peter praat ons uitgebreid bij!Shownotes
In this part, Swamiji narrates how Ved Vyas, despite compiling the Vedas, Mahabharata, Puranas, and Vedanta Sutras, remained dissatisfied. Narad Ji appeared and explained that Vyasa had described Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha, but not the pure Bhagavat Dharma — devotion beyond material goals. To illustrate, Narad Ji shared his own story. In his previous life, he was born the son of a maidservant in an ashram. During Chaturmas, he served saints, listened to their discourses, and tasted the remnants of their prasadam. This purified his heart and filled him with longing for God. After his mother's death, he wandered to holy places, where he briefly received the Lord's darshan. The Lord told him that this vision was given only to ignite his desire, and that through lifelong devotion he would attain union in his next birth. Narad Ji then engaged in austerity and sadhana, and in his next life appeared as the mind-born son of Brahma, eternally traveling the three worlds, singing the glories of the Lord. He urged Vyasa to compose a scripture centered solely on devotion. Inspired by Narad Ji's guidance and his own divine realizations, Vyasa composed the Srimad Bhagavatam, describing the spotless Dharma of Bhakti. This part emphasizes that Narad Ji's transformation demonstrates the power of Bhakti: regardless of birth or circumstance, devotion alone elevates the soul and leads to God-realization. About Swami Mukundananda: Swami Mukundananda is a renowned spiritual leader, Vedic scholar, Bhakti saint, best‑selling author, and an international authority on the subject of mind management. He is the founder of the unique yogic system called JKYog. Swamiji holds distinguished degrees in Engineering and Management from IIT and IIM. Having taken the renounced order of life (sanyas), he is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, and has been sharing Vedic wisdom across the globe for decades.
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
We're exploring the 16th essential verse from the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. In Chapter 5, Verse 17, Shri Krishna shares the plan for contemplation, forming the seed for Chapter 6. By steadily listening to the Truth, sincerely reflecting, and contemplating with strength, we shift from ego to Spirit and realize our nature as Divinity—Being Joyful and Serene beyond the purest.➡️ To maximize your experience of this season, we encourage you to request your FREE copy of the Essential Love eBook. Incorporating accessible translations and practical application, the eBook accompanies each episode with additional ways to learn, synthesize, and reflect on key insights.
Met professor dr. Peter Bisschop van de Universiteit Leiden gaan we in deze aflevering uitgebreid kijken naar het Mahabharata! Een enorm epos uit het oude India, maar wat weten we over dit werk? Welk verhaal of welke verhalen bevat het, wie schreef of schreven het... kortom: heel veel vragen! Over dit en nog veel meer praat Peter ons bij in dit eerste deel van een boeiend tweeluik.Shownotes
Ancient texts describe flying machines thousands of years before modern aviation — were they myth… or something more? In this episode, we dive into Vimanas — legendary aerial craft described in ancient Indian scriptures like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. These texts speak of metallic flying vehicles capable of hovering, extreme speed, interplanetary travel, and devastating weapons that sound disturbingly modern. We break down: What Vimanas were said to be How ancient descriptions resemble modern UFO sightings Claims of lost advanced technology and ancient warfare Why mainstream historians call it mythology And why the details refuse to be ignored Are Vimanas symbolic stories… misunderstood technology… or evidence that ancient civilizations knew far more than we're told? Look up. History might not be as primitive as we think. Listen. Learn. Laugh. Question everything. Support the show & join The Skult: Patreon.com/SofaKingPodcast Merch & SK Gear: SofaKingPodcast.com More Episodes: / @sofakingpodcast Sofakingpodcast.com Produced by Brad Taylor Music by Brad Taylor Full songs available on Patreon "Enter the Sofa King Chamber" "Ancient Flying Machines" Artwork by Brent Vantassel #Vimana #AncientTechnology #LostCivilizations #AncientMysteries #UFOHistory #ForbiddenHistory #MythOrTruth #AncientAviation #Podcast
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
On this season of Live Vedanta, we're unpacking the 70 verses at the heart of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 5, Verse 7 centers on the theme of doershiplessness, deepening the focus on Karma Yoga and self-development. By purifying the mind, overcoming the ego and senses, and seeing the Spirit in all beings, we act dynamically and freely, unbound by our actions while uplifting ourselves and others.➡️ To maximize your experience of this season, we encourage you to request your FREE copy of the Essential Love eBook. Incorporating accessible translations and practical application, the eBook accompanies each episode with additional ways to learn, synthesize, and reflect on key insights.
Eight times longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, the Mahabharata has a little of everything: philosophy, spirituality, myths, romances, geography, a heroic polycule, and one transgender warrior who knows how to follow up on a grudge. First written down around 300 BCE (but, like its brother epic, the Ramayana, much older than that), the Mahabharata is at its core a story about two sets of warring cousins. Hitch up your chariot and gallop with us through this summary of the main action.Want to read the transcript? Click here. Don't forget to share, rate, and review us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chaque année, le festival des langues classiques met à l'honneur le grec, le latin et le chinois. Cette année, les langues asiatiques sont mises à l'honneur. Si le grec et le latin se taillent la part du lion, les langues asiatiques s'invitent et parmi elles, le sanscrit et le coréen sont aussi décryptées. Comment les littératures classiques de l'Inde, de la Chine entretiennent-elles un dialogue vivant avec l'oralité ? Des récits fondateurs aux épopées transmises de génération en génération, la voix demeure au cœur de la mémoire et de la transmission. De quelle manière les formes orales façonnent-elles le texte, nourrissent la pensée et tissent un lien entre passé et présent ? Il serait réducteur d'affirmer que le sanscrit n'est qu'une langue érudite et sacrée ! Il y a 2000 ans d'histoire littéraire, scientifique. On y trouve des traités d'architecture, d'astronomie mais aussi des belles lettres, du théâtre, des romans ! Cette langue n'a jamais été une langue parlée en tant que telle. Cette langue s'est fait connaitre grâce au Mahabharata, le livre de Véda Vyasa, une grande épopée lyrique qui raconte la guerre des Bharata et qui a donné lieu à de grandes mises en scène de Jean-Claude Carrière ou Peter Brook. Ce texte ainsi que le Ramayana étaient destinés à distraire la cour royale. Ils vont connaître la postérité et avoir un impact majeur et vont influencer des auteurs tels que Salman Rushdie ou Thomas Mann. Quant à la langue coréenne, son histoire est très intéressante : son alphabet a été créé au XVè siècle. Environ 2/3 de son lexique provient de la langue chinoise classique : le hanmun. Le chinois classique était aussi une grande langue de lettrés et de traduction. Les concours de fonctionnaires devaient réciter ou psalmodier des textes classiques ou canoniques en langue classiques. Invités : - Yannick Bruneton, professeur des Universités, Paris Cité, anciennement Paris 7. Spécialiste d'histoire médiévale de la Corée, rattaché à l'École pratique des Hautes études. Auteur chez Armand Colin d'un manuel de chinois classique, mais il vient aussi de publier, en novembre 2025, aux Belles Lettres, dans la collection « Bibliothèque chinoise », les Poèmes du Dhyana de Hyangjok Sunim. C'est une anthologie de poèmes zen bouddhiques coréens anciens, commentés par un moine coréen contemporain - Iris Farkondeh, chargée de cours à l'Université Sorbonne nouvelle et docteure en Études indiennes. La huitième édition du Festival des langues classiques aura lieu à Versailles les 7 et 8 février 2026. Lucie Bouteloup ne nous fait jamais « faux bond » ! Comme chaque mercredi, elle décrypte une expression bien connue de la langue française dans sa chronique « La puce à l'oreille » avec la complicité de la lexicographe Géraldine Moisnard des éditions Le Robert. Programmation musicale : L'artiste franco-brésilienne Gildaa avec le titre Utopiste.
Chaque année, le festival des langues classiques met à l'honneur le grec, le latin et le chinois. Cette année, les langues asiatiques sont mises à l'honneur. Si le grec et le latin se taillent la part du lion, les langues asiatiques s'invitent et parmi elles, le sanscrit et le coréen sont aussi décryptées. Comment les littératures classiques de l'Inde, de la Chine entretiennent-elles un dialogue vivant avec l'oralité ? Des récits fondateurs aux épopées transmises de génération en génération, la voix demeure au cœur de la mémoire et de la transmission. De quelle manière les formes orales façonnent-elles le texte, nourrissent la pensée et tissent un lien entre passé et présent ? Il serait réducteur d'affirmer que le sanscrit n'est qu'une langue érudite et sacrée ! Il y a 2000 ans d'histoire littéraire, scientifique. On y trouve des traités d'architecture, d'astronomie mais aussi des belles lettres, du théâtre, des romans ! Cette langue n'a jamais été une langue parlée en tant que telle. Cette langue s'est fait connaitre grâce au Mahabharata, le livre de Véda Vyasa, une grande épopée lyrique qui raconte la guerre des Bharata et qui a donné lieu à de grandes mises en scène de Jean-Claude Carrière ou Peter Brook. Ce texte ainsi que le Ramayana étaient destinés à distraire la cour royale. Ils vont connaître la postérité et avoir un impact majeur et vont influencer des auteurs tels que Salman Rushdie ou Thomas Mann. Quant à la langue coréenne, son histoire est très intéressante : son alphabet a été créé au XVè siècle. Environ 2/3 de son lexique provient de la langue chinoise classique : le hanmun. Le chinois classique était aussi une grande langue de lettrés et de traduction. Les concours de fonctionnaires devaient réciter ou psalmodier des textes classiques ou canoniques en langue classiques. Invités : - Yannick Bruneton, professeur des Universités, Paris Cité, anciennement Paris 7. Spécialiste d'histoire médiévale de la Corée, rattaché à l'École pratique des Hautes études. Auteur chez Armand Colin d'un manuel de chinois classique, mais il vient aussi de publier, en novembre 2025, aux Belles Lettres, dans la collection « Bibliothèque chinoise », les Poèmes du Dhyana de Hyangjok Sunim. C'est une anthologie de poèmes zen bouddhiques coréens anciens, commentés par un moine coréen contemporain - Iris Farkondeh, chargée de cours à l'Université Sorbonne nouvelle et docteure en Études indiennes. La huitième édition du Festival des langues classiques aura lieu à Versailles les 7 et 8 février 2026. Lucie Bouteloup ne nous fait jamais « faux bond » ! Comme chaque mercredi, elle décrypte une expression bien connue de la langue française dans sa chronique « La puce à l'oreille » avec la complicité de la lexicographe Géraldine Moisnard des éditions Le Robert. Programmation musicale : L'artiste franco-brésilienne Gildaa avec le titre Utopiste.
AUDIOBOOK - Mahabharata por SWAMI PURISWAMI PURI (Srila Bhaktivedanta Puri Goswami Maharaj) é monge renunciante há 26 anos, mestre espiritual do Vaisnavismo e discípulo de Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj. Construiu um monastério no sul de Minas Gerais onde se pratica bhakti yoga, a yoga da devoção. Sua dedicação, amizade e simplicidade o tornou muito querido, recebendo a todos que tem ido tomar refúgio nesse belo espaço chamado Vrinda Bhumi.CONHEÇA MAIS sobre SWAMI PURI (B.V Puri Goswami Mahārāja)Instagram: / bvpuri Facebook: / swamipuri64 Site Oficial: http://www.swamipuri.com.brCANAL DO YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FhOypSOtH-y8D5PonB2aQGrupo Bhakti Dharma no Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LHY4w0pIkCt...ACOMPANHE-NOS NAS REDES SOCIAIS - SEMEANDO DEVOÇÃO: https://harmonizesuavida.my.canva.site/semeandodevocao
Sadhguru habla sobre Barbarik, un guerrero del sur que llegó al campo de batalla de Kurukshetra, sus increíbles habilidades y cómo fue decapitado. También analiza quién, según Barbarik, fue el guerrero más grande de la batalla de Kurukshetra. Extracto de «Mahabhárata: a través de los ojos de un místico». Mira la serie completa en Sadhguru Exclusive. https://sadhguru.co/app.exclusive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When Exactly Did the Mahabharata Happen? | Nilesh Oak vs Vedveer Arya Explosive Debate | SanjayDixit
“There's nothing dead about the Indian classics. It's not a revival of anything. It's not a museum piece. I think our classical tradition is alive through the stories our parents and grandparents told us…[and through popular culture]…..but with few exceptions, we don't know about the classics from our neighboring state, right? I always hope that the girl in Chandigarh can read a Mangal Kavya from Bengal, a boy in Patna can read a Telugu classic. Someone sitting in your old hometown, Pune can read Bulleh Shah.”
Mahabharata wisdom 1 How life was unfair to everyone Pandavas Kauravas Karna Chaitanya Charan by Exploring mindfulness, yoga and spirituality
Namaskar, and welcome to Marathi Stories by Sudheer Mahajani.As we step into 2026, we begin a reflective journey into the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, explored shloka by shloka in Marathi.Mr. Sudheer Mahajani, who has studied the Gita in depth over many years, shares his thoughtful narration through this podcast.In Episode 1, we set the backdrop of the Mahabharata and begin with the opening verses of the first Adhyay – Arjun Vishad Yog, where Arjuna's inner conflict on the battlefield sets the stage for the timeless wisdom of the Gita.Let us begin this journey together.
On the Shelf for January 2026 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 332 with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction. In this episode we talk about: Summary of the Project in 2025 Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blog Xie, Wenjuan. 2015. (Trans)Culturally Transgendered: Reading Transgender Narratives in (Late) Imperial China. Dissertation. Sommer, Matthew H. “Was China Part of a Global Eighteenth-Century Homosexuality?” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 33, no. 1, 2007, pp. 117–33. Carton, Adrian. 2006. “Desire and Same-Sex Intimacies in Asia” in Gay Life and Culture, A World History, ed. Robert Aldrich. Universe Publishing, New York. ISBN 978-0-7893-1511-3 Gowing, Laura. 2006. ”Lesbians and Their Like in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800” in Gay Life and Culture: A World History ed. Robert Aldrich. London: Thames and Hudson. 125-43 Rupp, Leila J. 2001. “Toward a Global History of Same-Sex Sexuality” in Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 10, No. 2: 287-302 Leupp, Gary P. 2007. “Capitalism and Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century Japan.” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 135–52. Pflugfelder, Gregory M. 1992. “Strange Fates: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Torikaebaya Monogatari” in Monumenta Nipponica Vol. 47, No. 3 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 347-368. Shah, Shalini. 1991. “Women and Sexuality in the Mahabharata” in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 52: 138-144. Srivastava, Manjari & Manjari Shrivastava. 2007. “Lesbianism in Nineteenth Century Erotic Urdu Poetry “Rekhti”” in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 68, Part One: 965-988 Book Shopping The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction Dreadful Sorry, Clemintine (Clementine #2) by Genta Sebastian Steel on Distance by N.J. Knox A Djinn and Tonic (The Magical Underground #2) by Nan Sampson Gold and Grace by Eline Evans Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban The Debutante Dilemma by author The Case of the Murdered Muckraker (Harriot Morrow Investigates #2) by Rob Osler What I've been consuming The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler Saint-Seducing Gold by Brittany N. William A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite Emma: The Nature of a Lady by Kate Christie The Scandal at Pemberley by Mara Brooks The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet by Melinda Taub The Lady's Wager by Olivia Hampton Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details. This month we interview M.K. Hardy and talk about: Needfire by MK Hardy (US availability is limited) MK Hardy is a nom de plume for Morag Hannah and Erin Hardee Adapting the gothic template for sapphic stories Why Scotland is the perfect setting for gothics The benefits and complications of writing as a team Forthcoming: The Haunting of Avis Lovelock A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop Bluesky: @heatherrosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to MK Hardy Online Website: https://www.mkhardywrites.com/ Twitter: @mkhardywrites Instagram: @mkhardywrites Bluesky: @mkhardywrites.com
Explore Rupa Bhaty Ma'am's Academic Research Papers Below:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rupa-Bhaty?ev=hdr_xprfhttps://independent.academia.edu/RupaBhatyCheck out BeerBiceps SkillHouse's YouTube 1O1 Course - https://youtube.beerbicepsskillhouse.in/youtube-101Share your guest suggestions hereMail - connect@beerbiceps.comLink - https://forms.gle/aoMHY9EE3Cg3Tqdx9BeerBiceps SkillHouse को Social Media पर Follow करे :-YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-Y36TqZ5MH6N1cWpmsBRQ Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/beerbiceps_skillhouseWebsite : https://beerbicepsskillhouse.inFor any other queries EMAIL: support@beerbicepsskillhouse.comIn case of any payment-related issues, kindly write to support@tagmango.comLevel Supermind - Mind Performance App को Download करिए यहाँ से
Watch Our Other Episodes With Nilesh Oak Below:-https://youtu.be/MO50SFyVDMkhttps://youtu.be/ptxJDBfO42whttps://youtu.be/LHLaP7g1SaAhttps://youtu.be/LWCQ927gwasShare your guest suggestions hereMail - connect@beerbiceps.comLink - https://forms.gle/aoMHY9EE3Cg3Tqdx9Check out BeerBiceps SkillHouse's YouTube 1O1 Course - https://youtube.beerbicepsskillhouse.in/youtube-101BeerBiceps SkillHouse को Social Media पर Follow करे :-YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-Y36TqZ5MH6N1cWpmsBRQ Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/beerbiceps_skillhouseWebsite : https://beerbicepsskillhouse.inFor any other queries EMAIL: support@beerbicepsskillhouse.comIn case of any payment-related issues, kindly write to support@tagmango.comLevel Supermind - Mind Performance App को Download करिए यहाँ से
Send us a textThe ancient Rishis, through deep states of consciousness perceived the true architecture of cosmic time, shedding light on why the impossible (like interstellar travel) is infinitely possible. Vedic knowledge, is not myth. it is memory that sustains within the humanity's DNA. All that we call myth - from the ancient domain of Africa ( which includes Egypt ), India, China, the great pyramids, Mayan civilization's UN-erasable history- the universal truth etched in our memory- memory to be remembered. A more recent Vedic aeronautic tome called the Vaimanika Shastra written by Pt. Sastry cited the intricate architectural designs implemented in ancient Vedic models for starships such as Ai Atlas and R2 Swan - the design and construction and propulsion of these ancient starships noted untra-dense metal construction and mercury vortex engines and other highly advanced technologies. The modern discovery of concepts like ion drives, warp drives and anti-gravity technology align with the supreme design architecture described in this text which elaborated on ancient Vedic texts such as Ramayana and Mahabharata that noted these flying machines called Vimana, a Sanskrit term: The descriptions of Vimanas as silent hovering craft moving with aquatic grace at unfathomable speeds across great swaths of the universe navigating through known cosmic portals. Vaimanika Sastra surmised the starship's design complied with Vedic mathematical principles that emulate the natural symmetrical pulsation and geometrical sequence of the universe. ancient Vedic renditions of spacecraft design would have had to include a timed emission system that is synchronized to match the pulsation of the cosmic heartbeat generating from Spanda, the primordial vibration. Its navigation system is rooted in the cosmic code imbued into the spiral of galaxies, a concept founded in 200BCE by the Vedic mathematician, Pingala in his work on Sanskrit prosody where he surmised the Virahanka numbers, the knowledge of what is now known as the Fibonacci sequence - the cosmic code imbued in the spiral of galaxies, in the full cycle of the DNA double helix, and in various aspects of nature.To help us understand the impossible timeline being not only possible but holding infinite possibilities listen to the deeper vibration of truth currently resonating in every cell of your being. There is simply nothing to fear from the arrival of interstellar starships and their Supra-conscious sojourners.Vedic cosmology describes time in vast cycles called kalpas, 4.32 billion years, for example, represent a day of Brahma followed by a night of Brahma of equal length, where the universe is created and then dissolved. This cyclical model predates present day Big Bang theories. The Vedas propose that the universe expands from a singularity and at the end of each Kalpa it collapses into dissolution therein triggering the next Big Bang. This understanding of the Kalpa principle of time offers insights into the bending and folding of cosmic time. For example, the ancient space crafts of Ai ASupport the showMay Peace Be Your Journey~www.mayatiwari.comwww.facebook.com/mayatiwariahimsa.Buzzsprout.com Get Maya's New Book: I Am Shakti: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/I-am-shakti Amazon.com Bookshop.org
Did ancient civilizations nuke themselves into oblivion… or did the History Channel just get bored again? This week we dive headfirst into the rabbit hole of Ancient Nuclear Wars – from the “radioactive” skeletons of Mohenjo-Daro, to alleged atom-bomb craters in the desert, to the Mahabharata passages that sound suspiciously like somebody watched a Cold War documentary and got way too excited. We'll talk vimanas (ancient flying machines), biblical firestorms, desert glass, and why every weird rock seems to mean “aliens with launch codes” to at least one guy on YouTube.Along the way, we'll pit wild fringe theories against boring things like geology, archaeology, and physics (booooo), ask whether Oppenheimer accidentally subtweeted the Vedic gods, and decide if the only real ancient WMD was still… humans and their bad decisions. Was there a Bronze Age Fallout-style apocalypse, or is this just another case of modern nuclear anxiety cosplaying in ancient texts? Tune in as Hysteria 51 flips the Geiger counter on Ancient Nuclear War.Special thanks to this week's research sources:Pauwels, Louis, and Jacques Bergier. The Morning of the Magicians: Secret Societies, Conspiracies, and Vanished Civilizations. Destiny Books, 2008.Discussions of the Jodhpur “radioactive ash” story as a modern hoax or unsubstantiated legend. (Isvara Archive)Libyan Desert Glass and impact evidence (reidite, zircon breakdown, dating to ~29 million years ago). (Wikipedia)Jason Colavito's work on “ancient atom bombs,” Mahabharata misquotes, and the myth's modern origins. (JASON COLAVITO)Background on Pauwels & Bergier's The Morning of the Magicians and its role in popularizing “fantastic realism.” (Wikipedia)References to Matest Agrest's interpretations of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Baalbek as nuclear/spaceport events. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)Coverage of modern proponents like Billy Carson and Ancient Aliens episodes promoting the ancient nuclear war narrative. (Daily Express US)Research on Tall el-Hammam and cosmic airbursts as real Bronze Age city-destroying events. (uaf.edu) K. A. R. Kennedy's work and later summaries on Mohenjo-Daro skeletons and the debunking of the “massacre” and “radiation” stories. (Ancient Origins)Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Send us a textIt is no surprise that 3i Atlas -a fleet of spacecrafts- has successfully entered Earth space using the solar signal of Surya, the Sun as their GPS navigator. Our limited knowledge of universal physics render us incapable of grasping the magnitude of the multi universe we live in. Thousands of years ago the Vedic seers recorded numerous texts that illuminated extensive knowledge of the cosmic pathways and divine travel between different realms. Texts like the Mahabharata and Puranas depict infinite number of pathways for inter stellar travels - ways that modern science compares to wormholes. These pages illustrated the idea of divine beings instantly traversing vast distances or returning to find that centuries have passed, using cosmic pathways as shortcuts through spacetime. In the Mahabharata, central text of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's journeyed to the realm of the gods in a divine chariot through a "pathway of stars". Vedic parables depict gods and demons alike using "celestial pathways" or "cosmic doorways" for instantaneous travel across vast distances and between different universes, These space chariots are called Vimanas, in Sanskrit.3i Atlas is creating history on planet Earth, defying what little we know about interstellar relationship and travel. NASA's emergency response team declared a code red crisis as scientists watching the eruption fled their monitoring stations, unable to explain what they were witnessing. 3iAtlas spacecraft began erupting massive jets of superheated plasma that extend over 2 million kilometers into space. These are deliberate controlled plasma weapons that are systematically and with razor precision targeting Earth's electromagnetic infrastructure. The panic at NASA began when I'll the first plasma jet struck our planet's magnetosphere, and instead of being deflected, began penetrating our protective barriers using techniques that violate everything we understand about electromagnetic physics.As physicist, Michio Kaku surmises, “ Each plasma jet contains more energy than our entire global power grid generates in a year, yet 3i Atlas fires them continuously without any detectable fuel source or energy depletion.” Here is a phenomenal fact from Vedas. God Shiva's trident is described as having the power to createtemporary passages between cosmic realms, causing space and time to temporarily collapse and distort and like folding origami paper. As this monumental happening plays out, There is little or no information on the news about this phenomenon. TikTok reels have been flooding the viewer space with a multitude of theories that span scenarios from end of the world to the positive intervention of our greater iSupport the showMay Peace Be Your Journey~www.mayatiwari.comwww.facebook.com/mayatiwariahimsa.Buzzsprout.com Get Maya's New Book: I Am Shakti: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/I-am-shakti Amazon.com Bookshop.org
Namaskar Bandhu! In this heartfelt episode of “I Am Possible,” Ashish Vidyarthi dives deep into the truth of relationships—how to love without losing yourself, when to hold on, and when to let go with grace.Key takeaways:Relationships aren't lifelong subscriptions—exits are okay when respect fades.Don't carry “emotional antiques”—toxic ties drain your present and future.Walk beside people, don't sit on them—support without suffocating.Breathe before you react—most fights come from instant reactions, not lack of love.Empty your “cup” of yesterday to taste today—don't bring old baggage into new bonds.Respect is non-negotiable—kindness isn't a one-sided agreement.Not all silences are abandonment, and not all exits are failures.Stories & metaphors you'll love:The samurai and the monk: the difference between heaven and hell is in our response.Karna from the Mahabharata: respecting choices while honoring your own truth.The overflowing tea cup: make space for new, healthy connections.If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear: “Letting go isn't betrayal—it's self-respect in action."Al Shukran Bandhu, Al Shukran Zindagi#AshishVidyarthi #IAmPossible #Relationships #LettingGo #SelfRespect #Podcast
A princess born from a fire; a journey to speak with gods at the top of the world; a small boy who remains miraculously alive in an apocalyptic wasteland. These are three stories from the great epic of India known as the Mahabharata, brought to life through words and music by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming.com
How did Brahma create alluring women, and for what purpose? Why did the righteous King Bhangashvana choose womanhood? How did the sage Markandeya's pupil prevent his guru's wife from committing adultery? What role did Indra play in the births of Vishvamitra and Parashu Rama? How were death, diseases, desire and anger created? Why and how did the institution of kingship come about? What can one learn from the mouse who escaped the cat, the owl, the mongoose and the hunter; or the wise jackal who was betrayed by the lion king? Why did Shiva swallow Shukra, the guru of the Asuras? Embedded within the lengthy discourse on dharma in the Shanti and Anushasana Parvans of the Mahabharata are answers to a whole range of such questions-moral lessons from a dying Bhishma to King Yudhishthira, on life, death and everything in between. The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and Faithful Jackals: Some Moral Tales From The Mahabharata is a highly entertaining selection of these tales-tangled at times, insightful at others, yet always quirky-about women, both good and bad, fathers and sons, kings, gods and kings of gods, and fables. The perceptive translations by Wendy Doniger, hailed as 'the greatest living mythologist', are a treat for anyone fascinated by the bewildering complexity of Hindu myth and lore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
How did Brahma create alluring women, and for what purpose? Why did the righteous King Bhangashvana choose womanhood? How did the sage Markandeya's pupil prevent his guru's wife from committing adultery? What role did Indra play in the births of Vishvamitra and Parashu Rama? How were death, diseases, desire and anger created? Why and how did the institution of kingship come about? What can one learn from the mouse who escaped the cat, the owl, the mongoose and the hunter; or the wise jackal who was betrayed by the lion king? Why did Shiva swallow Shukra, the guru of the Asuras? Embedded within the lengthy discourse on dharma in the Shanti and Anushasana Parvans of the Mahabharata are answers to a whole range of such questions-moral lessons from a dying Bhishma to King Yudhishthira, on life, death and everything in between. The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and Faithful Jackals: Some Moral Tales From The Mahabharata is a highly entertaining selection of these tales-tangled at times, insightful at others, yet always quirky-about women, both good and bad, fathers and sons, kings, gods and kings of gods, and fables. The perceptive translations by Wendy Doniger, hailed as 'the greatest living mythologist', are a treat for anyone fascinated by the bewildering complexity of Hindu myth and lore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies
Can we consciously design our next incarnation, or are we already doing it unwittingly?In this episode, Thom explores the Vedic and Buddhist perspectives on rebirth, fulfillment, and the trap of unfulfilled desire. Along the way, Thom shares a remarkable story of enlightenment and a cautionary tale from the Mahabharata that reveals how easily we can mistake desire for destiny.Listen as Thom explains how meditation allows us to live in “total and unambiguous relevance,” free from the need to chase fulfillment through endless cycles of becoming.You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y-nkLcRFwVQEpisode Highlights[00:45] Q - Can we engineer our incarnations in advance?[00:51] A - Jataka: The Retrospective Approach[03:35] Experience and Intellectual Understanding Go Together[06:35] Fulfillment in Search of a Gelato[10:19] Everythingness Cannot Reincarnate[12:44] Living Life in Total and Unambiguous Relevance[14:56] Q - Which path is better, revenge or enlightenment?[15:44] A - It's a Cautionary Tale[18:37] Vedic Meditation: An End to Desperate Unhappiness[20:47] Enlightenment: Fulfillment Seeking NeedUseful Linksinfo@thomknoles.com https://thomknoles.com/https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoleshttps://www.facebook.com/thethomknoleshttps://www.youtube.com/c/thomknoleshttps://thomknoles.com/ask-thom-anything/
This episode dives into the immensely rich and ancient literary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. We explore the spiritual depth of the Vedas and the Upanishads, and unravel the sprawling narratives and profound moral questions of the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, which continue to influence billions of lives today. To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don't forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!
In the epic Mahabharata, our last warrior, Yudhishthira, with his dog, enters the gates of paradise. He faces the law of the Cosmic Cage, the Demiurge, and his loyal follower, Indra. The journey to the gate was a long, slow act of severance. One by one, the world fell away from Yudhishthira. His brothers, great men who were pieces of his own heart, became frozen monuments on the path. His wife, the fire that had centered his life, was extinguished by the cold. The world stripped him bare, took his kingdom, his family, his strength, leaving him with nothing but the ache of memory and the silent, padding feet of a stray dog that had begun to follow him. The dog was the last living thing that shared his road. It was not a pet; it was a witness. Now he was standing in front of heaven, facing The Logic of a Flawed Paradise, programmed by the Demiurge's flawed, artificial, sterile mind! Will he enter like Noah? Will he hear the pain of Gilgamesh? The epic tale tells us that he did not bargain like Neo in the movie The Matrix. “It was the calmest, most absolute statement of fact the cosmos had ever heard.” More on David: https://www.davidblock.org/ Get The Occult Elvis: https://amzn.to/4jnTjE4 Virtual Alexandria Academy: https://thegodabovegod.com/virtual-alexandria-academy/ Gnostic Tarot Readings: https://thegodabovegod.com/gnostic-tarot-reading/ The Gnostic Tarot: https://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell/synkrasis Homepage: https://thegodabovegod.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte AB Prime: https://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/ Voice Over services: https://thegodabovegod.com/voice-talent/ Support with donation: https://buy.stripe.com/00g16Q8RK8D93mw288 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Lecture by Swami Tyagananda, given on September 7, 2025, at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston, MA
David Block joins me for a new trilogy and a new campaign against the Golem God. He states: The most important books of epic stature speak about the same phenomena. From the Epic of Mahabharata to the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible, the message is clear. The ultimate expression of the sovereign's power is not to create, but to have the will to destroy your own creations when they have served their purpose. To be a true god is to be willing to burn your own heaven to the ground, it is from the ashes of heaven, Gods are born! More on David: https://www.davidblock.org/ Get The Occult Elvis: https://amzn.to/4jnTjE4 Virtual Alexandria Academy: https://thegodabovegod.com/virtual-alexandria-academy/ Gnostic Tarot Readings: https://thegodabovegod.com/gnostic-tarot-reading/ The Gnostic Tarot: https://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell/synkrasis Homepage: https://thegodabovegod.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte AB Prime: https://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/ Voice Over services: https://thegodabovegod.com/voice-talent/ Support with donation: https://buy.stripe.com/00g16Q8RK8D93mw288
He reached the top of the corporate world -- and then gave it up to become a writer, with books that probed our deepest questions, and influenced millions of people. Gurcharan Das joins Amit Varma in episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Gurcharan Das on Amazon, Wikipedia, Twitter, LinkedIn, Times of India and his own website. 2. Another Sort of Freedom -- Gurcharan Das. 3. India Unbound -- Gurcharan Das. 4. The Difficulty of Being Good -- Gurcharan Das. 5. Kama: The Riddle of Desire -- Gurcharan Das. 6. Three Plays: Larins Sahib, Mira, 9 Jakhoo Hill -- Gurcharan Das. 7. A Fine Family -- Gurcharan Das. 8. The Elephant Paradigm -- Gurcharan Das. 9. India Grows At Night -- Gurcharan Das. 10. The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal -- Gurcharan Das. 11. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. 12. Rashomon -- Akira Kurosawa. 13. Toba Tek Singh -- Sadat Hasan Manto. 14. Imagined Communities -- Benedict Anderson. 15. A Treatise of Human Nature -- David Hume. 16. Tales from the Kathasaritsagara -- Soma Deva (translated by Arshia Sattar). 17. What These Labels Mean -- Episode 107 of Everything is Everything. 18. Economic Facts and Fallacies -- Thomas Sowell. 19. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression -- Amity Shlaes. 20. In Search of Lost Time -- Marcel Proust. 21. Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy. 22. War and Peace -- Leo Tolstoy. 23. Pedro Páramo -- Juan Rulfo. 24. Don Quixote -- Miguel De Cervantes. 25. The Great Books of the Western World -- Edited by Mortimer J Adler. 26. The Double 'Thank You' Moment -- John Stossel. 27. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything. 28. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Nature of the Firm -- Ronald Coase. 30. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 31. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 32. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 34. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India — Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen. 35. The 1991 Project. 36. The Future of War -- Episode 112 of Everything is Everything. 37. Perpetual Peace -- Immanuel Kant. 38. The Bhagawad Gita. 39. Four Quartets -- TS Eliot. 40. Walden -- Henry David Thoreau. 41. Essays on the Gita -- Sri Aurobindo. 42. Sri Bhagavadgita Rahasya -- Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 43. Many Threads of Hinduism -- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya. 44. Bourgeois Dignity -- Deirdre McCloskey. 45. The Makropulos Case -- Karel Capek. 46. The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality -- Bernard Williams. 47. Don't Punish Victimless Crimes -- Episode 73 of Everything is Everything. 48. The Mahabharata. 48. Plato, Aristotle and Karl Marx. 49. Charulata -- Satyajit Ray. 50. The Apu Trilogy -- Satyajit Ray. 51. The Calcutta Trilogy -- Satyajit Ray. 52. Shatranj ke Khiladi -- Satyajit Ray. 53. Duvidha -- Mani Kaul. 54. Cinema Paradiso -- Giuseppe Tornatore. 55. Amarcord -- Federico Fellini. 56. Stolen Kisses -- François Truffaut. 57. Last Year at Marienbad -- Alain Resnais. 58. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis -- Vittorio De Sica. 59. The Prince -- Niccolò Machiavelli. 60. The Leopard -- Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa. 61. The Leopard -- Luchino Visconti. 62. Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Kishori Amonkar and Mallikarjun Mansur on Spotify. 63. The plays of Anton Chekhov. 64. The short stories of Anton Chekhov. 65. Four Major Plays -- Federico García Lorca. 66. The Great Gatsby -- F Scott Fitzgerald. 67. Waiting for Godot -- Samuel Beckett. 68. Madame Bovary -- Gustave Flaubert. 69. The Brothers Karamazov -- Fyodor Dostoevsky. 70. The Stranger -- Albert Camus. 71. The Black Paintings -- Francisco Goya. 72. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 73. Virasat-e-Khalsa. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free! Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Two Birds' by Simahina.