The Dharma Dispatch

The Three Elements of Hindu Inscriptions and Why Dāna-śāsanas are Central to Hindu History   Read all about the three vital elements of Hindu inscriptions and what they reveal about our history, society and culture. -- It was the duty of the king or donor, and not the donee, to issue Dāna-śāsanas or charitable grants.   The intent behind writing these grants was to enable the entire lineage of the recipient to enjoy the munificence in perpetuity. Even as recently as the 1970s, it was common to witness villagers safeguarding such grants in metallic or wooden trunks akin to a prized treasure. Some had even buried these grants in their farm or backyard. Some of these grants dated back to four or five hundred years.    In fact, Dāna-śāsanas are a splendid class in their own right and merit a serious study for its own sake.       -- Read the whole educative essay! 🛕🕉📑🪔 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-three-elements-of-hindu-inscriptions-and-why-d%C4%81na-%C5%9B%C4%81sanas-are-central-to-hindu-history

[COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT] Kautilya's Arthasastra: A Comprehensive Study   VIBHU ACADEMY offers a new online course titled "Kautilya's Arthashastra: A Comprehensive Study."   The course covers a wide range of topics from Arthasastra including but not limited to Kautilya's theory and practice of statecraft, governance, administration, bureaucracy, fortification, taxation, defence, and town planning. It is led by acknowledged experts in the field who will acquaint the participants with knowledge, insights and lesser-known details of the Arthasastra. Details of the course are as follows: Start Date: 17 Dec, 2022 Total Sessions: 20. Every Saturday and Sunday Timings: 6 am to 7:30 am Tutors: Led by Dr Arathi V.B. and Arjun Bharadwaj. Guest speakers: Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh, Prof B. Mahadevan (IIMB), and others. To register: Send an email to: vibhuacademygurukula@gmail.com or Contact: 9480318113 or 9611131760 or 6362372013 Registrations are open to all. Last date for Registration: 15 December, 2022. Hurry up! 📑🛕👍📖☺️ -- For full details and to register, click this link: https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/course-announcement-kautilyas-arthasastra-a-comprehensive-study

The Intrinsic Character of Hindu Inscriptions and their Classification   The Indian word for inscription or charter or grant is Śāsana, which generally means, “decree,” “legislation,” “fiat,” “order,” “statute,” or “law.” In a general sense, Śāsana means “rule” or “regime,” in the sense of “Government.” In other senses, it also means “grant,” “endowment,” “deed” and so on.   It would be signed off by the king, the relevant official and sealed with the royal seal and emblem. This is entirely consonant with an ancient dictum recorded by the Smritis: that any king who did not pronounce an order or issue a charter in the written form was not a king but a thief. It was also held that an official who carried out administration without the king’s written order to the effect was also a thief.    Thus, Indian inscriptions are actually Government records. They provide us the most authentic and firsthand information about the historical events that they record. -- Do read the full essay! 🛕📑🙏📑 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-intrinsic-character-of-hindu-inscriptions-and-their-classification

Sarvepalli Gopal lured a Madras professor to Delhi and entrusted him to do a biography of Indira Gandhi promising him to pay in lakhs. But he was only paid living expenses in Delhi, which was so paltry that he was required to spend from his own pocket. https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/introduction-to-the-theory-and-practice-of-marxist-history-writing-in-india-indira-gandhis-forgotten-time-capsule

The Nehruvian and Marxist Slaughter of Hindu Inscriptional Studies   How the Nehruvian establishment aided and abetted by Marxists masquerading as historians destroyed Indian epigraphy. -- The downfall of Indian epigraphy after independence is a familiar chapter in the tragic saga of our cultural destruction manned, helmed and directed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and frontally executed by Communist Party workers disguised as historians and scholars.   A new breed of “historians” began to pass conclusive verdicts over crucial points in our history in a messianic tenor without knowing even a syllable of Sanskrit, forget understanding inscriptions, which are the most authoritative raw material for writing Indian history.   Up to 1961, for 32 years, Archeology and Epigraphy was a compulsory subject in the History Honours course. After that, the Honours degree itself was abolished. -- The story is quite painful but do read it. 🛕📑😔🕉   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-nehruvian-and-marxist-slaughter-of-hindu-inscriptional-studies

The Sunday Club - NDTV buy out and the changing media landscape - Do join me in the discussion. Link: https://youtu.be/xh6CrgzBG7Y

Deciphering Hindu Inscriptions: A Brief Tour   INDIAN EPIGRAPHY IN PARTICULAR, is one of the toughest disciplines and a highly demanding profession. It calls for expert-level — or at any rate, a highly advanced knowledge in multiple disciplines including but not limited to mathematics, geometry, chemistry, language, linguistics, grammar, literature, poetry, art, folklore, painting, sculpture, history, geography, genealogy, dating, orthography, sacred and secular lore, history of our religions and sects, ancient and medieval jurisprudence, material history… the common metaphor, “oceanic knowledge” fits like a glove to the discipline of epigraphy.   MULTIDISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE APART, extensive and intensive field work is both the foundational and inseparable part of epigraphy. The decipherment of every inscription typically follows a broad pattern described in this essay series.   A career in epigraphy is not only rewarding but fulfilling.  -- Do read this instructive piece in full! 📝🛕🕉📑 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/deciphering-hindu-inscriptions-a-brief-tour

NDTV: The Ultimate Lutyens Party Venue has Finally Shut Down The resignation of NDTV founders, Prannoy and Radhika Roy marks the end of a dark and sordid chapter of Indian media. --- NDTV was the most high-profile racketeering monster that the decadal Nehruvian ecosystem had birthed. It was not a journalistic or media endeavour by any definition of the term. It was the ultimate Lutyens party venue. Only pedigreed dogs were allowed in the zone. Islamic terrorists were rehabilitated on camera in their studios. Financial fugitives invested in their channel. The laundry list of its sins is widely familiar.    In the pre-Sonia Gandhi era, there was no shortage of media houses that were besotted with or servile to the Nehru-dynasty. They still exist. But it was only NDTV that corporatised slavery and made it look glamorous and aspirational.   The resignation of Prannoy and Radhika Roy is the final act of this dark drama. And the country’s conscience is all the better for it.  -- Read the full piece! 📑📝👍🗞 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/ndtv-the-ultimate-lutyens-party-venue-has-finally-shut-down

The Golden Age of Indian Epigraphy   The Golden Age of Indian Epigraphy began in the late 19th century and lasted up to the 1950s. It is an epoch that needs a more comprehensive study. --   THE GOLDEN AGE OF INDIAN EPIGRAPHY was, quite obviously, sculpted by the finest craftsmen and artists. Initially the preserve of Europeans, it was soon populated by an impressive galaxy of top-notch Indian scholars.    It is indeed a wholesome treat and pure delight to read Indian epigraphists and scholars. Their approach towards and treatment of our inscriptions clearly reflects five main features. -- Read the whole piece to learn more! 📑🛕🪔🕉 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-golden-age-of-indian-epigraphy

Indian Epigraphy or an Invitation to Profundity: Where the True History of India Resides   This is the first part of an introductory series on Indian Epigraphy or the study of inscriptions. -- THE STUDY OF INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS is an invitation to profundity. Indian inscriptions are the concrete and lived epitomes of Dionysius’s classic dictum that history is philosophy teaching by examples. The un-dateable roots of Indian civilisation derive their sustenance from a spiritual philosophy that transcends time but has merely changed form when it has operated in the realm of space. Our inscriptions from the most ancient times reflect precisely this change in form.   EPIGRAPHY OR THE STUDY OF INSCRIPTIONS is among the most reliable tools and evidences that has proven to be invaluable in helping us understand Indian history and culture. The history of Indian epigraphy is as interesting and chequered as the history of India itself. 🛕📝📑🕉 -- Do read the full essay! https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/indian-epigraphy-or-an-invitation-to-profundity-where-the-true-history-of-india-resides

Skeletons from the Congress Crypt: The real-life story of how a lifelong Congressman and freedom fighter, Lekhraj Sharma was brutalised by S.K. Patil. Read and weep. 😔😞 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/skeletons-from-the-congress-crypt-the-tragic-story-of-lekhraj-sharma

The Nose-Ring or Nath is an Import from Muslim Invaders   The Nath or nose-ornament or nose-ring was brought into India by Muslim invaders after 1000 CE. Every piece of primary evidence prior to this period does not mention it.   In fact, there is no original Sanskrit word for ”nose-ornament” or “nose-ring.”   Bharata Muni’s Natyasastra, which has an elaborate section on ornaments, does not mention it.   Dharmasastra works composed in the Classical Era do not mention it.   Panini does not mention it.   The Amarakosha does not contain an entry for “nose-ornament.”   Sculptural remains and paintings of the Classical Era do not show humans and Hindu deities wearing the nose-ornament.   Likewise, the massive corpus of literature and poetry (Kavya) produced till the end of the Classical Era does not mention this term. -- Do read this thrilling history of the nose-ring in India! 😊📝📑🕉👍 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-nose-ring-or-nath-is-an-import-from-muslim-invaders

From Auspiciousness to Depravity: A Hasty Race to the Bottom   Commentary on the Left and the Woke brigade's destruction of beauty and its ongoing consequences in the realm of Hindu culture and society. ---   THE GREATEST HAVOC that the soulless Left has wrought upon societies across the world is the defilement of beauty. Its most pronounced appearance is seen in the rapid disappearance of how Hindu women had dressed and decked themselves in traditional and time-honoured modes. This destruction has been accomplished by transforming the alankaras of Hindu women into weapons of oppression. Four decades of sustained Leftist-Feminazi propaganda has turned the mangalasutra into a manacle. The bindi has morphed into a bullet. Kumkum has been equated with cancer. Bangles invite the Biblical wrath in Christian schools and colleges.   However, the Sanatana tradition elevates beauty in its profoundest sense to sanctity. This is the reason a traditionally adored woman is known as a Sumangali — she who ushers in auspiciousness by her appearance.  -- Read the full piece! 🛕🕉🙏🪔 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/from-auspiciousness-to-depravity-a-hasty-race-to-the-bottom

10 PM IST | 75 years of India's secularism seems to have only facilitated those who seek to destroy the essence of India's civilisational ethos. Sandeep Balakrishna, author of '70 Years of Secularism' joins Vibhuti Jha and Sanjay Dixit to examine the present eruption of jihad in multiple forms in its context. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSTs5j9C_80

Jaitra Simha Rawal was the fierce Hindu Hero who singlehandedly stopped the Delhi Sultanate's southward expansion and saved the Deccan and south India for about half a century. -- This is his extraordinary story. Read. 🚩🚩🚩🙏 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/jaitra-simha-rawal-the-forgotten-hindu-hero-who-singlehandedly-saved-south-india-for-half-a-century

When Warren Hastings Received a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Sanskrit Pandits at Kashi: An Untold Story   Even as the impeachment proceedings raged on, Warren Hastings clearly realised that he was on the losing side, and had to marshal all the support that he could get from all quarters. One category of people he sought support from were the unfortunate Hindu victims of his loot. In the history of mankind occasions, when a Viceroy needs a testimonial from his humble subjects, are few and far between.   This testimonial came in the form of two congratulatory letters written by Sanskrit Pandits in Varanasi. Now why would they even write such a letter? Was their praise for Warren Hastings rooted in genuine admiration for the plunderer? -- Read this essay to find out the answer! 🛕📝✍️🙏 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/when-warren-hastings-received-a-certificate-of-good-conduct-from-the-sanskrit-pandits-at-kashi-an-untold-story

When Homi J Bhabha’s Grandfather Saved an Endangered Sanskrit Pathashala in Kolar   In the late 19th century, a traditional Sanskrit Pathashala in a village near Kolar had come under the British axe. Hormusji J Bhabha, grandfather of the famous Homi J. Bhabha, saved it from total destruction. ---   Hormusji J. Bhabha had a deep attachment to the cultural impulses of the sacred land that had offered refuge to his ancestors. Life conspired to transport Bhabha all the way to the Mysore Princely State towards the latter part of the 19th century. He had risen to become the Inspector General of the Department of Education.   A Sanskrit Pathashala located in some village near Kolar once became the chosen target of the British agenda to destroy all Sanskrit institutions.   D.V. Gundappa narrates how a school inspector visited it, and based on some random observations, wrote a report recommending the cancellation of the grant it was receiving from the Government. The report eventually landed on H.J. Bhabha’s desk.  -- Read the thrilling and inspiring story of how Bhabha rejected the recommendation and saved the Sanskrit Pathashala. 🛕🙏🕉📝🛕   https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/when-homi-j-bhabhas-grandfather-saved-an-endangered-sanskrit-pathashala-in-kolar