The Dharma Dispatch

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

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra: Doomed in the Congress Drawing Room The last time a yatra was held in Bharat, it brought the Congress crashing down, and with it the greatest barrier to the Sanatana civilisational reclamation after Independence was ground to dust. So what exactly is Bharat Jodo Yatra then? Perhaps only Rahul Gandhi — or his “advisors” — can enlighten us. Or perhaps he can’t. Perhaps Rahul Gandhi might actually embark on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but where will he get the crowds from? -- Read the whole thing! ✍️📑✍️😊 https://thedharmadispatch.substack.com/p/rahul-gandhis-bharat-jodo-yatra-doomed

The Training, Qualifications, Character and Powers of Ministers in Ancient India An essay providing a glimpse of the harmonious relationship that existed between the ruler and the council of ministers in ancient India all the way up to the end of the Classical Era. https://thedharmadispatch.substack.com/p/the-training-qualifications-character-5ed?sd=pf

An Introduction to Mankhas, the Extinct Sanatana Artists: Or How Nehruvian India Squandered the Hindu Cultural Suzerainty Mankhas or Picture Showmen were practitioners of narrative pictorial storytelling. From very ancient times, it evolved into a separate art form and captured the imagination of countless generations and lasted up to even recent times. ---   Mankhas were professionals. and that their profession was indeed Sanatana—timeless. They were also known by other names: Gauriputraka, Kēdāraka, Yamapaṭaka, aṇḍ Pratimādharin. For countless centuries, Mankhas were a ubiquitous presence not just in India but abroad as well. What began as a practice and profession of exhibiting scroll-pictures and paintings depicting different Puranic themes eventually became an invaluable cultural treasure. Travelers from various countries were so awestruck and inspired by it that they spun off variations to suit their own cultures. Over time, this art form journeyed all the way to China and Brihad-Bharata and even Persia.   But they have become extinct now.   This is the proven fact of history: as long as the tempering, soothing and motherly palm of Sanatana culture exercised its silent influence on alien cultures, they remained largely sober.  -- Read the whole essay! 📑✍️📝🛕 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/an-introduction-to-mankhas-the-extinct-sanatana-artists-or-how-nehruvian-india-squandered-away-its-cultural-suzerainty

Pictorial lessons from history

The West has a Caste System and this is Just the Latest Proof --   THE WEST HAS A CASTE SYSTEM. And it is hiding in plain sight and once in a while, it inadvertently emerges with surprising candour.    The Western invention of a Hindu “caste system” should count as one of the most spectacular and successful hoaxes in human history. Successful because Hindus themselves not only purchased the hoax but are continuing to fund it with their own money and resources to their lasting detriment. The classic case of cutting your nose to spite your face.   Concocting the “caste system” as the only defining feature of the Hindu social organisation made it easy to keep the Hindu society on a continuous boil.    The Western caste system is real. In fact, this caste system is sanctioned by the Christian scripture.  -- Read the whole piece! 📑🗞✍️✍️📝 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/the-west-has-a-caste-system-and-this-is-just-the-latest-proof

Gautam Adani’s Acquisition of NDTV is Akin to Draining the Swamp Commentary on Gautam Adani's acquisition of a 24 percent stake in NDTV in lieu of the promoters' not repaying their loan. It bodes well for public discourse. --- The NDTV saga resembles a sordid epic crime drama with enough material to last multiple seasons of a well-made web series. Political and bureaucratic pimping, bribery, rigging, sleaze, gargantuan financial crimes, and the worst of all: trading in national security…a full boutique of felony.   There is a reason the term ”Lutyens media” evokes such revulsion and instant disgust among Indians. There’s a reason why Prannoy Roy is passionately despised. There’s a reason Barkha Dutt is pejoratively nicknamed Burkha Dutt and Burkha Bibi. It is the same reason why Rajdeep Sardesai is also nicknamed Hajdeep. That reason is NDTV. -- Read the full column! 📖📑🗞🙏🙏 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/gautam-adanis-acquisition-of-ndtv-is-akin-to-draining-the-swamp

"I was sure Irfan Habib would stab me at the first opportunity" - K.K. Muhammed. -- And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Read the whole thing! https://t.co/Zqdl1qrQas

The Bhaandification of Bollywood In recent times, Bollywood has emerged as one of the most divisive forces hurting India. This phenomenon can be best described as the Bhaandification of Bollywood. --- On one side is everything that Bollywood represents: the actors, production houses, writers, directors…and the whole jing-bang is supported by their cup-bearers and spittoon-holders otherwise known as reviewers, “journalists,” and PR agencies. On the other side are…decent Indians who have simply had enough and have actually decided to take concrete action. The action has now become a phenomenon which I can best describe as the Bhaandification of Bollywood. What the public outcry against the Bhandification of Bollywood has achieved is comparable to an enema. The loose motions gushing out at terabyte speeds show what Bollywood really is: excreta. -- Read the whole piece! ☺️📽🎬📖 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/the-bhaandification-of-bollywood

How Indira Gandhi nearly converted India into a Satellite State of the USSR -- From our archives. Written by the distinguished M.R. Pai who led a courageous fight against Nehruvian socialist dictatorship. Chilling to read even today. https://t.co/KnaeroJAV6

Indian Historiography at 75   A deep dive into the trajectory of Indian historiography over the last 75 years. -- Who would have thought that the kind of history-writing that people like Jadunath Sarkar regarded as a sacred calling, a Vrata, would be transformed into a slavish political cult by people whose “idea of India” is to break it?   If a Jyoti Basu could declare that Bengal would secede from India if the BJP ever came to power, if the Dravidian discourse is talking about a concocted “pure” Dravidian stock we must remember that this lethal path was paved by distorting and weaponizing history.   I have been informed by truly distinguished scholars of our own time that in the next 25 or 30 years, there won’t be a single Indian scholar living in India who would be able to decipher valuable inscriptions and other primary sources of Indian history written in Indian languages if we continue on this path any further.   THE STORY OF Indian historiography at 75 can be classified into five broad phases. -- This is just the teaser. Do read the full piece! ✍️📝🕉🛕 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/indian-historiography-at-75

Bahadur Shah Zafar's Profligate Spending Financed by British Pension   The second and concluding part of our series on life inside Bahadur Shah Zafar's Red Fort shows how he and his royalty indulged in extravagant spending and led a decadent life. --- Political offices were sold to the highest bidder. The post of the Captain of the Boys' Battalion was sold for Rs. 2,200.   Hunting of hares was a hobby of some of the princes.  Most of the princes spent some months of the year at the Qutub.   Some of the princes and princesses like Taj Mahal Begum were extravagant and had to borrow money and were under perpetual debt paying very heavy rates of interest.   The picture of life inside Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Red Fort is clearly one of carefree living, profligate spending and decadence on an epic scale. All financed and therefore controlled by the East India Company. -- Read the full story! 📄✍️🕌✍️📙 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/bahadur-shah-zafars-profligate-spending-financed-by-british-pension