Monthly Archives: April 2010

The scope of shivAjI’s plan of svarAjya

Posted on April 25, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

dADhi ke rakhaiyan kI DADhi sI rahati cHAti bADhI marjAda jasa hadda hinduvAne kI | kaDhi gaI raiyati ke mana kI kasaka saba miTi gaI Thasaka tamAma turakAne kI | bhUShaNa bhanata dilIpati dila dhakadhakA suni suni dhAka sivarAja mardAne … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Leave a comment

The “left-handed” verse of mahiShamardinI

Posted on April 23, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The Kashmirian tAntrika gonanda was in the lineage of a now largely lost lineage of upAsana of chaNDikA. His mantra-verse outlines the heart of this system: shUlAhata-mahiShAsura-rudhirach-ChuritaadharAmbarA gaurI | puShpavatIva sa-lajjA hasita-hara-nirIkShitA jayati || The sAdhana is only for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Heathen thought | Leave a comment

dharmakIrti’s proof for the nAstika mata

Posted on April 22, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

That learned pAShaNDa among the brAhmaNa-s, AchArya dharmakIrti, is said to have once enjoyed the beauty of a woman. His protégé asked him if he was ensnared by the wonderfully unattainable object of his vision. He remarked that he was … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Heathen thought | Leave a comment

Modern art :-)

Posted on April 21, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

There are certain things that pass of as art in the modern world but do not appeal to my pre-modern Hindu sensibilities. One day we saw a group of navya-vidvAn-s discussing what they felt was art, like the monkeys of … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Life | Leave a comment

Examining Emily Blanchard West’s thesis

Posted on April 16, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

EBW, a classicist, published a paper presenting evidence for an evolutionary link via descent from a common ancestor between the Homeric Cyclopeia narrative of the Greek world and the three great rAkShasa-vadha episodes of the mahAbhArata, namely the killing of … Continue reading →

Posted in Heathen thought, History | Leave a comment

The richness of meaning

Posted on April 11, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

After years of fruitless pursuit R felt that she had finally engaged with the sensuality of Sanskrit poetry. Foundations of this have been a part of our tradition since its very beginning, even though today we tend to separate the … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Heathen thought | Leave a comment

vasanta-tilaka

Posted on April 11, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

praphulla chUtaa~Nkura tIkShNa sAyako dvirepha mAlA vilasad dhanur guNaH | manAMsi bhettuM surata prasa~NginAM vasanta yoddhA samupAgataH priye || drumAH sapuShpAH salilaM sapadmaM striyaH sakAmAH pavanaH sugandhiH | sukhAH pradoShA divasAsh cha ramyAH sarvaM priye chArutaraM vasante || IShat tuShAraiH … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Life | Leave a comment

Society and biological constraints

Posted on April 7, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

For long we have remained a sAkShI on the ethology of Homo sapiens. We have observed with how the man-made constructs interact with biology. We realized that constructs that conflict with strongly selected biological elements bring grief to man. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Politics, Scientific ramblings | Leave a comment

The eye of vArAhI

Posted on April 4, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

The vidyA of shrIdhara was even transmitted to Mongolia. Left is an engraving made by Setsen Khan, a descendant of Chingiz Kha’khan on a translation of a prayoga of shrIdhara. The soma from the cup of 5th day and experience … Continue reading →

Posted in Heathen thought, Life | Leave a comment

How many men were around?

Posted on April 2, 2010 by mAnasa-taraMgiNI

A few years back we had a dispatch on the evolution of the great apes of Africa (including ourselves). We are now revisiting this topic inspired by an unexpected recently reported find – the Denisova hominin (to which we will … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific ramblings | Leave a comment