The Dharma Dispatch

Why Hindus Should not Celebrate Giorgia Meloni’s Coronation   The internationalist woke regime now running amok is largely a creation of two world wars. Both were actually European wars fought by colonial empires which dragged more than half of the globe into them. In both wars, Italy played the role of the villain.    As Hindus, we need to place Giorgia Meloni’s emphatic victory in this historical context. Her stress on reclaiming identity — specifically as an Italian and a Christian — offers vital clues. To Hindus. Clues and proof.    Thus, if Meloni is Right Wing, she is a Right Wing Christian, which will prove fatal to Hindus in India. As it is, we have an abundance of soul vultures out here.   THEREFORE, IT IS WITH SOME ANXIETY that I observed the exultant celebration of the so-called Indian Right Wing over the news of Meloni’s win. Some sections have exploded in rapturous joy over her victory as if it is their personal victory.  It is not.   -- Read the whole thing and share it widely! 🛕✍️🕉👍 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/why-hindus-should-not-celebrate-giorgia-melonis-coronation

#LIVE TODAY at 8 PM IST with Sandeep Balakrishna of Dharma Dispatch on #Bollywood vs Southwood -- Who is guarding & promoting the culture? Don't miss it - Please join using the link below. 👍😊🙏 https://youtu.be/MzbKZfwuYjE

Rabindranath Tagore’s Sublime Analysis of Raghuvamsha and Kumarasambhava     AS KALIDASA sat amidst the rich splendour of the royal court, he was gazing afar off at the pure age of asceticism which was a thing of the past in the then India.    This heart’s anguish lurks in Raghuvamsa, a poem in which he undertook to sing of the deeds of the kings of the Surya-Vamsha.    Raghu, whose empire embraced the whole earth, was the fruit of his parents’ life of monastic discipline.   Kalidasa could have ended his epic at the exact point where the lineage of Raghu attains to its climax in the reign of Ramachandra. But the epic does not end in a burst of panegyric. Its conclusion clearly shows what had disturbed the poet’s heart.   In Kumarasambhava, Kalidasa teaches us that only by joining renunciation to wealth, asceticism to passion, can true Strength be born.    Renunciation means the surrender of a part for the whole, the yielding up of the temporal for the sake of the eternal, of pleasure for the sake of bliss. -- Read the whole ennobling essay and share it widely! 🛕🛕🕉✍️📑   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/rabindranath-tagores-sublime-analysis-of-raghuvamsha-and-kumarasambhava

Kalidasa as the Representative of his Era in Tagore's Masterly Exposition --- The ancient Indian Ashrama as an institution stands as the place that has done away with man’s aloofness from plants and creepers, beasts and birds. This old lesson has been taught in our sacred land over and over again.   When human habitations are filled exclusively with men, when Nature is denied entrance through their chinks, our thoughts and deeds gradually grow impure and unhealthy and die a self-inflicted death amidst the measureless heap of rubbish created by themselves.   If you plant everything in its proper place in Nature, it loses its violence. But if you detach it thence and confine it within the narrow circle of men, it looks extremely hot and inflamed like a sick man’s body.   The whole poem of Kumara-sambhava is painted on a vast universal background. The inner motif of the poem is a deep and eternal problem; when the demon Taraka has grown strong and has suddenly and inexplicably thrown Heaven into wrack and ruin, whence can Heroism, strong enough to defeat it, be born?  -- This sort of reading material must be prescribed for our children at a very young age. Do read the whole uplifting piece! 🛕🕉📑🛕   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/kalidasa-as-the-representative-of-his-era-in-tagores-masterly-exposition

Selections from Rabindranath Tagore on Kavikulaguru Kalidasa --- The Hindu sages who lived lives of deep meditation amidst the forest trees which revealed, day and night, season after season, the action of the life of Nature, had clearly perceived a delicious mystery all around themselves. Therefore could they say so easily, “All that exists has issued from the Supreme Life, and is vibrating in our souls.”   They did not shut themselves up in rigid brick and iron cages of their own making. Where they dwelt, the vast universal life had unfettered communion with their life.    Hence the Indian method of acquisition has been the acquisition of the universal world as a close kindred of our souls.   The memory of the ancient hermitages is twined with whatever is grand, marvelous or pure, whatever is noble or adorable in the ancient story of India. Herein lies the uniqueness of India in the history of mankind. -- On this auspicious Navaratri, read this sublime essay! 🛕🛕🕉✍️📑 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/selections-from-rabindranath-tagore-on-kavikulaguru-kalidasa

Sandeep Balakrishna's latest take on #Bollywood at the PGurus channel. Do tune in 👍😊 https://youtu.be/uUNHH3azDmE

The Sanatana Conception of Skin Colour Contrasted with The Biblical Darkness of Racism   Examining the Western theory and practice of skin colour-based racism from the prism of Sanatana philosophy. --- It is reasonable to conclude that skin colour was the highest civilisational and cultural “ideal” that the White Race could take pride in for over three centuries.   The contrast cannot be starker. Almost every chronicle and travelogue written by Europeans from the 16th century onwards make this uniform observation about the unanimous Indian attitude to white skin – we associated white skin with a specific ailment: leprosy.   Which brings us to the subject of this piece: how important was skin colour in ancient Indian thought? The answer: almost zero.  -- Read the whole essay! ✍️📑🛕👍 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/the-sanatana-conception-of-skin-colour-contrasted-with-the-biblical-darkness-of-racism

Clive indeed was seen as the hood of the new serpentine class that had corrupted the British society with its ill-gotten wealth, which it paraded flagrantly throughout England. Lower middle class British youth who would have otherwise lived and worked and retired and died in the same station were now beelining to enlist in the service of the Company. Why live and die as a clerk in the docks if you could sail to India and then return to buy a manor in say, Southampton? -- My column in Firstpost 🙏 https://www.firstpost.com/opinion-news-expert-views-news-analysis-firstpost-viewpoint/the-impeachment-of-warren-hastings-and-the-patented-british-character-of-the-era-11306141.html

• Reminiscing Four Years of Dharma Dispatch   Jotting down some thoughts on the fourth anniversary of The Dharma Dispatch tracing our journey so far. --   Reminiscing the trajectory of The Dharma Dispatch over these four years is a sobering, joyous, and humbling experience in that order. Sobering because what these years have taught us is a familiar but oft overlooked lesson: that we have to remain eternal learners in the sense of being engaged in constant Adhyayana. Joyous because the whole process of putting pen to paper till finally hitting the publish button is an experience of unqualified joy. Humbling because of the infinite outpouring of genuine regard and goodwill that The Dharma Dispatch continues to receive from the Sanatana community.    We continue to remain committed to our core ideal of regarding our work as a civilisational good. In this, our profound and inalienable guides remain:   1 A quest for truth.  2 Self-study or Svadhyaya. 3 A deep sense of idealism drawn from the spiritual fount that our Rishis have bequeathed to us.   •   We do not chase page views nor do we aim for popularity or mass appeal. It is our conviction that these are manifestations of the transient and have little intrinsic value.  Quiet, unhurried, rhythmic, concentrated and sustained work spanning generations is the Sanatana method, and therefore, our method as well.   With due humility, the experience of these four years has shown us that our work has, in its own small way, resonated with the larger Sanatana community.  Primary schoolteachers in remote villages,  Gurukulams, businessmen, Hindu parents, academics, students, et al, send heartfelt messages and good wishes blessing and encouraging The Dharma Dispatch.    Given this scale of affection and regard, what can The Dharma Dispatch really offer in return but to reaffirm our lasting dedication to this sacred journey? As we never tire of saying it, it is your support that has brought us this far from the cradle of our inception four years ago.  -- Thanks to one and all for your support and goodwill! 🛕🕉🙏✍️🛕   ॐ तत् सत्   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/reminiscing-four-years-of-dharma-dispatch

The Ennobling Vedic Life and Lifestyle of the Elder Vidvan Rajagopala Sarma   Ghanapati Rajagopala Sarma took his name from his grandfather, a devout Veda Vidwan and Guru. The elder Rajagopala Sarma never settled in one place. His was a mobile Gurukulam. He travelled across scores of villages and towns with his compact retinue of disciples and boys. He would travel to every city and town and village in Tamil Nadu and rent a house there. After that, he would teach Veda, Sastra, Purana, and Itihasa to the people according to their expectation and ability. Whatever he got from these students as fees would go towards maintaining his family.    THE CHILDREN WHO LIVED in the elder Rajagopala Sarma’s mobile Gurukulam had to wake up at the Brahma-Muhurtam (typically from 3:30 - 5:30 am). The first round of their lessons would begin at this hour. Around seven or seven-thirty, some basic Veda mantras would be imparted to the people of the village or town. -- Do read the whole uplifting essay and share it widely! 🕉🛕🙏🛕 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/the-vedic-life-and-lifestyle-of-the-elder-vidvan-rajagopala-sarma

Please join me for a #Live discussion at 8 PM today on the challenges Sanatana Dharma has faced in the past & is facing now. Link to join: https://t.co/WxgR5Muuv2

The Lethal Societal Consequences of Deracinated Bollywood "Heroines"   Commentary on the baneful consequences of the deracinated "heroines" of Bollywood and the dangerous phenomenon they symbolise. --- The onscreen “emancipation” of the "heroines" of Bollywood that began in the 1990s essentially boiled down to being footloose either in real life or onscreen or both. It is horrifying when we notice the complete deracination of these Bollywood “heroines” over the last two decades.   Deepika Padukone, born to the illustrious, modest and grounded badminton legend Prakash Padukone, seamlessly merged with the worst scum of Bollywood. She was an active participant in that infamous Karan Johar drug party video which went viral.  By all counts, her upbringing would have been rooted. But then she studied at Sophia’s school and Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.   Consider Amrita Arora who married Shakeel Ladak and named her sons Azaan and Rayaan. This easy surrendering of one’s religion of birth is the direct consequence of a deracinated upbringing and a thorough absence of value-based education. -- Read the full, devastating piece! ✍️🕉📑📽 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/the-lethal-societal-consequences-of-deracinated-bollywood-heroines

Vibhu Academy announces a new course on Shakti-Tatva on the auspicious occasion of Navaratri The course draws from the rich repertoire of sacred Sanatana lore including Vedas, Puranas, Agama-Sastra, Tantra, Kavya and folklore among others. It includes insightful lectures delivered by experts and Pandits and scholars such as Shatavadhani Dr Ganesh and Arjun Bharadwaj on a variety of topics including the glories of Maa Shakti and Srichakra-Upasana. For full details and to enroll for the course, click the link below. Hurry up! https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/new-course-announcement-shakti-tatva

Celebrating the Vedic Cultural Stalwarts in Our Midst: Ghanapati Rajagopala Sarma   A profile of Ghanapati Rajagopala Sarma, a true Vedic stalwart in our midst. This is a translation of Shatavadhani Dr. Ganesh's brilliant portrait of this eminent Vedic Pundit and scholar. -- Beyond a minuscule section of the Sanatana society, the ideals, values, but above all, the lifestyle of our traditional Vaidikas largely remains unknown to this day. Perhaps the recent work of value that describes them is Sri D.V. Gundappa’s Vaidikadharma-Sampradayastharu in Kannada. But that was written more than half a century ago. And now, Shatavadhani Dr. Ganesh’s extraordinarily vivid and heartfelt portrait of a lineage of Ghanapatis occupies the same Gundappan rank.  To our great fortune, a Ghanapati belonging to that lineage still lives in our midst. His name is Ghanapati Rajagopala Sarma. And it is both our duty and our Rna to celebrate such luminaries, the real torchbearers who continue to exude and spread the resplendence of the Vedic culture. In today’s time, this flame may be feeble but the alternative is darkness. The marked virtue in Sri Rajagopala Sarma is his self-assurance and magnanimity. Without worrying too much about tomorrow, he set aside his earnings in service of the values and people he esteemed.  -- Read the whole brilliant profile and share it widely. 🛕🛕✍️🕉🛕 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/celebrating-the-vedic-cultural-stalwarts-in-our-midst-ghanapati-rajagopala-sarma

This is my full lecture on Indian Historiography at 75 delivered at the @PondyLitFest 2022. 🙏🙏🙏 https://youtu.be/HwCBn50VJp8

Sir M. Visvesvarayya: Annadaata Sukhi Bhava! ----   Once when Sir Visvesvarayya sent for me,  he said, “Please take this down.” As I had not brought my notebook and pencil with me I said, “I shall bring my notebook, Sir,” and ran back and returned quite quickly and stood ready to take down the dictation. Before dictating, the Dewan, with a twinkle in his eye, said, “a workman should always come with his tools.”   Three things those who worked with Sir Visvesvaraya could learn from him each day: (1) scrupulous punctuality (2) meticulous precision (3) untiring effort to do a thing well.   In his addresses to public assemblies he spoke as a patriot or a lover of our people, the words gained a glow from the fervour of genuine sentiment. He was first of all a patriot and a man of ideas, intensely ambitious for our country and our people, and much ahead of his time.   Of Visvesvaraya, the provider of food for our people, I say along with many of our countrymen today: Anna daata sukhee bhava! -- Please share this widely and inform your kids about this great stalwart! ✍️📑🛕🙏   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/sir-m-visvesvarayya-annadaata-sukhi-bhava

Sir M. Visvesvarayya’s Work Ethic as Recounted by Masti Venkatesha Iyengar   The eminent Kannada litterateur, Sri Masti Venkatesha Iyengar narrates his experiences of working with Bharataratna Sir M. Visvesvarayya. The essay opens a highly inspirational window into the work ethic of the great Diwan of Mysore. --- In an age where volumes of nonsense about something called “Human Resources” and “work ethic” are churned out with impunity, Masti’s essay must be made mandatory reading for high school students but especially for the CEO types.   My first impression of Sir Visvesvaraya’s office was that it was a place of great dignity and importance, and that it worked very systematically. The Dewan’s active influence was visible in every corner of it.    Sir Visvesvaraya worked his men hard; but he worked himself hardest. -- Read the whole inspiring essay! ✍️📑🛕👍👍 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/sir-m-visvesvarayyas-work-ethic-as-recounted-by-masti-venkatesha-iyengar

Mankhas as the Extinct Inheritors of a Profound Cultural Treasure The story of Mankhas dating back to the Pre-Patanjali era all the way up to their extinction in "independent" India is both ennobling and profoundly tragic. -- THE EARLIEST MENTION OF MANKHAS occurs in Patanjali’s Mahabhasya mentioning the display of paintings (citra) depicting Krishna slaying Kamsa.    It was evidently a folk-art of ethnic and religious significance and of wide popular appeal, an itinerant school of deep and great educative value for the rural masses.   And when I encountered Mankhas in my childhood, they were standing on the verge of beggary but their generational reverence for our deities and our sacred stories, and the memory of the profoundly devout manner in which they narrated their picture-stories wells up my eyes. Even as I conclude this. They themselves weren’t aware of their preeminence as the exalted inheritors of a hoary cultural treasure. That perhaps is the greater tragedy. -- Do read and share the full piece! ✍️📑🛕🙏😢 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/mankhas-as-the-extinct-inheritors-of-a-profound-cultural-treasure