महामांस विक्रय (Sale of human flesh) in Sanskrit Literature

In the हर्षचरित of बाणभट्ट, one of most surprising references which one can find is of महामांस विक्रय and its connection with Mahakaal. Had it been an isolated event recorded in Sanskrit literature, it could have been ignored but as S K Dikshit* has shown in his paper, there are other references of the practice

Temple Priesthood: The Fallacy of Egalitarian and Meritocratic Arguments

The recent event of DMK government in Tamilanadu appointing 24 government trained people as archaka-s in Hindu temples has been advertised as a move to open the opportunity of priesthood to everyone irrespective of the caste which will end the monopoly of Brahmins on priesthood. In India, citing the reason of reducing the dominance of

Downside of Using Woke Jargons for Hindu Narrative

Whenever I oppose the attempt of Hindus to be a participant in the identity politics madness of Western world which emanates from the fusion of theories and concepts emerging from the broad fields of Literary Theories, Postcolonial Studies and Postmodernism, I get a predictable response along the line of turning the existing concepts on their

The Conundrum of Sanskrit ‘Non-Translatables’

Rajiv Malhotra’s recent book ‘Sanskrit Non-Translatables’ has kindled important discussion on the problem associated with translation, especially in the context of concepts. This book has the stated aim of Sanskritizing English as the author believes that translation of Sanskrit words into English results in loss of authority for Sanskrit. I won’t go into the stated

Anti-Hinduism: Key Element of Khalistani Terrorism

The general view which majority of Hindus holds regarding Khalistani terrorism is that Khalistani terrorism was a creation of Congress which had little to do with Sikh religion or history. This particular view is more prominent amongst the Hindus who see RSS and BJP in favourable light but unfortunately, it’s incorrect view. The role of

Denigration of Hindu Deities, Atheism and Liberal ‘Right’

Armin Navabi on Twitter started abusing Hindu goddess Maa Kaali few days ago for the very simple reason that as an Abrahamic, this is how he was supposed to denigrate Hindus but he did it with the cover of atheism. But the response of Leftists pretending to be the friend of Hindus (commonly known as

Why Hindus Shouldn’t Call Themselves Pagan

With the revival of pre-Christian religious practices of Europe and America by modern pagan movement, there is increasing tendency of use of pagan word by Hindus to identify themselves. This is also a result of growing contact with the universal terminologies and seek common cause with them. Ram Swarup, one of the finest Hindu thinkers