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A three-part series by SN Balagangadhara What happened in Ayodhya: a pran prathistha, a consecration, or something else? What happened in Ayodhya: Mehta’s heroics, Varshney’s warning, and Palshikar’s guilt What happened in Ayodhya: what our intellectuals saw and yet did not know what they saw Combined version From Academia.edu: The Ayodhya Event: A Response to Some Newspaper Columns From …

Part I, Part II , Part III , Part IV (Appeared on 04/13/2022 through 04/15/2022) S.N. Balagangadhara, emeritus professor at Ghent University, Belgium, has spent more than 40 years studying the science of cultures, especially Western culture, which was deeply influenced by Christianity, and how this framework was used to understand Indian culture, where it was a colonising power. In the process, …

[ Published on swarjyamag Aug 26, 2022] Let me recollect the question we agreed upon: how does the combined phrase (colonial mindset and servitude) make sense within the framework of my research programme? My hypothesis on religion includes characterizing the dynamics of its expansion. As I see it, such a dynamic includes (a) conversion and (b) secularization. The first side of the dynamic, …

Let us take the word ‘duty’ for the moment. Conflict in duties does not give you a moral dilemma. For a moral dilemma to occur two necessary conditions must exist: the prescribed set of duties must be logically consistent by virtue of which one is obliged to perform them all. A dilemma pertains to a situation where one has an obligation to do A and an obligation to do B; but can in fact do only …

It is broadly accepted that one of the most important functions of language is to describe the world outside it. Could it be the case that when it comes to the Indian systems, they all (whether it is Advaita vedanta, Yoga vasistha, visista advaita) are teaching one to act, to live in a particular way? In other words, they are not saying what there is in the world but are manuals in a manner of …

I want to respond to three of your points Claus. First you are not talking only about the Greeks and the Romans because all the problems arising with respect to the phenomena of non-Western societies and culture are/were equally the problems in the frameworks of different varieties of culture. You not only talk about the Greeks and the Romans, you gave examples about the French and the English as …

The question requires deeper handling so you will forgive me for the brevity of my response but you will get some idea of where I stand. Regarding the first question as to whether we reject social science itself, I am aware that many people have made this suggestion. I am not so much hung up on the word ‘social science’ but I do believe that we need to systematically reflect on our experiences in …

I am going to ask for a clarification on a question which I find very troubling. Let me first read how you have formulated the problem from the text: Sanskrit scholars need modem social scientists. What disturbs me in anthropological fieldwork is that Sanskrit literature is made to play the role of native informer to social scientists, with the anthropologists asking themselves as they might with …

Sacred determines what profane is; it is not about respect for religion. The film Innocence of Muslims has turned cities around the world upside down in the past week, and threatens to continue to do so. “We never insult other prophets”, says the tenor of several Muslims, “so why can’t we demand that Mohammed receive respect? We respect others; why do they insult us?" Others argued that the anger …

Original. [ Appeared in Christendom en filosofie : opstellen over wijsbegeerte, wereldbeeld en wetenschappen van het antieke christendom over Nietzsche tot fundamentalisme vandaag. p.51-82] In this article, we would like to reflect upon the contemporary relevance of the encounter between ancient Roman culture and Early Christianity. There is a reason for choosing this theme. Today, a few heathen …

Clearly, advocates of the caste-based reservation system are worried by the recent upheavals in Gujarat and beyond. In his “The Patidar idea of reservations” (The Hindu, September 5), Delhi University sociologist Satish Deshpande attempts to ridicule the Patidars’ demand for OBC status while expressing his support for the reservation system. In this piece, I do not wish to defend or attack any …

Increasingly loud voices are to be heard from different capital cities in India about growing intolerance in Indian society. The western press picks up echoes and magnifies them, while ridiculing Modi’s visit to Great Britain. While one can understand that Indians chant mantras, why are Europeans reproducing them? Looking from the outside, this is a very puzzling phenomenon. Because it is unclear …

Our recent piece on the valedictory speech of the minister of HRD at a Kolkata workshop elicited many replies from the readers. Some found that we indulged in a personal attack, our piece lacked “logic” and “argumentation” and one of her secret admirers, in her defence, even sent us a link to a report by Saptadwipa Ghosal in The Echo of India. Such responses demand an adequate reply. Actually, we …

From the mouth of some babes, pearls of wisdom and truth fall like gentle rain from heaven. From the mouth of others, idiocies pour in a torrent and are considered truth only because they occupy positions of power. We leave it to the reader to decide to which group our minister of human resource development Smriti Irani belongs. Keep in mind that she determines to a large extent the course of …

There are three ideas in the West about Law that are taken as axioms. The first: all societies are founded on Law; if they are not, they ought to be. The second is that Law teaches and educates a people. Third is their corollary: only thus do a people become a Nation. As far as I know, none has shown their empirical truth or proved that they are logically necessary. But their truth-value is …

What happens to the future of Indian intellectual scene when most of projects driven by its intelligentsia propagate perverted truths for self-seeking purposes? “Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara”, “Satyameva Jayate” are but two of the well-known Sanskrit sayings that are supposed to indicate the values placed upon truth and truth-telling in Indian culture. It comes as a surprise, therefore, to read …

social science debate in India has been hijacked by the struggle between secularism andHindutva for decades now. usually the Sangh Parivar is blamed for this turn of events. However, it could well be argued that the Hindutva ideologues simply adopted the stance of the secularists. Perhaps the best illustration is the case of anti-Brahminism. To be against “Brahminism” is part and parcel of the …

This has been a tumultuous decade for the academic study of India. In his recent Offence: The Hindu Case (2009), Salil Tripathi provides a timely overview of the growing censorship and harassment that scholars working on India have faced. Not a pretty sight to behold: people have felt the need to ban books and terrorize authors, hassle teachers and disrupt classes, toss eggs at some and blacken …

Today, India has become a global player of significant political and economical impact. Europe and India are facing each other as equal partners in pursuit of greater economic and political co-operation. This confronts both India and Europe with a challenge. The intelligentsia, the business world, politicians, educators and others, will have to answer the following question: What can India offer …

Read Jakob de Roover’s piece on reservations on dailyon.in & on swarjyamag . From the perspective of constitution, constitution debates, check https://www.academia.edu/16478230/Caste-based_reservation_and_social_justice_in_India The problem that has plagued India since Independence has flared up again: caste-based reservations for education, employment and career promotions. In the last four …