Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
A blog reader asked the question - "How to make best utilize one's savings from a spiritual point of view? Should one take medical insurance, life insurance, invest in mutual funds. If we engage in the stock market, it increases greed ? In some countries, medical costs are high so medical …
Continue reading →Amal Kiran (born K.D. Sethna, a Parsi-Zoroastrian) was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo. He wrote the following article in response to Dr Ambedkar's embrace of Buddhism. This article was approved by Sri Aurobindo and was first published in the Mother India magazine on May 27, 1950. It is worth …
Continue reading →While other religions lay down a set of commandments which must be uniformly followed by all human beings, Hinduism advises each soul to act based on his or her Swadharma(inner law). This is a nice story by M.S. Srinivasan which illustrates this principle. This story appeared in the recent …
Continue reading →The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 210,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 9 days for that many …
Continue reading →Fascinating and well-documented article on the iconic deities of Hinduism like Ganesha, Shiva, Brahma, Lakshmi, Durga, Saraswati, Kubera, Indra and others who have been depicted in ancient Japanese literature and …
Continue reading →This is an English translation of a Bengali article entitled "Manush Bhajan" by Nolini Kanta Gupta (1889-1984) who was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo (see bio on wikipedia). Sri Aurobindo once remarked, "If Nolini does not understand my Yoga, who does". The translation of this article was done …
Continue reading →Is mathematics invented or discovered? Do mathematical objects pre-exist in some transcendental plane, are they abstractions of our sensory experiences, or are they just fictional objects invented by our minds? Would an alien species specify mathematical abstractions in a different way? These are …
Continue reading →The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 200,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 9 days for that many …
Continue reading →Zackaria Moursi, whose spiritual journey was covered in a an earlier blog post "How an Egyptian discovered Sri Aurobindo" has just published a bilingual book featuring quotes from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The book is listed on Amazon and can also be viewed on his website. …
Continue reading →Here is an interesting history of how Russians came into contact with Sri Aurobindo during the time of the Soviet Union. This article was originally posted on the website of Varuna Energy & Water Pvt. Ltd., which is a unit based in Auroville. …
Continue reading →These are the reminiscences of an Aurovillian named Roy who came to India in the 1970s. The article was posted earlier on Savitri Era Devotees and Afforestation Auroville blogs. …
Continue reading →Have you ever lamented - if only I had an easier job, a more spacious home, sagacious parents, compatible spouse, trustworthy friends, etc., I would be able to devote more effort to living spiritually and might even progress faster. Driven by this desire for space and ease, we disdainfully ignore …
Continue reading →Xu Fancheng (Chinese: 徐梵澄) was born in Changsha, Hunan province, on 26th October 1909. As a child he studied classical Chinese. In 1929 he went to Germany to study the History of Art at Heidelberg University. He also practiced wood engraving there and became the first Chinese artist of the …
Continue reading →It is rather remarkable that when we have a weakness – for example a ridiculous habit, a defect or an imperfection – since it is more or less part of our nature, we consider it to be very natural, it does not shock us. But as soon as we see this same weakness, this same imperfection, this same …
Continue reading →The Overman Foundation has published the entire set of conversations with Sri Aurobindo that were recorded by Anilbaran Roy. These talks cover a wide spectrum of issues (symbols, occultism, karma, politics) and were originally published in the Sri Aurobindo Circle from 1977 to 1994. …
Continue reading →Dr. D. B. Bisht had a distinguished career in the medical profession. He was the Director-General of Health Services, Govt. of India, and upon retirement joined the World Health Organisation. While Dr. Bisht was posted at JIPMER in Pondicherry, he was called to attend on the Mother and served as …
Continue reading →A series of interviews in which Sri Aurobindo discusses the practice of Yoga with Anilbaran Roy …
Continue reading →There is a stage in the yogic transformation when the inner being awakens (i.e. when Chakras begin to open) but the consciousness is not fully centered in the Atman (Self). This half-way mark is an extremely vulnerable phase of life because now you become exposed to the vital forces which are …
Continue reading →Mahabiplabi Arabindo is a 1971 Bengali film (don't worry, it has English subtitles) which covers the life of Sri Aurobindo from his return to India in 1892 to his retirement to Pondicherry in 1910. Angel Television has uploaded the movie on youtube in 13 parts. The duration of this movie is …
Continue reading →There are many secondary works which profess to explain Sri Aurobindo’s views on nationalism, but it is better to read what he himself said on the matter. These are a few selections from the works of Sri Aurobindo on Nationalism. These pieces first appeared in the Karmayogin journal in 1909. …
Continue reading →Centuries ago, Yajnavalkya used the analogy of “the great fish which travels along both banks, the nearer and the farther” while referring to the human consciousness which oscillates between the waking and the deep sleep state (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.17). He wrote that when the Atman …
Continue reading →One of the themes on which Sri Aurobindo and the Mother differ from early Vedantins is “conscious dream exploration”. While Sri Aurobindo claimed that the occult worlds that we enter in our dreams are as “real” as the physical world, the earliest Advaita Vedantins, Gaudapada and Adi …
Continue reading →If you are interested in getting a daily quote from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, click on the subscribe button at the bottom of these two pages. Quotation http://supramental.in/quotation/ Flower message …
Continue reading →Radar
Thou shall not gaze - More than 3.3 seconds degenerates into a gaze which is said to be improper. But can human emotions and sentiments be calibrated with such precision? A s...
Who is the best person for the job? - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra The Mother of Swords: How the 2026 Act Chose Bankim’s Nationalism Over Tagore’s Patriotism by Skand Priya countercurre...
Discontent and the Five Toilers - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Being Contented Is Good| Being Discontented May Be Better | Ramesh Bijlani 1:05:01 Sri Aurobindo describes man as the mos...
SELF Radar - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra LD 83 Memory, Ego and Self-Experience B2 Ch9 (2) 1:01:58 A talk by Dr Alok Pandey recorded on 21th August, 2026 as a part...
We are here to teach - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra What makes the Veda unique? It isn’t just a religion—it’s multidimensional poetry, a journey into consciousness and sel...
Ladder of Devotion - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Mantric Reading| Kapali Ji's Prayers 30:50 Concentration, Deeper Body work with Kapali ji's prayers #lifedivine #divineb...
The most important nothing in the world - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Rig Veda 1.1.1 The Secret of Secrets Let me share with you the understanding that opened my heart. It came from the Mo...
Viju Shah and Richa Sharma - Celebrate the unforgettable music of Viju Shah, one of Bollywood’s most talented music composers, with this collection of his Top 10 Superhit Songs. Fro...
Varied experiences and myriad lessons - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra I used to use a text-only format which seems to be no longer possible. Being bombarded by a continuous stream of visual...
I Ara - 2026
… This celibacy is for the cause of Hindutva already pretty busy with work,' he says.
These days, I'm … Chauhan has been a vocal supporter of Hindutva for more than
twenty-five years since he was just a teenager in his hometown, Saharanpur. Over …
R Putra, M Ahmed, SD Rifa'i, H Sakinah - Jurnal Pelita Raya, 2026
Religious identity politics has become a key dynamic in Indonesia’s post-Reform
democracy. This study analyses this phenomenon through the lens of the Global
South, integrating the concepts of democratisation, populism, digital media, religion–state …
SK Pandey - Semiotic Perspectives in the Age of Algorithms: AI …, 2027
Political memes function not merely as entertainment but as consequential
instruments of ideological signification. This chapter advances a semiotic analysis of
political memes as digital discourse, examining how they produce and naturalise …
D Bhushan - Upstream Research International Journal, 2026
This paper examines the intricate relationship between language, culture, ideology,
and power, with particular emphasis on the role of English language teaching in
postcolonial and globalized societies. It argues that language is not merely a neutral …
Z Parveen, M Mohanty, I Das - Entrepreneurial Resilience, Sustainability, and Digital …, 2027
… In today’s global perspective achieving sustainability through managing
handicraft as a sector seem to be gaining integral aspects of … it a diversified
product ranging from traditional mats to economical products like table mats, yoga …
S Verma, R Prakash, T Ahamad, IS Daiwan, A Junaid - 2026
… Our yoga as being given the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations,
which is celebrated all over the world on a yearly basis, is among the best global
acceptances which Yoga offers to the people all over the world which helps Yoga to …
GK Monje - 2026
… For the purposes of this dissertation, and in alignment with the teachings of Shrii
Shrii Anandamurti, the terms Tantra, Yoga, and Tantra Yoga are used in a closely
related and, at times, overlapping sense. This usage reflects a lineage-based …
N Boland - Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education, 2026
Over recent decades, Western academia has shown a growing interest in spirituality,
accompanied by methodological innovations and epistemological expansion.
Nevertheless, spiritual inquiry continues to be subtly subordinated to scientific …
R Pandya - Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education, 2026
Contemporary calls to reconceptualize how science is taught and understood have
brought deeper learning to the forefront of education at-large for its emphasis on
critical perspectives, creativity, and student-centered inquiry. Yet this paper argues …
SK Nayak
Modern Odia poetry has repeatedly challenged inherited literary paradigms by
replacing romantic certainty with existential ambiguity, metaphysical incompleteness,
and epistemological restlessness. Within this tradition, Chandra Kumar Mohanty's …
SK SAKSENA
soil; Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950), whose poetical profundity … to God, or
those who like Sankara or Aurobindo Ghose have been … Aurobindo Ghosh, andNehru are all prized as individuals. What …Essays on Indian Philosophy
SHRI KRISHNA SAKSENA
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII HONOLULU 1970 PRESS
Copyright © 1970 by University of Hawaii Press
Contents
The Story of Indian Philosophy
Basic Tenets of Indian Philosophy
Testimony in Indian Philosophy
Hinduism
Hinduism and Hindu Philosophy
The Jain Religion
Some Riddles in the Behavior of Gods and Sages in the
Epics and the Puranas
Autobiography of a Yogi
Jainism
Svapramanatva and Svapraka!;>atva: An Inconsistency in Kumarila's Philosophy
The Nature of Buddhi according to Sankhya-Yoga
The Individual in Social Thought and Practice in India
Professor Zaehner and the Comparison of Religions
A Comparison between the Eastern and Western
Portraits of Man in Our Time
Essays on Indian Philosophy
The Story of Indian Philosophy
Indian philosophy is perhaps the earliest recorded thought of man. Its four thousand years of history embracing the multitudinous phases of intense enquiry cannot possibly be done justice in this chapter. Only a bird's-eye view of this vast panorama is possible in the following survey.
THE VEDAS
The Vedas (2500-2000 B. c.), which embody divine truths, are I believed to have been revealed to the 'fuper-consciousness of the seers. They represent the fountainhead of Hindu philosophical thought. Each of the four Vedas, Rig-Veda, Yajur- Veda, Stima- Veda and Atharva-Veda, has three main divisions: the Samhittis (sacred texts), the Brtihmanas (commentaries) and the Aranyakas (forest books). The Rig-Veda Samhitti is the oldest record of Hindu philosophical thought.
To begin with, man looks outside. His first thoughts therefore relate to the sequence of natural phenomena in which he sees the causes of vicissitudes of his everyday life. The early mantras (hymns), thus, contain an element of nature worship, in whicv. the various powers of nature such as fire (Agni) and wind (Vayu), which influence human life, are personified as gods, whom it is a man's duty to propitiate. Varuna and Indra are the chief among them, the former being conceived as a symbol of omniscience and righteousness. The gods being righteous are believed to uphold Rta, or the physical and moral order in the universe.
The relationship of man to gods who are conceived as originating and sustaining the world is one of utter dependence. Man, it is maintained, must lead a righteous life to please the gods who are good. In the Vedic religious thought the unreality of the universe is never suggested. In fact, worldly prosperity and the joys of everyday life are constantly stressed. Transmigration is not directly referred to though the soul is conceived as immortal.
No comments:
Post a Comment