The historical essays in this work both tangentially and explicitly bring out these facets, which also demonstrate Hindu grit, heroism, velour, resistance, losses and triumphs. They also hopefully provide a fuller and clearer understanding of the historical and other contexts in which these episodes occurred, and help to reveal the character, temperament and inspirations that drove these brave Hindu men and women to undertake the sort of sacrifices that today might sound unbelievable. An innate value that emerges from these episodes is the fact that they awaken Hindus to our own selves, and a self-aware civilization knows how to precisely assess and grade its own past in order to sculpt an informed future.
The criteria for selecting only these ten episodes are rather straightforward. The first is the variety of the historical topics covered in these episodes, which becomes evident as you read. The second is to uncover and offer relatively obscure events not generally covered both in popular and public narratives about Indian history. The third stems from a deep concern over the lamentable fact that these are the real stories of our history that our school and college text- books should ideally contain but do not, even after three-fourths of a century has passed after India attained political freedom. The fourth criterion relates to the extraordinary insights and valuable lessons that these history episodes offer to Hindus as a civilization people and India as a civilization state. The true value of these takeaways are the fact that they awaken us to our own selves, and a self-aware civilization knows how to precisely assess and grade its own past in order to sculpt an informed future.
Since the dawn of human civilization, perhaps no people other than the Hindus have fought as hard and for such a sustained period and have endured more than a millennium of humiliation and tyranny under alien despotisms, and have finally emerged victorious. This among others is a fundamental reason why a thorough and truthful study and retelling of this history is needed. This retelling has to be generationally reiterated and recited using the contemporary idiom.
The study of Hindu history is both an orbital and kaleidoscopic study. Of eternal values, abiding inspiration, and above all, it is the chequered journey of a profound spiritual yearning that sub- consciously continues to guide Hindus. This spiritual yearning is also what makes India a unique and distinctive civilization nation which is not primarily defined by its politics but by its philosophy and spirituality.
The essays in this book tangentially and explicitly bring out these aspects using ten curated historical episodes that demonstrate Hindu grit, heroism, velour, resistance, losses and triumphs. I hope the reader gets a fuller and clearer understanding of the historical and other contexts in which these episodes occurred, and understands the character, temperament and inspirations that drove these brave men and women to undertake the sort of sacrifices that today might sound unbelievable.
Like my other books, 10 Lessons from Hindu History in 10 Episodes is envisaged as a popular narrative without overlooking or taking liberties with historical accuracy. I hope you will find this book useful and that it will kindle your interest and provoke you to undertake a deeper contemplation on Indian history, which like the Indian Ocean at Kanyakumari, am vast, infinite and abundant with in- valuable treasures.
Needless, any errors in the book are mine alone and I stand corrected in advance.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
Vedas (1164)
Upanishads (494)
Puranas (621)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (359)
Dharmasastras (164)
Goddess (491)
Bhakti (243)
Saints (1509)
Gods (1274)
Shiva (373)
Journal (184)
Fiction (66)
Vedanta (358)
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