The Fall And Rise of A Merchant

In the city of Vardhaman, there lived a wealthy merchant named Dantila. He held a great reception for his wedding attended by the king, the queen, their ministers and all the rich and influential persons in the city. Present at the reception was Gorambha, a lowly sweeper in the royal household. When Dantila saw him occupying a seat reserved for the nobles of the king, he ordered his servants to throw him out of his house.  Thus insulted,...

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The Jackal And The Drum

Panchatantra- A hungry jackal set out in search of food and ended up at an abandoned battlefield whence he heard loud and strange sounds. Scared, he thought, “I must disappear from here before the man who is making these sounds gets me.” After a while he told himself, “I must not run away like that. Let me find out what really the sounds are and who is making them because whether it is fear or happiness one must know its cause. Such a person...

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The Monkey And The Wedge

A merchant once started building a temple in the middle of his garden. Many masons and carpenters were working for the merchant. They took time off every day to go to the town for their lunch. One day, when the workers left for lunch a batch of monkeys landed at the temple site and began playing with whatever caught their fancy. One of the monkeys saw a partly sawed log of wood and a wedge fixed in it so that it does not close up.  Curious...

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The Loss of Friends (Panchatantra, Part I)

Once upon a time, Amarasakti ruled the city-state of Mahilaropyam in the south of India. He had three witless sons who became a matter of endless worry for him. Realizing that his sons had no interest in learning, the king summoned his ministers and said:  “You know I am not happy with my sons. According to men of learning an unborn son and a stillborn son are better than a son who is a dimwit. What good is a barren cow? A son who is...

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Common Misunderstandings in Advaita Vedanta

By Prashant Parikh, a student of traditional Vedanta from Arsha Vidya Gurukulam Vedanta is a very deep and delicate subject. Understanding it requires utmost dedication and preparedness. There are some errors I come across routinely in my discussions with people, so here are a few of them I addressed for our readers: 1) The Self can’t be experienced: The human mind is designed to go outwards (or even inwards) to gain experience. That...

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Must Hindus be Vegetarians?

This is a popular question... Must Hindus be Vegetarians...? If so what is the significance of being a vegetarian? First of all, Hinduism does not have any theories of "must do" or "must not do". In Hinduism there is a cardinal virtue called ahimsa. Cardinal means, of the greatest importance or fundamental. Ahimsa means non-violence. The practice of not hurting other living things either through physical force, words and even thoughts...

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Are Hindu Gods married?

We are accustomed to listening to stories where God is portrayed having a family with children. For instance Lord Shiva has his family where his wife is Parvathi and His children are Ganesha and Murugan (Kartikeya). Even in temple ceremonies there is the Tirukalyanam or Holy Wedding. Is this the truth of the matter? No. God is actually not married. Logically God doesn't need to be married. When you understand that God is the Creator of...

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What is Advaita, or nonduality?

What is Advaita, or nonduality? Advaita means nondual or "not two." This oneness is a fundamental quality of everything. Everything is a part of and made of one nondual conciousness. Often the question arises, "If it is all one thing, why don’t I experience it that way?" This is confusing oneness for the appearance of sameness. Things can appear different without being separate. Just look at your hand for a moment. Your fingers are all...

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