Indian philosophy is centered around Vedas, the ancient scriptures revealed through the minds of ancient sages. So, we have Vedic philosophy which accepts the authority of the Vedas and is rooted in six branches, namely, Sānkhya, Nyāya, Yoga, Vaiśeṣika, Mimānsa and Vedānta. Then there are philosophies which do not accept the authority of the Vedas, namely, Buddhist and Jain philosophies and some viewpoints which are not in the mainstream, e.g., Traita and Chārvāk philoso...

तसै तपो दमः कर्मेति प्रतिष्ठा वेदाः सर्वाङ्गानि सत्यमायतनम् ॥Kena ४.८॥ (or, तस्यै) tasai tapo damaḥ karmeti pratiṣṭhā vedāḥ sarvāṅgāni satyamāyatanam II4.8II Of that (Brahman-Vidya), austerity, self-conquest and works (or, rituals) are the foundation; Vedas are all the parts (and) Truth is the abode.

This is a syncretic translation of five of the major upanishads. References and Notes have been inserted appropriately to further elaborate the concepts involved.

And, what is the purpose of our life? This is not a simple query. All life we grope in the dark searching for the purpose of our coming here in this world. We don’t have an answer but we can make a beginning by two starting points – one, that we are here on a ladder of progress in a series of births toward attainment of liberation as the BG (6.40-45) tells us, and two, that we are here to play our assigned roles in the scheme of things of the Creator as his Līlā. Another...

A war was about to be fought for the control of the kingdom of Hastināpur (in present-day Uttar Pradesh near Delhi) between the armies of the Kauravas and the armies of the Pāndavas. Kauravas were sons of Dhritrāśtra (a descendant of Kuru) and Pāndavas were sons of Pāndu (himself also a descendant of Kuru!). Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were brothers. Although both Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were descendants of Kuru and had equal claim to be called Kauravas, Dhritrāśtra’s sons were ...

Early in 1995 at State Bank Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad (India), I was attending a management development program as a young manager, where a new realization dawned on me. One day the instructor asked us about our hobbies. Thoughts flashed through my mind and by the time my turn came, I was ready with my answer ‘reading the Gītā’. The instructor looked surprised, paused for a moment, and said, “Good, so who is a Dehi?” That moment, it dawned on me that re...