Book Category: Indica Books

Nowhere else is humanity connected with its roots and finds expression in ways so diverse and visibly profound as in Bharat, that is India. The gentle, spiritual essence of common folk - defines a continent within a country. Here, the devoted yaatri can discover anew, as if the land and her folk are revealing splendors in a delightful Anveshana.

Anveshana is a coffee-table book that is an outcome of the Indica Culture Photography Grant 2021 and is focused on the Vanavasi, Sancharavasi and Gramavasi Communities of India. Indica Culture Photography Grant is an initiative of Indica Pictures, a platform under the Indica umbrella. Under the grant upcoming photographers are given a financial grant totaling INR 5,00,000. Published jointly with Chitraayana, another vertical of Indica, Anveshana contains portfolios by ICPG 2021 Grantees consisting of Manish Lakhani, Sankar Sridhar, Sudip Maiti, Abdul Munaff, Isaac Gergan, Himadri Sharma (Late), Devika Sukumaran and Pubarun Basu and prose written by Sumati Mehrishi and Jay Jina.

Going beyond the ordinary, Anveshana will prompt curiosity and fuel a quest for meaning. It will dare the reader to walk in the footsteps of ancestors and yet be made to feel at ease in their own journey of discovery that they are entwined as Yaatris by the history and the geography that are Theertha and Kshetra of Bharat.

India has been producing knowledge for thousands of years. But entry into the contemporary globalized setting of knowledge has demanded a reckoning with powers that have sought to determine exclusively the terms upon which India might enter. The nineteenth century saw the colonization of India and its reduction to an object of study, rather than a producer of knowledge for itself and the world. This book explains why the arrival of India upon the European intellectual scene provoked a crisis, the response to which was the creation of the discipline of Indology, with the effective mission of taming India’s spiritual traditions by gaining control over the interpretation of their sacred texts. Polytheism and Indology makes the results of Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee’s inquiry in The Nay Science: A History of German Indology available in a more concise form, as well as broadening and deepening the scope of their inquiry.

Polytheisms may well be the world’s most undervalued cultural resource. From the dawn of history until quite recently, the default religious orientation on the planet was to recognize an open-ended plurality of unique divinities that manifest in every realm of natural and social life. By hosting a plurality of Gods, polytheistic civilizations exhibit maximum diversity in maximum solidarity – each one is a multiverse. Polytheism has been at the heart of the most ancient and resilient civilizations on Earth. Yet polytheist traditions have been stigmatized and persecuted for centuries, countless of them have been eradicated and prejudice against them and the very idea of a multiplicity of Gods continue to distort how they are perceived both by outsiders and in many cases even among their participants. This book offers an overview of continuous and revived polytheistic traditions from around the world together with critical discussions of the issues affecting them and their reception, offering a basis for further study and comparison.

उपन्यास्मृति या उपन्यास्मरण शृंखला के रूप में, आपके समक्ष प्रस्तुत है क्रांतिदूत, भाग-3 (मित्रमेला) की एक अनसुनी दास्ताँ! अनजाने क्रांतिदूतों की यह जीवन गाथा, क्रांतिदूतों के विचारों और चरित्रों को सर्वप्रधान रखते हुए उन्हें पाठकों तक पहुंचाने का प्रयास है। क्रांतिदूत शृंखला के लेखक डॉ मनीष श्रीवास्तव का प्रयास यह है कि पाठकगण भगत सिंह को पढ़ें तो उनके तथाकथित नास्तिक या वामपंथी वाले रूप की जगह आपको केवल भगत सिंह दिखायी दें। सान्याल साहब का नाम केवल काकोरी से जोड़कर ना देखा जाए। बिस्मिल साहब आर्यसमाजी भर ही ना दिखें और अशफाक़ मात्र एक मुसलमान क्रांतिदूत की तरह सामने ना आयें। सावरकर साहब, आज़ाद साहब, सान्याल साहब, गेंदालाल जी, शांति नारायण जी, करतार सिंह, क्रांतिदूत होने के साथ एक आम इंसान भी थे। वे हँसते थे, रोते थे, मज़ाक भी करते थे, आपस में लड़ते- झगड़ते भी थे।

डॉ मनीष श्रीवास्तव जी द्वारा लिखित और इंडिका के सौजन्य से क्रांतिदूत शृंखला के अंतर्गत 10 किताबों का संकलन प्रकाशित किया जाना है। भारत के सुने-अनसुने, जाने-अनजाने क्रांतिदूतों की यह जीव- गाथा आपको उनके समय में ले जाए, यही लेखक की कोशिश रही है। उसी क्रम की पहली प्रस्तुति है क्रांतिदूत #Kashi

डॉ मनीष श्रीवास्तव जी द्वारा लिखित और इंडिका के सौजन्य से क्रांतिदूत शृंखला के अंतर्गत 10 किताबों का संकलन प्रकाशित किया जाना है। इस शृंखला में भारत की सशस्त्र क्रांति को एक उपन्यास्मृति या उपन्यास्मरण के रूप में तैयार किया गया है। भारत के सुने-अनसुने, जाने-अनजाने क्रांतिदूतों की यह जीव- गाथा आपको उनके समय में ले जाए, यही लेखक की कोशिश रही है। इस शृंखला को लिखने के दौरान लेखक डॉ मनीष श्रीवास्तव जी की कोशिश रही है कि पाठक भगत सिंह को पढ़े तो उनके तथाकथित नास्तिक या वामपंथी वाले रूप की जगह आपको सिर्फ भगत सिंह दिखायी दें। सान्याल साहब का नाम सिर्फ काकोरी से जुड़ कर ना रह जाए। बिस्मिल साहब आर्यसमाजी भर ही ना दिखें और अशफाक़ मात्र एक मुसलमान क्रांतिदूत की तरह सामने ना आयें।

This book is a personal story of the author’s conscious and subconscious meditations for decades in understanding the relationship between “Physical Science '' (Matter) and “Spiritual Science” (Spirit). To put it another way, it is a story about the relationship between “Man” (Spirit masked by matter) and “GOD” (pure Spirit). The meditations are the result of the author’s lifelong interest in science in general and in physics in particular. His upbringing in the ritual filled religious tradition of Hinduism evoked deep interest in finding the common ground of all religions. With a conviction that there must be something more absolute than the physical and mental universe of man he spent his life time meditating and discovering that spirituality and religion are as different as day and night.

Through his meditation, the author has been able to formulate his own concepts, ideas, and views about the relationship between GOD and Man.

The key message of this book is: the time has come for mankind to get onto the integrated path of "Benign Science"  and "Pure Spirituality" to save our wonderful planet and to prove the veracity of the Vedic dictum: “The entire earth is one family”.

Maxims from Mahabharata, as the name suggests, is a compilation of Sanskrit Slokas sourced from the Mahabharata in Devanagari script with English transliteration and Bhavartha or gist of the maxim in English by the author. The maxims have been arranged based on the broad subject they deal with, such as dharma, faith, eternal values of life, mental health, truth etc. Each maxim is preceded by a narration of the context in the epic with a brief introduction to the characters.

Mahabharata is an encyclopedia of everything conceivable by a human mind. This epic touches upon nuances of human life, relationship with the creator, society, nature and with one’s own self. Several lessons of life are there to be discovered in the 18 Parvas in which it is narrated. Most valuable lessons of life are always learnt in difficult times. The protagonists in this epic face several humiliations and insults which appear to be difficult to overcome. In times of such despair, several truths about life are spoken to these protagonists by wise men and women. A few of such pearls of wisdom have been brought together in this book. Mental health is the biggest challenge faced by humanity. With the invasion of technology into human relations, loneliness, despair and depression are the most often spoken about topics. This book seeks to introduce readers to the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge in the epic, which has greater relevance in the present day. It can be a handy reference to know and understand life’s various realities and learn from the lived experience of the protagonists in this epic.

This booklet is based on AtmajnAnopadeshavidhi, a short treatise (prakaraNa grantha) of Shankaracharya, much respected within the Advaita tradition. It leads the reader, literally holding his/her hand, from the simple way we observe the objects in the world to the inexpressible “Consciousness principle” (brahman) that is present in all of us and everywhere without any abstruse quotes or indecipherable terminologies.

“This translation by Dr. Ramesam Vemuri has made one of the most valuable works on Advaita now accessible to the English speaking public. – Peter Francis Dziuban, author of Consciousness Is All: Now Life Is Completely New

“A must-read for all Non-Dual practitioners who want to cut through the illusion and experience the Truth directly for themselves.” – Padma Neppalli, author of Not Two: The Essence of Non-duality

“It provides an easy-to-read summary of some of the fundamental concepts of Advaita and, as such, will greatly benefit the beginning student.” – Dennis Waite, author of A-U-M: Awakening to Reality

An astronomical theater with twelve zodiac pillars having a zodiac sign carved on them is the Navaraṅga of the Vidyāśaṅkara Temple at Sringeri, a town established by Shankaracharya. The pillars are illuminated each month, causing observers to conjecture that the illumination patterns represent a calendar. Scientific studies at the temple have not been able to resolve the issue.

The present work reveals with scriptural support that the Vidyāśaṅkara temple is a Sun Temple unique in India and the world. It reveals many intriguing secrets of Sanātana Dharma (Hinduism) and its astronomy as narrated by the architecture. It shows how well Veda, Vedanta, Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa (astrology), Yoga, Vāstu Shāstra, Āgama (canons of temple culture) and Tantra (esoteric doctrines of religious practice) are harmoniously blended in the construction of the Vidyāśaṅkara temple.

The book provides captivating foundational facts like the religious purpose of the temples; how the grand temple architectures are designed to meet stated purposes; how to understand the biological basis of Hindu Astronomy, Ayurveda, Astrology, Festivals and Yoga of the Sanātana Dharma civilization and many more cultural aspects.

Here we have a collection of a little over hundred verses, most of which were a part of the common man's knowledge not long ago. These are from the Mahabharata, the Pancatantra, the Hitopadesa, the Subhashita-s of Bhartrihari and such other texts. Some verses teach ethical behavior and some others realistically and bluntly tell about human behavior in different situations.

Most of the present day societies are focusing more on imparting job-oriented skills to children, paying little attention to their emotional growth. The governments too are cutting back on the liberal arts which are essential for the emotional intelligence and maturity of our children. Such trends have negative manifestations which are sadly realized at a later stage in life. We realize that progress cannot be at the cost of human values and goals in life.

These verses are like the 'box of truisms' and 'words to live by', in Louis Mac Neice's words. They may not be fully understood by the kids straightaway, but they reveal their full flavor as the kids grow and face the realities and problems of life. They are like the time release capsules which release themselves slowly.

Mahabharat is the fountainhead of Indian Culture. Children, youth as well as the educated public across the world can appreciate the cultural wealth of India epitomized in the all-inclusive epic Mahabharat.

In 50+ ZOOM sessions, our author Murti Yerrapragada, covered narrating the entire 18-parva epic to his grandchildren, starting from Adi Parvam and ending in the Swargarohana Parvam. This included many stories, sub-stories, as well as a full account of the 18-day war and beyond.

For each session, the course material was carefully prepared by consulting the epic texts, more specifically the Telugu MahaBharatam written by the Kavitrayam: Nannayabhat, Tikkana Somayaji and Yerrapragada. It is known that the Telugu Bharatam runs close to the original, doing full justice to Vyasa’s original creation, story-wise as well as message-wise.

Thereby a book took shape in black and white. The 625-page book is now published as “MESSAGES FROM MAHABHARAT”

“What if I could imbibe my life with the clarity of thought, precision, control and simultaneous surrender that I am able to wield as a performer? Wouldn’t life change inexplicably for the better?

I wanted to work with a friend who could perhaps capture moments that I am completely unaware of during the performative experience. In 2020, Anup and Vivian joined me on tour and captured our journey during a series of Shivaratri performances.  We created two books that describe this journey from two different perspectives: the performer’s perspective and the viewer’s perspective. Finding Shiva is written from the performer’s perspective while Discovering Devi conveys the viewer’s perspective through a selection of photographs.

I refrain from saying ‘experiencer of dance’, as the one dancing and the audience both experience the dance, therefore this phrase does not distinguish one from the other.”

“After high school, I was not sure about whether I should pursue dance or a technical subject. Awaiting clarity, I spent many months considering my options.

While I was in the midst of this confusion, someone asked me, “What brings you closer to yourself?” I didn’t respond immediately, but in my mind the answer was clear. “Dance brings me closer to myself,” I thought. It was such an odd question, yet strangely it influenced a life decision. How can one be closer to or farther from oneself?

I knew that dance would begin to reveal something to me at some point in time, but I wasn’t sure of what this thing would be. The act of dancing holds something within it that I wanted to discover. What if I could imbibe my life with the clarity of thought, precision, control and simultaneous surrender that I am able to wield as a performer? Wouldn’t life change inexplicably for the better?

The applause bursts like rain clattering
From a cloud too heavy to hold,
My elation bathes me as sweat trickles
Down my forehead a moment before
It stings my eye to remind me to see,
They applaud the dance, not me.
If I were to fall prey, my dance entwined
With only moments of applause to remind
Of my days of yore. No never not.
Dance is me and yet not at all...”