What happens when extraordinary events awaken an ancient faith in the modern world? Through personal testimony, Hanuman’s enduring presence in popular culture, and the story of a pilot who invoked the deity in a moment of crisis, Vamsee Juluri reflects on the power of bhakti to transcend the limits of human agency. The essay explores how faith, memory and the possibility of grace shape our understanding of life, while revealing unexpected bonds across religious and cultural divides. Ultimately, it asks us to see beyond cynicism and rediscover gratitude, hope and our shared humanity.
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The Underdog Reflex – What Barbarik Can Teach Us about Power and Justice
What can Krishna’s refutation of Barbarik’s vow teach us about how we judge conflicts? Treating the Barbarik episode as a formal argument rather than merely a devotional story, this essay examines the paradox of always siding with the weaker party: if power shifts, allegiance must shift with it. It then applies this Indic insight to the modern reflex of equating weakness with moral rightness, asking who gets to define the “underdog” and whether compassion can be separated from judgment. From historical conflicts to contemporary political discourse, the article argues that power should not determine moral judgment. The essay closes with Barbarik as Haare ka Sahara - his compassion preserved, but his rule of allegiance to the weaker side discarded.
Cow Reverence and the Prohibition of Beef in Hinduism
Why is the cow regarded as sacred in Hindu civilisation? The article examines the religious and civilisational foundations of cow reverence and the avoidance of beef in Hinduism. It draws upon the Vedas, Manusmriti, Mahabharata, and Puranic traditions, while also acknowledging the historical diversity of Hindu dietary practices. The article argues that the religious significance of the cow should be understood through concepts such as ahimsa, dharma, religious practice, and the traditional relationship between cattle and human society.
How Civilisations Forget Themselves: Can a Civilisation Forget Its Own Philosophical Grammar?
How does a civilisation forget its own philosophical grammar even while preserving its texts, rituals and traditions? This essay explores how words such as dharma, karma and avatāra can survive while the conceptual relationships that once gave them meaning gradually fade. It examines how translation, codification, institutional change and collective memory reshape inherited traditions, often making historical changes appear timeless. Using Hindu thought as its primary lens, the article argues that recovering an older philosophical grammar need not mean restoring the past, but recovering the questions and categories through which it understood human life. Ultimately, it asks whether a civilisation can recognise what it has forgotten - and understand the processes through which it changed.
Where Rivers Meet and Wisdom Flows: A Journey Through the Living Traditions of Sanatana Dharma
Journeying through Kudli, Sakthapuram, Hariharapura and Sringeri, this pilgrimage explores Karnataka’s sacred geography as a living continuum of worship, knowledge and Guru Parampara. From river confluences and ancient temples to Vedic learning and the grace of Sharadamba, the journey reveals how Sanatana Dharma is preserved not merely in monuments but through living practices, institutions and traditions. It becomes an encounter with Bharat’s enduring civilisational memory, where nature, devotion and knowledge converge.