A man of true knowledge who has attained enlightenment, has the same use for all the scriptures as one has for a small reservoir of water in a place flooded on all sides (Bhagavad Gita 2:46)

What does the Gita mean by this verse? This verse actually demonstrates some very important points about Hinduism with regards to ’scriptures’. Scriptures in the Hindu sense (unlike the Abrahamic religions) are a graded means that can take an individual to obtain experience of the Divine Truth (enlightenment).

However the supreme scripture, the real Word of God or the Supreme Reality can never really be put into human language, which is inherently limited by time, space and culture. The Divine Word is a state of consciousness, open to all, not a mere book that can be pulled off a shelf and quoted. When an individual has connected to this truth as their own first hand experience, and lives this truth in all its vivid reality, they have little use of scriptures. This is the central point of this verse of the Gita. The Hindu view of scripture is therefore……..

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I literally grew up in a world full of music, art and Sanskrit poetry. My family background is such where my parents taught me Hindu values along with our ancient history during my childhood. As a matter of fact, North Indian classical music runs in my family. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father as well as uncles all were musicians and Shastriya sangeetkars. My father was an artist and had great admiration for classical Indian dance forms, especially Bharata Natyam and Kuchipuddi. It was he who encouraged me to take up Bharata Natyam at the age of seven here in London…

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In the past few years the Indian Armed Forces stationed in Kashmir have seen a concerning rise in the number of soldiers whose deaths have been caused by suicide or as a result of their own colleagues turning on and killing each other. The figures are startling; figures released from the Indian Ministry of Defence (IMD) disclose that between 1st January 2006 and 14th November 2006, there were 128 suicides in the Armed Forces as opposed to 116 in 2004 and 119 in 2005. In the same year, it has been reported that 72 soldiers were killed in enemy attacks, which is much less than the 128 soldiers took their own lives, and another 32 had been killed by their colleagues.

On 18th May 2007, an Indian soldier by the name of Satyam Kumar was convicted and sentenced to death by court martial for killing his guard commander Havildar Padmaranjan on 26th October 2006. This sentence was approved by the IMD, though the…

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To find truth, all the great sages have told us that one must go beyond all outer divisions of race, creed, caste, nationality or culture. Only those who can step beyond the outer identities that divide human beings can arrive at the one source of all things– the true Self of all beyond time, space and circumstance.

This, however, does not mean that culture has no purpose or value in the spiritual life. Many of the same sages were also great founders, upholders or reformers of culture. Many left not only works on spiritual knowledge but those on the arts and sciences, and social and political issues. This in fact was the tradition of the Vedic seers, who first established Hindu culture in ancient times. They were said to be “bhutakrit,” world-makers or establishers of culture and custom. If we look at humanity through history we can observe that men and women of spiritual realization have not come equally from all cultures, which would be the case if culture were merely a neutral factor in the spiritual life.

Some cultures, particularly India, have created an environment that has better allowed for great spiritual personages to arise. There has been an ongoing stream of great spiritual figures in India since……

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The month of Shraavan (July/August) is regarded as being auspicious by many. It marks the reign of the Shraavan star in the night skies.

Each day of this month has a lot of significance and a ritual of its own. The whole month is full of innumerable festivals dedicated to various forms of the divine, marking the beginning of many holy festivals, such as Naag Panchami, Hindolo, Raksha Bhandhan and Janmashtmi. Throughout this sacred month elaborate and awe-inspiring rituals can be witnessed throughout the globe as well as in India.

Each Monday of this month is known as “Shraavan Somvar” and the whole day and night is dedicated to the worship of Shiva. Thousands of devotees gather at the steps of the Shiva mandirs hoping to be granted darshan of the shivlingh during the sacred ceremony…..

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Covering a very emotive subject, namely the strained relationship that Mahatma Gandhi had with his eldest son Harilal, and recounting the story more from the latter’s perspective, ‘Gandhi My Father’ aroused a lot of interest, not just in India but around the world. Gandhi of course is the one Hindu in the 20th century who has achieved super-fame for his life’s work, his fame extending far beyond India into almost every nook and cranny of our planet.

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‘Touched by Truth: A Contemporary Hindu Anthology’ is one of the many books that Hindu Voice UK is sent every month from publishers or authors hoping to promote their work. Due to time and space constraints, many of these books are unfortunately not reviewed. But ‘Touched by Truth’ had something which made it stand out from the pack.

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Though they say you that you shouldn’t judge a book from its cover, many a wise man has been guilty, and it’s partly because of this (that fiery red and yellow cover) that I picked up the book ‘Decolonising the Hindu Mind’, by the multilingual Belgian scholar Dr Koenraad Elst (click here for Hindu Voice Interview with Dr Elst). In my defence I would like to say that the catchy title had something to do with it as well.