Ashok Vohra

RADHAKRISHNAN: A LIFELONG TEACHER

September 13, 2021

In his autobiographical note Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan at the age of forty-nine, a la Hegel wrote, ‘a man makes up his account with life when he has a work that suits him and a wife whom he loves’. This implied that he regarded philosophy and its teaching in particular and education...

MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI’S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

August 9, 2021

A ccording to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, “Mankind was not born to suffer, mankind was born to enjoy. The purpose of life is to expand happiness.” Human beings can get rid of their suffering, attain a state of happiness and share it with others by practising the technique of transcendental meditation—...

THE REVOLUTIONARY TEACHINGS OF SAMARTH RAMDAS

April 28, 2021

The guru of Shivaji Maharaj, Sant Ramdas né Ramdas Swami, or simply Ramdas, in his teachings advocated a combination of devotion, meditation and military training. Like many of his contemporaries, he did not believe in pacifism but social, political and martial activism. Even saints and other renunciants, according to him,...

Being single women: What we can learn from our past

March 26, 2021

Manusmriti as well as modern discussions on the place of women and their contribution to the intellectual tradition completely ignore the significant contribution by single women. In fact, in such discussions, the achievements of single women are conspicuous by their absence. Debates on women are limited to their roles as...

RAVIDASA: PHILOSOPHER OF SOCIAL CHANGE

February 15, 2021

G uru Ravidasa is probably the first crusader after Gautam Buddha who adopted peaceful means to revolt against the age old Brahamanical caste system. Guru Ravidasa, also known as Raidasa, Rohidasa, Ruidasa, Ramadasa, Raedasa, Rohitasa, Rahdesa, Rav Das and Rab Das, was the most influential Bhakti saint in northern India....

Netaji and his vision of ideal education policy

January 29, 2021

Subhas Chandra Bose’s (1897-1945) ideas about an ideal education policy for free India can be gathered from his autobiography, An Indian Pilgrim. The philosophy underlying his thoughts on an ideal education policy is not based on speculation or empty theorisation, but is found on his own experiences in school and...

FAITH IN HINDUISM

January 4, 2021

Faith and Hinduism are quite complex notions. The difficulty in understanding the concept of ‘faith’ is universal to all religions. ‘Faith’ is described by The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy as “the conviction of the truth of some doctrine which is the result of a voluntary act of will’. According to...

Guru Nanak’s teachings are more relevant today

December 7, 2020

The founder of the world’s youngest religion, Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) was born in Punjab. ‘Sikhism is one-fourth as old as Christianity’ and ‘about one-third as old as Islam’. By the time Guru Nanak was born, Islam which had arrived in India in the 11th century had taken deep...

Swaminarayan and religious harmony

November 9, 2020

The Semitic religions believe that their scriptures—Torah, Bible or Quran—are the repositories of absolute and final truth. Those who do not accept these exclusive truths are referred to by derogatory terms like ‘pagan’ or ‘kafir’ or ‘infidel’. Because of this sense of exclusivity, a Semitic religion does not condemn only...

SWADESHI AND AATMANIRBHARTA

October 12, 2020

The notion of Swadeshi occupies a pivotal place in Mahatma Gandhi’s thought and practices. The centrality of the notion of Swadeshi can be gauged from the fact that Gandhi believed that the way to Swaraj is through the practice of Swadeshi. He argued that the prevalent poverty, injustice, corruption, inequality,...

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