(The ?igveda is the first book of humankind and the most s...)
The ?igveda is the first book of humankind and the most sacred scripture of Hinduism. It also happens to be the most ill-understood book of our times. Despite the extensive study by academic and religious scholars, the purpose and meaning of the ?igveda and many ancient Hindu scriptures remain unclear. In this pathbreaking book, the discovery of the ?igveda as a book of ancient cosmology is described, and related to the seals of ancient Indus Valley Civilization, thereby challenging our perception of humanity.
The Vedas have always been lauded as containing the secrets of cosmogenesis. Raja Roy in his remarkable book shows how this is true not only from the yogic vison but according to the latest insights of modern physics. The book takes the reader on a vast panoramic journey through the universe of matter, mind and human history as well.
David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)
Director, American Institute of Vedic Studies
Roy presents a new framework for the understanding of the Vedic hymns from the point of view of physics and then he draws parallels with recent theories on the nature of the universe. We celebrate the new path he has hewn through the bush of old scholarship.
Professor Subhash Kak
Oklahoma State University
(In India before Alexander: A New Chronology a new ident...)
In India before Alexander: A New Chronology a new identity for Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? -- that of Kum?ragupta I -- was proposed, which opened the door for developing a new chronological framework for Indian history for the period spanning from the time of the Buddha to the invasion of India by Alexander. In this book, the chronological reconstruction of the Indian history is continued, starting from the invasion of India by Alexander. A proper understanding of the various eras used in ancient India is developed, and for the first time the correct starting dates of the Nanda Era, the M?lava Era, the Imperial Gupta Era, and the ??draka Era are proposed. The focus of the book then shifts to establishing the historicity of Emperor Vikram?ditya. The correct meaning of the legend of Vikram?ditya is revealed, and different stories of the historical Vikram?dityas are attributed to the respective Vikram?dityas -- Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Skandagupta, and Ya?odharm?. It is then proposed that the Vikrama Era was instituted to commemorate the death of Emperor Ya?odharm? Vish?uvardhana Vikram?ditya in 57 BCE.
(The chronology of Indian history rests on two sheet ancho...)
The chronology of Indian history rests on two sheet anchors. The first sheet anchor is the identification of Sandrokottos of the Greek accounts with Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty. Sandrokottos was the contemporary of Alexander the Great. The second sheet anchor is linking Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? with A?oka Maurya, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? mentions five Greek kings in his inscriptions, one of them being Antiyoka, who is currently identified as Antiochus II. According to native historians Sandrokottos is Chandragupta I of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty, and not Chandragupta Maurya. However, a satisfactory alternative explanation for the mention of Greek kings by Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? has not been presented by anyone yet. In this pioneering book, Dr. Raja Ram Mohan Roy presents a comprehensive analysis of the data and proposes that Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? was none other than Kum?ragupta I. This never before proposed identification of Dev?n?mpriya Priyadar?? opens the door for developing a new chronological framework for Indian history.
Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian religious reformer, and founder of the Brahma Samaj or Theistic Church in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential socio-religious reform movement.
Background
Ram Mohan Roy was born at Radhanagar, in the district of Hugli, Bengal, India on August 14, 1774 to Ramakanta Roy and Tarini Devi. He was the son of a small landowner, and in his early life acquired a knowledge of Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit, besides his own vernacular, Bengali. At the age of sixteen he first assailed idolatry in his Bengali work, entitled The Idolatrous Religious System of the Hindus. This gave offence to his orthodox father, and Ram Mohan left home and spent some years in travel.
Education
Ram Mohan Roy's early education was controversial. Ram Mohan started his formal education in the village pathshala where he learned Bengali and some Sanskrit and Persian. Later he is said to have studied Persian and Arabic in a madrasa in Patna and after that he was sent to Benares (Kashi) for learning the intricacies of Sanskrit and Hindu scripture, including the Vedas and Upanishads. At the age of twenty-two he began his study of the English language, and he also acquired a knowledge of other modern and ancient European languages.
Career
On the death of his father he obtained an appointment under the British government in 1800, from which he retired in 1814, settled down in Calcutta, and devoted himself to religious reform. He had already inaugurated a circle for discussing the absurdities of idol worship, and published a striking book in Persian called Tuhfat-cd-Muwahhiddln ("A Gift to Monotheists"). On his settlement in Calcutta he established a little friendly society (Atmiya Sabha), which met weekly to read the Hindu scriptures and to chant monotheistic hymns. In 1820 he issued a selection from the Christian Gospels entitled The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and Happiness. He also wrote Bengali works on the Vedanta philosophy, translated some of the Upanishads, entered into controversies with Christian missionaries, and on the 23rd of January 1830 definitely established the Brahma Samaj "for the worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, Immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe. " He gave his support to the governor-general, Lord William Bentinck, for the abolition of the suttee rite, i. e. the custom of permitting Hindu widows to burn themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. He also worked hard to spread education among his fellow-countrymen, and to improve the quality and the prestige of the native press. In 1830 the emperor of Delhi bestowed on Ram Mohan the title of raja, and sent him to England as his agent. Raja Ram Mohan Roy gave his evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the judicial and revenue systems of India. As the first educated and eminent Indian who had come to England, he received a cordial welcome from learned men; and Bentham addressed him as an " intensely admired and dearly beloved collaborator in the service of mankind. " Ram Mohan also visited France and contemplated a voyage to America, but a sudden attack of brain fever led to his death on the 27th of September 1833.
Achievements
His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion. He was known for his efforts to establish the abolishment of the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself in her husband’s funeral pyre in some parts of Bengal.
(The chronology of Indian history rests on two sheet ancho...)
Politics
Roy’s political background fit influenced his social and religious to reforms of Hinduism.
Connections
Ram Mohan had a child marriage at age nine but his first wife died soon after the marriage. He was married for a second time at ten and had two sons from the marriage. After the death of his second wife in 1826, he married Uma Devi for a third time and his third wife outlived him.
