W’end Links – Sanskrit, Fault Lines, Charity and Anti-ageing pills

How the urban young are rediscovering Sanskrit:

…”Bhagini, shighram, shighram gachchami,” mutters someone, giving me a gentle nudge from behind. Translated, that means: move faster, sister. I’ve been told I’m slow before, but never in Sanskrit. The guy getting late for class, whose way I’m blocking, is tall, with an apologetic smile, a shaven head, a choti, and a forehead smeared with tilak. The rest of him is hip young Gen X Indian – cool T-shirt, stylish bracelet and frayed-edge jeans that end at his bare feet.

…There are others like him. Bangalore-based Sanskrit enthusiast Kokila Narayan, 27, works for an IT company. Weekends find her in spaghetti tops and capris, enjoying a movie or a vodka at the pub. Hard to believe that she speaks Sanskrit. But she does. “I started learning shlokas with a group of friends. What had me hooked was the perfect grammar and the science behind the language,” she says.. Narayan is preparing for the civil service exam, for which Sanskrit is among the subjects she has chosen.

…As many as 30,000 people have enrolled for countrywide classes that are starting this July under the aegis of the Gita Shiksha Kendra, to help people know the Gita better, through Sanskrit. And 60 per cent of these are in the 18-28 age group. At the Delhi Samvadshala, students from 37 countries come down in winters to learn spoken Sanskrit. And in 2008, 2,000 Delhiites enrolled for spoken Sanskrit crash courses that were held across the city. Again, 60 per cent were in the 18 to 28 age group.

Read the full story here

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Next, Maloy Krishna Dhar on Indian Fault Lines:

…India is perhaps the only country that has simultaneous presence of ethnic insurgency, ideological terrorism and religious jihad sponsored by foreign based tanzeems and sponsor by foreign intelligence agencies and great social divide. Popular perception in “Mainland India” about terrorism loiter about Muslim militancy coupled with Pakistani and Bangladeshi input and to some extent Maoist terrorism in the Red Belt. In “Outer India” i.e. the Northeast and tribal belts the perception is entirely different. So also is the situation in “Also India” i.e. Kashmir.

…Starting with the”Outer India” it must be admitted that nearly 90% of the Hindi heartland and the Southern Peninsula are not abreast with the situations prevailing in those remote geographical areas, causations and expected outcome of the chaotic situation, where some kind of electoral democracy coexist with armed insurgency and terrorism. The facade of constitutional unity is maintained more in form than in faith. Delhi relinquishes its duties by pouring money, administrative assistance and by deploying paramilitary and military forces.

…The other shadow area of India, Assam presents a story in contrast that betrays Delhi’s attitude towards the peripheral states and peoples of India. Timeless Assam (Pragjyotishpura) witnessed dingdong battle between the Ahom-Bengali speaking people on the one and the Congress and Muslim League on the other. Right from 1916 planned infiltration of Bengali speaking Muslims started in the Barak and Brahmaputra valley. The allegations of collusion between the British rulers and the Muslim League were clearly discernible. However, fear of Bengali speaking Hindu superiority continued to haunt the Assam leaders even to the days of referendum for Sylhet district. The Assam Congress leaders did not want Sylhet’s merger with India; so also the Muslim League. Jinnah was keen for merger of entre Assam with Bengal forming a part of Pakistan. Nehru was not averse to the idea and said that Assam could hang in balance and to decide later if it wanted to be in India or Pakistan. Fortunately some Assam leaders, some leaders of Bengal and Mahatma Gandhi finally settled for Assam’s inclusion in India.

Read all of it here.

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Read Sarvesh on Hindu Economics and Charity:

…The very reason why industry is needed to flourish, according to kauTilya, is to spread dharma in society which alone can beget lasting and all-round happiness. artha, the economy, he says, is the most important function of society, as it is solely from this basis that both the fulfillment of dharma and pursuit of desires can be accomplished (“arthaiva pradhAnaiiti kauTilyaH arthamUlau hi dharmakAmau iti: AS 1.7.6-7). Economy is like a tree, further says kauTilya, if whose roots are rooted in dharma, it produces the fruits of happiness. Achievement of such dhArmika wealth further promotes dharma and produces more wealth and gives more pleasure.

This is the achievement of all the gains. (dharma-mUlatvAt kAma-phalatvAchArthasya dharma-artha-kAma anubandhA yA^arthasya siddhiH sA sarva.artha.siddhiH AS9.7.81)

…An important aspect which one notices is that the underlying principle, stressed by the traditions in the enterprise of charity, is humility. Charity was not a matter of show for the Hindu, as it is generally in the west and as the westernized Hindu corporate is now learning these days as it seems, but something which was to be done silently. shAstra-s teach one to conduct charity in such a way that while one’s right hand donates, the left does not even get the wind of it. It is these who are called the real udAra-s and dAtA-s, and it is their charity which is considered the real charity.  “Among the hundred men born”, says this well known piece of wisdom, “..only one is found to be brave and among thousands born only one could become a paNDita, among ten thousands born only one grows to become a good orator but truly rare and precious is the birth of such real donors, when they happen or don’t happen, knows who!” (shateShu jAyate shUraH”¦ dAtA bhavati vA na vA)

This reminds us of the well-known kiMvadanti about a friendly exchange between tulasIdAsa and abdur-rahIm. We know that tulasIdAsa was well-known within the circle of Akbar, with at least one copper prashasti discovered at kAshI in context of an endowment made by Todarmal which relates to his considering tulasIdAsa as his master. According to this well-known narrative, once an acquaintance of tulasIdAsa needed some money for arranging the wedding of his daughter, and asked tulasIdAsa for financial help. Todarmal who used to govern kAshI was away those days for some military campaign in North West, so tulasI sent this man, with a letter of recommendation to rahIma, the adopted son of Akbar and the symbolic head of the moghal clan, khanekhAnA, who was known to be wealthy and charitable. rahIma received the man with humility, returned him with more money than requisitioned for, and also sent a humble letter of thanks for tulasIdAsa. Hearing of rahIm’s humility, and reading the letter, tulasI replied back with a dohA, saying: “sIkhe kahAM nawAbajU denI aisI dena, jyauM jyauM kara Upara uThata tyauM tyauM nIche naina” (“Wherefrom did our dear nawAb learn this mode of giving / Higher rise his arms in charity, lower turns his gaze in humility”). To this rahIma is said to have replied, “denahAra koi aura hai deta rahata dina-raina, loga bharama hama para dharahi tA te nIche naina” (“The giver is someone else, who keeps giving day and night / people confuse us to be the donor, causing us the embarrassment”). At one place, rahIma himself says that, “we consider those not alive, who only live on alms, but we consider those even deader, from whom charity does not come”. (“rahimana te jana to muye je jana maMgahi jAya; unate pahile te muye jinate nikasata nAhi”)

The complete text – along with a large number of historical references – is here.

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From A pill for longer life?:

Could a pill one day slow ageing in humans?

PunchstockRapamycin, a drug commonly used in humans to prevent transplanted organs from being rejected, has been found to extend the lives of mice by up to 14% – even when given to the mice late in life.

In flies and worms, drug treatments have been shown to prolong lifespan, but until now, the only robust way to extend life in mammals has been to heavily restrict diet.

The researchers caution, however, that using this drug to extend the lifespan of humans might be problematic because it suppresses the immune system – potentially making people who take it more susceptible to infectious diseases.

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Finally, Pick of the Week: Sandeep on why Stupidity is Rewarding

and Smile of the Week: Noise of India.com!

Have a good, safe weekend.