This article originally appeared in the March 2010 edition of Himal Magazine.
The defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s general elections last year was greeted with relief by secularists and democrats everywhere. Not entirely unreasonably: they read the fact that the BJP lost a solid 3.4 percent of its previous poll share as evidence that Indian voters had rejected the majoritarian politics of Hindu pride and prejudice, peddled by the BJP and the rest of the Sangh Parivar. The general consensus is that the ideology of Hindu nationalism, or Hindutva, has lost its appeal among the urban youth and middle classes - that secularism has won and “God has left politics,” to borrow the elegant title of a recent essay by Delhi journalist Hartosh Singh Bal. Market reforms and globalisation emerge as the stars of this saga. Both the friends and critics of the BJP agree that it is the fervour for making money in India’s roaring economy that doused the flames of Hindu nationalism from the hearts of the middle classes. But that is not all. The ‘free’ market, we are told by a section of influential Dalit intellectuals, will not only free India from the menace of communal violence, but will also lift the curse of caste oppression. It is fair to say that the gospel of globalisation is gaining ground in India. Read the full story
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(Professor Narendra Nayak has been traveling into the rural areas of India, promoting rationalism on the ground for over 30 years. His rationalism tours include demonstrations and training sessions for young rationalists in schools and colleges across the country. He is the successor of Basava Premanand, the world famous skeptic and rationalist, in his role as the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations)
This is a brief account of some of my visits to the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. It is neither a chronicle of events, nor a comprehensive report of our work there. It is a write-up about some of the incidents that have taken place in the region, which I can recall. We have been working in this area for quite some time now.
Itarsi, a town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is an important railway junction that connects the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western parts of India. During my train journeys I would take what are known as a ‘break journeys’ in this town, while on my way to other places by rail. The prominent Indian rationalist, Premanand and I have been there together quite a few times. Read the full story
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In the previous article, we studied how the Gita became the battlefield on which the Great Sectarian War took place for the Soul of Sanatana Dharma, and how after the wily Brahmins routed naïve Upanishadists once again the Bhagavatas entered the fray. Obviously the power of Super Man (Purushotthama, 15:18) and his “strong weapon” Buddhiyoga (15:3) were no match to the “firm-rooted eternal tree with its roots above and branches below” (15:1-3). A whole new God with terrifying appearance and awesome powers was needed to chop down this rotten tree. Read the full story
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(Note: All previous parts in the Complexity Explained series by Dr. Vinod Wadhawan can be accessed through the ‘Related Posts’ listed below the article.)
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain, opined Lily Tomlin. On a more serious note, the evolution of language, speech, and 
culture are believed to be some of the causative factors for the rapid evolution of the size and capacity of the human brain. The emergence of human language has been a major milestone in the relentless evolution of complexity on our planet, and has also played a role in the evolution of human consciousness. Apart from the emergence and evolution of language, I also discuss memetics and econophysics in this article.
15.1 Introduction
A mostly Lamarckian process whereby evolution of a transformational nature proceeds via the passage of acquired characters, cultural evolution, like the stellar evolution before it, involves no DNA chemistry and perhaps less selectivity than biological evolution. Culture enables animals to transmit survival kits to their offspring by nongenetic routes; the information gets passed on behaviourally, from brain to brain, from generation to generation, the upshot being that cultural evolution acts much faster than biological evolution.
Eric Chaisson, Cosmic Evolution Read the full story
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In the previous article we studied how Upanishadists elevated Guru Krishna to the position of Lord of beings in order to protect their revolution and to reform corrupt Brahmins and Kshatriyas. In this article we will study the last stage of the Upanishadic revolution and how, shortly thereafter, the Gita became the battlefield on which Brahmins on one side and the Upanishadists and Bhagavathas on the other fought a great Sectarian War for the Soul of Sanatana Dharma (11:18). The story of that sectarian war, hidden in plain sight from the public thus far, is revealed in this article for the very first time in the history of the Bhagavad Gita. But first, let us briefly review the final stage of the Upanishadic revolution. Read the full story
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In the previous article, we read how Upanishadists launched a revolution to overthrow Brahmanism and establish Upanishadism in its place using Arjuna Vishada as the vehicle. In this article we will study how they consolidated their revolution.
Every revolution, whether military, political, social, religious or sectarian, is followed by two early preemptive measures: 1. Protecting the revolution from the attacks of well-entrenched vested interests. 2. Destroying, reforming or retiring the recalcitrant Old Guard. The stranglehold of the vested interests on Brahmanism was so strong that Upanishadists had to create a whole new god to accomplish these goals: Lord of beings (4:6). We read elsewhere the two main reasons why people create gods: fulfill their desires and for protection from evil. Presently Brahmanism’s upper classes were obsessed with fulfilling its desires by means of Kamya Karma, and Upanishadists were busy protecting their revolution from the evil of Brahmanism. It is important to note here that the new god’s mandate was only to protect and promote Upanishadism centered on Brahman and to destroy the evildoers (4:7-8). He was not the god of Upanishadism, but just its facilitator. He repeatedly identifies Brahman as the supreme divinity (5:21, 24-26; 6:27-28). Read the full story
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In the previous article we read how around mid 3rd century B. C. E. Brahmanism created the Original Gita consisting of Arjuna Vishada and inserted it into the ever-expanding Mahabharata epic to reverse the trend of Kshatriyas abandoning decadent Brahmanism and joining heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism and Jainism. This hauntingly beautiful song, expounding merits of Varna Dharma, became the rallying point for Brahmanism in its struggle against the onslaught of heterodox Dharmas. Read the full story
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Posted on 14 January 2010
Introduction:
The recent trend in some sections of the Indian visual media is the topic of rebirth and associated quackery. In one of the channels the show started with sessions of ‘hypnotism’, taking people back to their past births, and ‘treatment’ for many of their problems of the present birth which are allegedly caused by deeds in the past life! Read the full story
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(Note: This is the 8th article in the series on the evolution of early religious thought in India, by Dr. Prabhakar Kamath. The previous article in the series can be accessed here. All Dr. Kamath’s previous articles can be accessed from this page where you can also sign up for Dr. Kamath’s RSS feed.)
We all know that Ashoka the Great gave Buddhism the gift of making it the dominant Dharma of India for a thousand years and one of the great World Religions to this day. However, few people know that he gave a wonderful gift to Brahmanism as well. He offered them his personal image of a renegade and fallen Kshatriya as the blueprint on which to base a parable in the form of a beautiful song, the Gita, by which Brahmins conquered back everything they had lost and more. A remorseful Ashoka overwhelmed by sorrow, self-doubt and the horror of war on the battlefield of Kalinga became the model for distraught Arjuna overwhelmed by sorrow, self-doubt and horror of war on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the parable of Arjuna Vishada. This is a classic example of how Brahmanism used their adversaries themselves to beat them over the head. As we go along, we will study several more examples of such incredible feats by Brahmins in the defense and promotion of their archaic Dharma. Read the full story
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(Note: This article is an update on this story that we reported on a few days ago. Briefly, A 7-year old girl from the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is being hailed by Buddhist leaders as the next reincarnation of a Buddhist Goddess. Rationalist groups led by a group of dedicated activists including Babu Gogineni, International Director of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, have been protesting this abuse of the rights of children in the name of religion.)
A number of us approached the State Human Rights Commission and the Judge ordered for an inquiry into the antecedents of those behind the child and the parentage of the child. Meanwhile, the Commission ordered that police be posted to accompany the so-called caretakers. The case is at a crucial stage now.
The following are the entire contents of the petition presented to the State Human Rights Commission. Read the full story
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