In Indian languages from Sanskrit to Marathi, yoga has an enormous range of meanings, though most often it refers to philosophy or methods to control the mind and body. This book argues for a wider understanding, demonstrating that yoga has long expressed political thought and practice. The political idea of yoga names the tools of kings, poets, warriors, and revolutionaries. It encodes stratagems for going into battle and for the demands of governance. This idea suggests routes to self-rule even when faced with implacable obstacles, and it defines righteous action amid the grime and grief of politics and war.
Sunila S. Kalé and Christian Lee Novetzke chart a new genealogy of yoga, beginning with uses of the term in the Ṛg Veda, the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad Gītā, and the Arthaśāstra. In the world of these texts, yoga names everything from war and battle strategy to good governance, espionage, taxation, and welfare. Kalé and Novetzke follow this trail into the modern period, examining the writings and speeches of thinkers such as Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo, and Ambedkar as well as the extraordinary story of the Princely State of Aundh, whose ruler saw the Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) as a tool for sovereignty. Offering a novel interpretation of yoga that embraces its long-standing political conceptualization, this book sheds light on South Asian political thought and history from its earliest texts to the present day.
Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats over the past three decades to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He’s not a Christian—or a member of any religious group—but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. That silence reminds him of what is essential and awakens a joy that nothing can efface. It’s not just freedom from distraction and noise and rush: it’s a reminder of some deeper truths he misplaced along the way.
In Learning From Silence, Iyer travels deep into inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant change: houses burn, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other nonmonastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. Most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship. In so doing, he offers a unique outsider’s view of monastic life—and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there’s a space for quiet and recollection that’s open to us all.
Radiant, intimate, and gripping, Learning From Silence offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love, and, ultimately, how to die.
Sacred reminds us of the symbiotic relationship we have with plants, the need for forests and greenery, their medicinal benefits, and environmental advantages that improve soil and air quality. Deepen your knowledge of fifty-two different plant species, which includes majestic trees such as peepal, banyan, rudraksha and deodar. Elevate everyday rituals with aromatic woods such as frankincense, myrrh and miswak. Appreciate the benefits of native grasses and creepers including durva, paan and Aparajita. Learn the true value of various flowers, fruit and spices, including lotus, jasmine, pomegranate , saffron, cloves and jujube.
Reconnect with nature, understand its worth and view plants as a manifestation of the divine. This book outlines ancient mysticism and provides recipes and rituals to help calm your mind, beautify yourself from the inside out and uplift the quality of your life.
In the Jain tradition, a Tirthankar is a person who has attained enlightenment through many lifetimes of spiritual practice. The trees under which they attained Kaivalya are called Deeksha-Vriksha. It symbolises the profound connection between their spiritual journey and the natural world. The Tirthankars are the earliest advocates of non-violence and environmental coexistence. Their qualities of tolerance, willpower, aspiration for spiritual evolution, courage, confidence, and compassion are vital for the contemporary world.
Building on these timeless values, this book explores the synergy between the profound tools of the Heartfulness Way – such as yogic Transmission, Rejuvenative Cleaning, and Heartful Connection at bedtime – and the profound spiritual essence of Jainism, which emphasises a deep yearning for inner growth, unwavering discipline, clarity of focus, purity of intent, and boundless compassion. Together, these approaches hold the potential to usher in a new era of spiritual evolution for humanity.
An indispensable book for all leaders and professionals, Sing, Dance and Lead expertly combines ancient Indian philosophy and wisdom with modern management principles to deliver insightful lessons on life and leadership. It brings alive pioneering ideas of leadership from one of the most impactful spiritual leaders in history. Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON, known as the Hare Krishna movement, which has become a respected global organization. This book not only looks at his leadership in the light of existing theories and knowledge systems but also how his profound teachings went far beyond.
Srila Prabhupada’s divine aura, scholarship, genuineness and humility attracted people from all walks of life, especially the youth, to him. His unique leadership legacy has left a lasting imprint, inspiring his followers
to continue his mission and strive for the welfare of humanity even today.
This book will broaden your horizons and enable you to view leadership from a whole new perspective. This pioneering work is undoubtedly essential reading to help you understand the timeless Indian guru-shishya parampara as a vital source for leadership development.
Religion . . . Time and again, people have fought over it and divided the world into many fragments. Often, they have mindlessly imposed the superiority of one religion over another. News on ‘forceful conversion’, ‘religious extremism’ and ‘religious hostility’ is rightly, wrongly and maliciously disseminated through various means. Such acts have not only ruptured communal harmony and caused bloodshed but also damaged the foundation of humanity. History is witness to such man-made catastrophes.
Shedding light on how people from various faiths can learn from each other to create a more inclusive world, An Ode to Fraternity is a brilliant meditation on world religion. From Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism and Bahai to Sikhism and Christianity, among others, this is an apt book for our times, one that opens a window to understand how multiple faiths, life philosophies and religions can create a panoramic peaceful world.
Authoritative, engaging and deeply researched, An Ode to Fraternity will interest a wide spectrum of readers. It is a must-read students and scholars of philosophy, comparative religion, legal jurisprudence as well as policymakers.
To save the world from cosmic annihilation, Lord Vishnu takes on his second avatar, that of the Kurma, or the tortoise. The Kurma Purana is one of the eighteen classic Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. The origins of the Kurma Purana can be traced back to 600 to 900 CE, and we encounter Indradyumna, Varaha, Devi, Vyasa, and the divine presence of Shiva in this text as we delve into the deep and nuanced tale of one of the greatest Hindu legends.
The seventh book in the Purana series, this translation of the Kurma Purana by Bibek Debroy is an attempt to bring to readers, the rich and layered history of our myths and classics.
Previous books in the series include the Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Purana, Markandeya Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Vishnu Purana and the Shiva Purana.
The foundational text on dharma and Hindu philosophy, exquisitely rendered by one of our most eminent Sanskrit translators
As a spiritual guide, the Bhagavadgita is a mesmerizing account of the debate between right and wrong, and the bond between action and consequence. One of the core Hindu scriptures, it is part of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, and unfolds in the form of a dialogue between Krishna and the Pandava prince, Arjuna.
This beautifully produced bilingual edition is a masterful verse-for-verse translation, providing the original Sanskrit verses alongside the English rendition. Bibek Debroy’s deep familiarity with the text yields a treasure trove of insights that will delight the scholar and the lay reader alike, making this essential reading for anyone with an abiding interest in Indian scriptures.
When European missionaries first arrived in India in the sixteenth century, they entered a world both fascinating and bewildering. Hinduism, as they saw it, was a pagan mess: the worship of devils and monsters by a people who burned women alive, performed outlandish rites and fed children to crocodiles. But soon it became clear that Hindu ‘idolatry’ was far more complex than white men’s stereotypes allowed, and Hindus had little desire to convert.
But then, European power began to grow in India, and under colonial rule, missionaries assumed a forbidding appearance. During the British Raj, Western frames of thinking gained ascendancy and Hindus felt pressed to reimagine their religion. This was both to fortify it against Christian attacks and to resist foreign rule. It is this encounter which has, in good measure, inspired modern Hinduism’s present shape. Indeed, Hindus subverted some of the missionaries’ own tools and strategies in the process, triggering the birth of Hindu nationalism, now so dominant in the country.
In Gods, Guns and Missionaries, Manu S. Pillai takes us through these remarkable dynamics. With an arresting cast of characters—maharajahs, poets, gun-wielding revolutionaries, politicians, polemicists, philosophers and clergymen—this book is ambitious in its scope and provocative in its position. Lucid and exhaustive, it is, at once, a political history, a review of Hindu culture and a study of the social forces that prepared the ground for Hindu nationalism. Turning away from simplistic ideas on religious evolution and European imperialism, the past as it appears here is more complicated—and infinitely richer—than popular narratives allow.
