Sanskrit: Online Educational Resources

 Sanskrit is one of the ancient languages of the world. Learning it is not only a historical journey, but also an experience, which is joyful and fulfilling at the same time. I am including some of the web resources here to learn, practice or continue to enrich one's Sanskrit language.

Beginner Sanskrit Tools:

University of British Columbia's web page has the most basic introduction to the language. This site also follows the Chapter layout of 'Devavani Pravesika," by Robert P. Goldman and Sally Sutherland Goldman, a most helpful introduction to Sanskrit language.
www.ubcsanskrit.ca

There are also a number of voluntary organizations dedicated to learning Sanskrit. Check the following links,

Samskritabharati: This organization offers classes at various locations, including summer camps, and other events.
www.samskritabharatiusa.org

Speaksanskrit: This website offers a fun and activity-filled learning resources for Sanskrit. This website also hosts Visvavani, a Sanskrit magazine with contributions from university students across the USA.
www.speaksanskrit.org

Samskritavarshini: This website offers activities, links to spoken Sanskrit videos hosted on youtube, and links to All India Radio news in Sanskrit, and Sanskrit Newspapers published in India.
Although parts of the video are in Hindi, this is the most comprehensive resource for improving
listening comprehension and practicing spoken Sanskrit.
www.samskritavarshini.org

Elementary Sanskrit Tools:
The following is a site hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sanskrit Department. It has stories, electronic tools for grammar.

http://sanskrit.jnu.ac.in/elearning/mainpage.html


The following site provides a very nice introduction to Sanskrit. A very good resource for anyone interested in improving their Sanskrit comprehension.
http://warnemyr.com/skrgram/



The following online site is hosted by IIT Madras. It follows a basic chapter layout to introduce Sanskrit, a useful resource for learning Sanskrit.

http://www.acharya.gen.in:8080/sanskrit/lessons.php

Intermediate Sanskrit Tools:

Advanced Sanskrit Tools:

The following is hosted by the University of Texas. It introduces and explains ancient Sanskrit very efficiently.

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/vedol-0-X.html

Sanskrit dictionary App for IPad and iPhone
This is a paid app though, there are also other free dictionary services available.
The app, developed in the Harvard Innovation Lab, combines three major dictionaries that are commonly used by scholars of Sanskrit--Monier-Williams, Apte, and Macdonell. In addition, references from dhatu-patha (a collection of verbal roots with final forms) are also provided, when available. All words can be searched using a Devanagari keyboard.  Once downloaded, the app does not require internet access to operate.

More Information: http://www.tinyurl.com/sanskrit-app

If you missed the announcement about the classical Hindi app for iOS and Android, you can learn about it here: http://tinyurl.com/hindi-app 

For Translation of Sanskrit and learning grammar 

 https://dharmamitra.org

What is pushing SB403 : Blame Game and Propaganda

 What is pushing SB 403?

     Shifting-Blame game and propaganda are at the center of efforts pushing the SB403. The California bill known as SB 403 was put forth by California state representative Ayesha Wahab, an Afghani-American. The fact that this bill passed the state legislature even though with a small majority shows the lingering colonialist vestiges of social theories defining Indian society, in addition to propaganda. They have defined hard-working Hindus as discriminating folks under this Bill, SB403. 

    The colonialist and divisive understanding of Indian Americans became glaringly obvious in the cartoon published in some media articles when Parag Agarwal became the CEO of Twitter. He was represented in the cartoon as sitting on a sedan being carried by many people. This is a common image used to depict colonialist exploitation of the British Queen. Cartoons representing colonialist exploitation of the British empire frequently depicted the Queen sitting on a sedan being carried by her colonial subjects. Since when did hardworking Indians become oppressors from oppressed? It was an unfair blame game imposed on India by the colonialists. This is a vestige of the colonialist theory of Aryan invasions, which depicts higher caste populations of India as not belonging to India, but as initial invader-colonizers of India. This theory has been disproven due to a lack of evidence but continues to dominate popular propaganda on India and Indians. Depicting Indian Americans as similar to a colonizer rather than the oppressed people of India, which they were since historically large sections of Indians lived under colonial regimes. Almost all Indians, especially those in Silicon Valley who worked hard to accomplish something in their lives have come to America as graduate students. they worked hard despite the lack of any support structures to achieve something in life. Most of the Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs credit their success to grit and hard work. The case of hit and run accident case in Seattle that came to light recently is emblematic of the life of Indian students and indicates the precariousness of their life. Their belonging to a caste did not matter; bringing up caste in this atmosphere only shows the colonialist shifting of blame seen in Wilkerson's book, Caste. This shows a modern American's search for shifting the blame elsewhere for the social evils of American society. Stereotypes and parallels have been used to equate the American social system to that of Indian social practices, which is not based on evidence. Indian social system of complex, diverse, and completely different from the American experience. 

    Another reason that is pushing the SB 403 is the AntiIndia geo-political strategy of some South Asian groups. The AntiIndia activities frequently take the shape of AntiHindu activities outside of India pushed by groups that oppose rising India. These can be broadly categorized as Deep-state Pakistani elements and groups that are aligned with it covertly such as Khalistani groups, and the Marxist-Left-leaning political activists that oppose the rise of BJP in India and support its Opposition in India. These groups have been working covertly for a number of years opposing Indians, especially Hindus in America. At this juncture we can recollect a few examples such as the California textbook controversy, and more recently opposition to the celebration of Hindu festivals on American university campuses. Anti-India and anti-Hindu purposes of this legislation are clear due to lack of evidence. 

    The lack of ground evidence for the bill SB 403 within the Indian American community also demonstrates the false pretext with which this bill was brought forward. What is the point of passing this bill aiming at regulating Hindus with a law when there is no evidence of any discrimination reported from this community? The only legal case that was frequently shown as evidence warranting this bill in California was the now-dismissed CISCO case brought forward by CRD, which makes it inconsequential as the CISCO case was dismissed by CRD for lack of evidence. This case was brought by Equality Labs which was known to spread propaganda against Hindus. Another case that was shown was a case brought about by a left-leaning group about BAPS workers. This case was also dismissed as it was shown that these contract workers were tricked with promising benefits such as providing them immigration to America to complain about their employers. This leaves the tiny minority of Indians as the peace-loving, law-abiding, hardworking community in America. 

    Another source that was frequently cited in support of this legislation was a survey conducted by Equality Labs. Their methodology for the survey was not transparent and has been criticized for its methodological issues. However, there is another and much more comprehensive survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, which used a strong methodological and theoretical basis for its survey. The Carnegie survey is much more representative of the common attitudes and practices among Indians and showed the absence of discrimination as proposed by the previous Equality Labs survey. This leaves the proposal for SB403 with no factual evidence for its proposal and passage firmly places it in the category of discriminatory laws unfairly targeting a small minority of the population with the goal of hounding Indian Americans, especially Hindus for their lifestyle and practices. 

    The passage of SB403 unfairly targets Hindus. This will isolate Hindus through profiling. If passed this bill will subject Indians/Hindus to extra checks and make it difficult for them to obtain employment or founding a business for lack of raising funds. This will close all opportunities available to Hindus in any field for fear of being dragged to courts under SB 403. It is time for anyone who supports equality under the law to oppose this bill. Isolating and subjecting a small community of the population with a special law directed at them has historically proven to be counterproductive to any progressive society. 

    

Anti-Hindu Comments of Minister Stoke Hinduphobia/Genocide

 Anti-Hindu Comments of Minister U. Stalin Stoke Hinduphobia/Genocide

The incendiary statement made by Minister Udayanidhi Stalin, Minister of Tamil Nadu State Sports and Youth Affairs at a public meeting of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Forum is highly concerning for the Hindu community in India in particular and the global Hindu community in general. In the speech delivered on Saturday, the Minister was seen using highly derogatory terms to describe Hinduism, also known as, Sanatana dharma calling for its eradication. He said, "Sanatana Dharma is like mosquitoes, malaria, dengue, and corona, it should be eradicated like a disease." This statement coming from a minister holding a responsible public position in the government of Tamil Nadu after taking oath on the Constitution of India is highly irresponsible. For his part, the minister remains unapologetic supposing that his calls for the 'eradication of Sanatana like a disease' do not incite genocide. However, genocides begin with blaming a group of people for their practices before finally isolating them for assaults. His direct calls to eradicate the religion bring the practitioners of that religion under attack, which is akin to calling for the genocide of Hindus/Sanatanis.

The minister remains nonchalant and hasn't made any efforts to release an official statement of apology. As minister of the Tamil Nadu government, he remains liable for conspiracy against Hindus/Sanatanis which is a punishable crime under the Constitution of India, which provides Freedom of Religion to all its citizens and gives equal rights to all its citizens to practice their religion without fear of attacks. The minister's answer supporting his statement was not satisfactory. As an explanation Mr. U Stalin said, he only called for the "eradication of the religion of Sanatana like a disease... and not the people." This is even more dangerous and cannot be condoned. Calling any religion as evil is prohibited under the Constitution of India. Calling a religion a disease will spread misconceptions and subject the practitioners of that religion to direct and indirect attacks. This has been proven by history. 

It is especially concerning that there is a fearful atmosphere for Hindus due to activities of anti-India elements attacking Hindus through name-calling and more across the world. AntiHIndu violence and attacks are rising across the world. In this atmosphere, it is highly objectionable for a minister of a state to speak such derogatory terms in his statements at a public forum. 

I conduct research on Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu elements in the academia and public sphere. The nature of Hinduphobia, which is spread as an undercurrent of public discussions is derived from colonialist theoretical constructions. Its recent spread is alarming. Theoretical constructions such as Aryan invasion/migration and caste constructions are weaponized to implicate Hinduism and Hindus as innately evil. Minister U. Stalin's statement should be understood in this context. Please check the article on Global Hinduphobia to gain an understanding of the threat his statement poses to the practitioners of Hinduism:  here: https://www.academia.edu/90219272/GLOBAL_HINDUPHOBIA_CONSTRUED_CONSTRUCTED_AND_UNLEASHED_FROM_THE_WEST

It's an anomaly that Hindus are asked to justify their faith in official and unofficial attacks like this one. Genocides always begin with identifying one group of people by blaming their practices, for example, faith, food, and clothing, as evil. The progressive attacks and isolation of a group of people are notable in the context of Tamil Nadu's history. In the not-too-remote past, a small group of Hindus has been attacked for their faith, food, and clothing. Goeblesian propaganda discusses this type of tactic (Vemsani 2022: 19-20) to isolate and attack a group of people which was successfully used during World War II subjecting 6 million Jews and 500 Roma to isolation and genocide. 

Anti-Hindu statements and activities do not remain limited to one region or group of people. Statements made by well-known personalities and people of high positions remain entrenched in public memory and are carried forward and spread widely. The impact of the statement given by Minister U. Stalin to the audience at a meeting of the Progressive Writer's Forum cannot be underestimated. 

The minister's statement certainly represents an alarming trend and the criminal intent of this statement cannot be ignored. This is a direct call for genocide of Hindus. Minister U. Stalin must be asked to resign immediately and stand trial for riling up his followers to go against another religion and its followers. 

King Charles Must Apologize

 

The Kashmir Files Stirs Nation into Recognizing Pattern of Genocidal Violence

 

Notes of my lecture at the symposium: The Kashmir Files, Moment of Reckoning, April 9, 2022, at 7 PM IST/ 9:30 AM EST

In today’s lecture I will focus on two of the important aspect brought out by the Kashmir files.

The Kashmir Files Represents Historical Human Rights Violations Amounting to Genocide

Unfortunately, contemporary discussion surrounding the recently released film The Kashmir Files represents what is wrong with our collective conscious; it went astray: The discussion is not about historical facts or historical issues, that everyone agrees, but aside from the issue all they want to discuss is either polarization, or politicization, which is traditionally used to distort facts in the past; moreover, it ignores the issues that perpetrated violence and punishes the victims with silence. Instead, If the historical event is discussed focusing on the brutal violence, the perpetrators, and the victims, it would lead to truth and reconciliation.

There are two issues with the way the public is misled in the current discussion in some media and academic sections:

1.     Misguiding the Historical issue

2.     Distorting the Human rights and Humanitarian concerns

What does it mean for contemporary history and for the future?

We must be ready to condemn violence, any elements perpetrating violence, and support the victims.

1.     History is constituted by: Facts, more facts, and all facts! For history nothing else matters.

I was surprised to read some articles about the Kashmir files hurting certain groups of people etc. How is recording historical facts hurting to somebody? If we go by that route, we cannot record any history, because no matter what its bound to hurt someone. Hurting or not hurting sentiments should not matter for history: the discipline of History is not the handmaiden of some activists or political theorists. History works independent of all these ancillary ideas. History should provide truth based on facts, that’s all it matters for history. In the case of Kashmir, as far as history is concerned the truth is hidden, facts of killings, maiming, and other atrocities committed in Kashmir did not see the light of the day or form part of the public discussion until now.

What happened on the ground is important for history, it should not be erased. hence as the Hindus of Kashmir has been requesting for a long time, a white paper should be released on the violence of Kashmir. The Kashmir files brings forward this moment of urgency.

 

Kashmir files stirred the soul of India by touching the Inner conscience of many across the country who have seen or heard of similar violence in the past not far from their home. There is an unmistakable pattern of violence of this nature seen across India.

 

1.     For many in India the Kashmir Files stirred emotions hidden inside the inner layers of conscious. Coming from Southern India the events of the Kashmir files had brought to life the stories of inhuman atrocities Razakars in Hyderabad state, that I heard from near and dear. It is the same: terrible atrocities killing innocent civilians including children, raping women, public terrorization of a group of people by chopping their limbs, gorging their eyes etc, for simply being different and practicing their faith; there is clearly a pattern---

How long will these genocidal massacred be ignored? How long will these atrocities remain suppressed? For what purpose? What is humanitarian response for these atrocities?

2.     Through its inaction not even condemning such acts, the Humanity’s soul is dead.

Human rights abuses even though partially depicted in the film form a large part of the film due to the nature of the issue on hand; these events are also imprinted on the inner conscious of Indian public, which stirred horrifying memories of previous events like these. It is important to understand the gravity of the issue, hence these events do not repeat.

Within all these discussions and debates, the Kashmir Hindus still await the recognition for their pain and suffering.

The Hindus of Kashmir face a dual curse in addition to their long struggles to get recognition for their trauma- first, they are victims of brutal violence, second, their victimization is being denied, which is worse than the abuse perpetrated 30 years ago. A film depicting their troubles is being termed Islamophobic- this is the irony. Hinduphobia within the Kashmir genocide is ignored and victim’s voices are suppressed by outrageous claims of Islamophobia. Silencing victim’s voices, suppressing history is the biggest crisis of our time! It’s not merely in the past, but continues in the present, and the future of this pattern of violence is embedded in it. This pattern of violence amounts to serious humanitarian crisis.

 

 

Why India Should Support Ukraine

 Why India Should Support Ukraine

One who stands with none stands alone. Standing alone has no merit as friends and enemies are part of geopolitics as is the case with life. India has already missed its opportunity to participate in geopolitical relations in a meaningful manner by being limited by the Nehruvian lack of future vision. It is time for India to end this NAM (Non-Alignment) mindset and enter the world with new vigour and mindful of its geopolitical role. How long is India going to plan its geopolitical participation based on the role of Russia and China, its powerful, but imperialist neighbours? If India remains quiet and fuels its growth further, it would be a threat to India’s sovereignty rather than help India in any manner. 

India never had an opportunity to shape its international relations independently. Some relations are based on the colonial background like participating in the Commonwealth. Some are shaped by threats from neighbours leading to NAM, which is a mistake. Therefore, it is important to disband these farmer organizations and move forward boldly with India-centric policy. An India centric policy must guide the future of Indian foreign policy and geopolitical strategy. I wrote an article about India’s foreign policy debacles previously. Check here: https://www.globalorder.live/post/india-s-foreign-policy-needs-to-escape-the-legacy-of-colonial-entanglements

I have long argued for establishing a new model of international relations for India based on its sovereignty and history. Arthasastra highlights the fact that the immediate neighbours cannot be trusted and would never be friends, but that a state should establish friendly relations that must be cultivated with farther neighbours. I do not say that we must follow this book written about 2,500 years ago, but what I am saying is that the state of India must take a closer look at its geopolitical strategy and shape it with guidance from tried and tested methods. As an important step in this direction India’s joining the Quad is impactful, but this role must also expand into other areas of India’s foreign relations rather than simply being symbolic. I wrote an academic article about it previously published in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs. Please check it here: https://www.academia.edu/72480031/Connectivity_and_the_Quad_Powers_Revisiting_History_and_Thought

The Ukrainian crisis is one such situation, which demands India to go beyond its previous foreign policy debacles and vote in support of UN Security Council measures along with other world nations. It is important to stay strong and support the measures to end the war rather than stay quiet. India should support international measures to sanction Russia to end the war and support Ukraine, so as to help rebuild, the same way it is helping Afghanistan. This is India’s opportunity to show its stand on the international stage. 

Who decldes What is Hinduism in the West? A Handful of Academics or Practitioners?

 Who decides the Life of Hindus in the West? A Handful of Academics or Practitioners?

    There are two issues noted in the subject area of Hindu studies in the West. The academic study of Hinduism wields uncontrollable power and destructive behavior in its practices. Practitioner perspectives are somehow discounted as not valuable to understand true Hinduism even though a religion thrives on the practitioner’s belief. Some academic work focuses exclusively on disproving the practitioner's perspectives as well as denouncing their practices. Thus, denouncing the subject that they study closely. Silencing the subject peoples while creating theories of understanding about Hinduism, the academia displays destructive behavior if not entrenched superiority complex. This manifests in two ways affecting the academia and outside perceptions of Hinduism. Primarily this also leads to Hindu academics and Hindus to be held to a standard in which they are expected to deny their Hindu practices or become non-Hindus, which is not the case with practitioners of other religions. The practitioner’s perspective is somehow seen as jaded not conducive to research. 

    Religious practice is generally governed by long-held notions and received traditional wisdom. In this context, academic research matters little for a practitioner. However, in the case of Hinduism academic research and academic perspective impose themselves on the practitioners and try to silence their voices. Practitioner perspectives are actively discouraged as theoretical understanding developed in academia dominates the public and policy discourse. However, since the academic perspectives are developed without clear consideration of practitioner perspectives, this could often lead to problems in public perceptions of Hinduism. 

    While a religion thrives on the practice of its followers in the case of Hinduism it is being altered as academic theoreticians interject themselves within the tradition declaring what is right or wrong practice discounting the voices of practitioners at every step. The issue of Hinduphobia stems from this exceptional pressure placed on Hindus not from inside the practice, but from outside the practice through imposing the academic perspectives. Under these imposed perspectives simple practicing Hindus are depicted as fanatics and outliers by using less than respectable terms such as ‘Hindutva’. The problem with Hinduphobia in the West is that it stems from misrepresentations and half-truths concerning Hinduism. 

    Hindu history and culture are wrought with generalizations and simplifications in addition to misnomers and misinformation. However, its presentation outside of India had been very problematic, since out of context generalizations and public activism targeting a micro-minority has led to unforeseen consequences leading to vilification and persecution of these minorities outside of India. For example, how many in the general public know the infamous Nazi symbol has nothing to do with the Hindu symbol Swastika or that the Nazi symbol had never been called Swastika.

    Colonial beginnings of Hindu studies implanted suspicion of practitioners within the subject. The epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are reinterpreted to reflect the ‘invader vs. indigenous’ dichotomy. Even though the ‘invader vs. Indigenous’ paradigm based on the fictional theory of Aryans is disproven these narratives still continue to dominate Hindu studies. Symbolic representations of evil, the demons, are identified as Dalits even though internal evidence of the epics does not support such identifications. These narratives are then used to spread suspicions of the established practice and religion of Hinduism. Misunderstandings of Hinduism come from these misplaced identity constructs, which effectively disconnect the authentic practices from public perceptions. Scholars disproving this dichotomy of ‘invader vs. indigenous’ perspective through disproving the Aryan invasion theory are name-called. 

    Sacred texts of Hinduism, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana are reinterpreted with racial overtones. What is happening now is the ‘othering’ of Hindus using such misinterpreted tales of festivals, gods, and goddesses. Symbolic representations of evil or demons are identified with groups of modern society even though no such connections are seen in original texts or practices. For example, the festival of Holi is reinterpreted this way on college campuses in the recent past. Anyone opposing these misinterpretations or out-of-context generalizations is name-called or termed Hindutva. The issue is not with academic research but how it is weaponized out of context to discount practitioners.

    Appallingly, misrepresentations still continue to dominate public perceptions of Hinduism. Calling Hinduism ‘casteist' or Hindu festivals as ‘oppressive’ lacks ground reality as well as context. Therefore, the larger issue with the academia in the West is two-fold: first, denial of Hinduphobia and second, continually propping up the narrative based on ‘invader vs. indigenous’ perspective while denying the native practitioner voices, thus ignoring pluralism of practices within Hinduism. Unfortunately, some academics play a larger-than-life role in shaping this public representation of Hinduism in the West. For a micro-minority, the Hindus, in the West, this could lead to confusion, isolation, and subsequently targeted attacks. It is important that public discourse understands the religious beliefs of practitioners than interpretations of a few academics. 

    Vilifying Hindu practices, festivals, and lifestyles, sometimes with false equivalencies have become common across all spheres of academia. This trend is really concerning, since, this could lead to grave consequences for the practitioners due to misinformation put forward on numerous occasions across America. It is unfortunate that the very places of higher learning that are believed to foster knowledge, and pluralism of thought are becoming venues of hate incidents against Hindus. The number of hate crimes and violence against Hindus has gradually increased in the past two decades. Silencing practitioner’s perspectives is also a common practice. 

    The strange thing is universities had a number of hate incidents recorded against Hindus. It leads one to surmise that such misinformation can have disastrous consequences. The misinformation may have isolated and traumatized the Hindu students exposing them to targeted attacks. The trend is alarming. Hate incidents on college campuses are well documented, but similar reports outside college campuses may be meager. This might not mean the absence of hate crimes against Hindus but may indicate fear of Hindus in general for reporting such incidents. Therefore, we believe there might be underreporting also.

    It is important to counter such types of misinformation to integrate Hindus into American society.  It is also important to counter the suppression of news concerning attacks on Hindus. Awareness and balanced perceptions with concern for practitioners might help change the status quo of Hinduphobia and improve social harmony.