The Hindus
by Wendy Doniger · first published 2009
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From one of the worlds foremost scholars on Hinduism, a vivid reinterpretation of its historyAn engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the worlds oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds.Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenetskarma, dharma, to name just twoarise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between
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You are asking a factual question. One place to look for citations of facts on the issue is in the extensive footnotes of the book The Hindus: An Alternative History[1] by Sanskrit scholar Wendy Doniger. The book points out that the Harappan inscriptions depict several animals that are mentioned nowhere in the Vedas, while the Vedas in turn…
on “Did The Harappan Civilization Avoid War for 2,000 Years?” ↗…book from a largely ignored author which would have faded into oblivion on its own. * or worse - Read the Amazon reviews, specifically the ones by the author's fellow academics http://www.amazon.com/The-Hindus-An-Alternative-History/dp/1...
on “Why Free Speech Loses in India” ↗…Vedic poem (10.119) in which someone exhilarated (or stoned) on soma says that the drinks have carried him up and away, “Like horses bolting with a chariot.” Source: Doniger, Wendy (2009-02-24). The Hindus: An Alternative History (p. 122).
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?” ↗Scholars studying Hindu texts is not offensive to Hindus. What is though, is the racist perversion that some of them like Doniger make. Doniger's book is not "banned". It was withdrawn by the publisher - because it was offensive. Details in same wiki link.…
on “Chanakya” ↗It is the subtext that is anti-Hindu here (i.e. you have to read between the lines). Doniger seems to be forwarding the narrative that Hindus are violent Others, driven by their holy text. This is similar to the established(?) narrative that Muslims are terrorists, being motivated by the Quran, never mind that it is not true. You may say that…
on “War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita” ↗It is interesting that you bring up Ms. Doniger's book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, which has invited more than its fair share of controversy largely ignited by the lawsuit brought about by a Hindu nationalist group, which actually led the book to be yanked from…
on “Did The Harappan Civilization Avoid War for 2,000 Years?” ↗