BC CULTURE
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

Thread on best books + readers to learn Sanskrit. I will list only books I have read & their pros and cons.

1. Samskrita Bharati (4 Part Series)

This is by far the best structured english course to learn to read, speak & write Sanskrit. The material is well-structured.

 ... and grammar is introduced at apt phases. There is enough Sanskrit text to immerse yourself & best part is they have accompanying online/in-person courses entirely in Sanskrit. This is the best method to learn spoken Sanskrit.

https://t.co/ObBUHIijl6
2. Svayam Sanskrit Shikshak (Hindi)

This is the second best immersive-learning series. There are 2 parts and progression is gradual. The advantage is it is entirely in Hindi, so the 1:1 syntax + vocab connect for native speakers is instant, Hindi being a daughter of Sanskrit.
this however is also it's only disadvantange. It's language restricted & not suitable for say a Telugu with poor Hindi or for an American or European learner. There is enough reading material here to "learn" Sanskrit.

https://t.co/YphIWzXpNX
3. The Sanskrit Language – Walter H Maurer

This is an amazing course. The best to learn Sanskrit for Americans/Europeans & an excellent one for Indians to use to learn the western grammar terminology. Best part about it? It is extremley long & has at least 100 pages of Sanskrit.
100~ pages of pure Sanskrit with progressions from Ch 1 to Ch 32. Part 2 is a direct story from the Mahabharata with glossary given. So Part 1 starts with basic stories & by part 30 you're reading real literature. I vouch for this course, its the next best self-learner.
4. Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit –– AM Ruppel

This is a recent book, so very updated with amazing font + brevity. The grammar is explained beautifully, but in much more detail than Deshpande's book (down below). Disadvantage? Just not enough Sanskrit reading.
Although, this book also has a very nice accompanying official website + video series on grammar by Dr. Ruppel.

Website: https://t.co/tRcyVG8fTq

Video Series: https://t.co/zifnEHWwVJ
5. Sanskrit Primer (saṃskṛtasubodhinī) – Dr. Deshpande

This book is great for learning Sanskrit with the traditional western grammar terminology. It is conscise & grammar focused. It is like a handy reference for grammar concepts. Disadvantage? Not enough reading.
This book contains grammar concepts summarized very concisely but lacks the sheer amount of reading progression needed to learn to read Sanskrit fluently.

Advantage? It has an accompanying website: https://t.co/PXn11mHCG3 (not run by Prof. Deshpande)
6. Devavāṇīpraveśika – Goldman and Goldman

This is the best western course so far. It's biggest advantage? It explains every single grammatical concept in full depth and uses Pāṇinian AND Western terminology. It also has enough readings. (at the end too). I vouch for it.
I even own a physical copy. So why isn't this the first book recommended? Well, it is extremley difficult for the beginner. You will simply give up or progress very slow with it. But it is excellent for the intermediate learner who is familiar with Sanskrit already.
So which one should you begin with? Well, with Samskrita Bharati. You will need the guidance. If you’re a trained western linguist, I recommend Whitney’s Grammar + Maurer’s Reader.

The real answer, if you get serious about Sanskrit, you should read them all eventually.
Now that you’ve studied grammar enough, the next part is reading original literature with crutches. We use readers for this. So a reader of the Ramayana has text from it + glossary of words & grammatical meaning. I find them helpful.

1) Rāmopākhyāna - Peter Scharff
2) Sanskrit Reader - Lanmann

This is the second best reader. It is old but good. Selections from many varieties of original literature from Mahabharata to Rigveda.
Once you have finished all of this, the best thing to do is start reading the Gita in it’s original Sanskrit. Finish it and move on to the Ramayana. They are both in straightforward language.

There is one good reader for the Gita, linking it down below.

Has glossary of verse

More from Indian History

Indian History
Indian History
@sukarma0
The Kushana Empire was founded by Mahārājādhirāja Kujula Kadphises, a Shaivite Hindu convert from his ancestral Steppe religion of the Yüeh-chih. He was not a Buddhist, as popularly believed.

A thread on the Hindu Emperors of the Kushana Dynasty.


The Kushanas were part of a tribal confederation called the Yüeh-Chih that originally lived in the western part of the Gansu Province of China. They were pushed west by the invasions of the Xiongnu (Huna) confederation. Kuja Kadphises united all the five sub-tribes under Kushana.


Emperor Kuja Kadphises had converted to Shaivism, a Mathura inscription from the Tōkrī Tīla mound (Maṭ village) clears up previous confusion (Based on him being called "satyadharmasthita" or 'steadfast in the true dharma' people speculated he was a Buddhist)

This is incorrect.


The Mathura inscription applied the same epithet to Emperor Huvishka (satyadharmasthita) but explicitly says the Kingdom was conferred upon its founder by Lord Shiva (Sarva is the epithet of Shiva). This makes it clear Kujula Kadphises had adopted Shaivism & the Kharoshti script.


This also makes sense, when we realize his son, Emperor Vima Kadphises was also a devoted Hindu Shaivite (and in his coins we clearly see a trishulin ithyphallic shiva with a tiger skin).

So his son had just been continuing his father's tradition & upbringing.
HISTORY
Indian History
Indian History
@IndianHistory0
Dr. BR Ambedkar says that the doctrine of equality is glaringly fallacious. Men can never be equal. They are born with different genetics, education etc. However, he says adopting the idea of equality is the only way a statesman can proceed in politics. (Realpolitik)


Dr. BR Ambedkar says he has wondered for long the SC/STs never rebelled, never spoke up or raised their voice for millenia. He says this question troubled him a lot. He says the lower castes were completely broken & accepted servitude as their only fate in life.


He says legislation or moral advice to "inter-dine" wont do anything to remove caste. The Hindus are a deeply religious people he says. Caste has divine sanction. To annihilate caste, you must annihilate the authority of the shāstra, the veda & destroy the Hindu religion.


Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar says "The wall built around caste is impregnable. Inside this wall stands the army of Brahmins, Brahmins who are there not as mercenaries but as an army fighting for its homeland. Breaching the wall of caste is well-nigh impossible."


Dr. Ambedkar says that secular Brahmins & priestly Brahmins are kith & kin. It is useless to make any distinction between them. Ideology of a Brahmin is irrelevant. They are joined by birth & will never fight against the existence of the other. They are two arms of the same body.
ALL
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Indian History
Indian History
@IndianHistory0
According to Sanatana Dharma, all men are somatic descendants of The Gods (via the lineage of our forefather Manu Vaivasvata, descendant of God Vivasvant [Surya])

It is because of this lineage, our ultimate ancestors are The Gods & we fulfill this relationship with their worship


Mankind very literally is divine born, descendant of The Gods in the lineage of our all-father Manu.

Therefore, the Mahabharata says

मार्तण्डस्य मनुर्धीमानजायत सुतः प्रभुः
मनोर्वंशो मानवानां ततोऽयं प्रथितोऽभवत्

Translation..+

"To Lord Vivasvant was born a son Yama. To Lord Yama was born Mārtaṇḍa. The wise father Manu was born to Lord Mārtaṇḍa. The race [vaṃshaj] born from Manu is the Mānavas . It is this clan that became famous as the clan of mankind."

Then the Mbh says,

ब्रह्मक्षत्रादयस्तस्मान्मनोर्जातास्तु मानवाः

"Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, Shūdras - all these were descended from Manu. Therefore they are Mānavas."

In India, Manu was also the foremost divine lawgiver of mankind. In Greece, King Minos of Crete (Son of Zeus & Europa) was the divine lawgiver to mankind who received the law from Zeus.

Plato says this in
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Indian History
Indian History
@IndianHistory0
In Sundarakāṇḍa (38) a celestial crow (son of Indradeva) in Chitrakūṭa eats the flesh of the Goddess Sītā & torments her. This son of Indra is spared from certain death despite the rage of Bhagavān Rāma on him.

But the demon king Rāvaṇa is killed.

Why? A thread..+

To summarize the event. This incident happens on the Chitrakūṭa mountain. The crow is a celestial son of Indradeva. He does not leave Sītā alone despite her numerous attempts to ward him away. He eats the flesh of her bossom, pierces them with his sharp claws...+

Lord Rāma (whose lap Sītā was sleeping on) wakes up and sees the the torn bossom of Sītā. Upon finding the crow was guilty, he releases a brahmāstra on him. The crow tries to seek shelter but all the devas turn him away. He comes back to Rāma & falls on his feet..+

..he is spared by the lord but he has to loose one eye because a brahmāstra once casted cannot be taken back. (मोघम् कर्तुम् न शक्यम् तु ब्राह्मम् अस्त्रम्).

Now, why was this? Let us see the exegesis of Achārya Parāśara Bhaṭṭa of this incident.

Both the celestial crow & rāvaṇa transgressed against the Goddess. But the crow's transgression was unique because it was in the presence of the divine couple of Rāma-Sītā together. Due to the mere sannidhi (proximity) of the divine mother - Bhagavān bestowed his grace.
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Indian History
Indian History
@IndianHistory0
Navayana (The religion founded by BR Ambedkar) rejected all the core doctrines of Buddhism

- Rejected law of karma, rebirth in a new life, the concept of samsara, the 4 noble truths

How is this religion still called “Buddhism”? It rejects every core tenent Buddhism believes in.

To give an example - this is like a man who rejects the soul, rejects the law of karma, rejects transmigration of the soul, rejects the doctrine of mokṣa call himself a “Hindu”

It is an internal inconsistency that makes no sense.

Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in karma & rebirth. They also believe in liberation from samsara. The chief disagreement is whether the soul exists or not.

I’d say Hinduism & Buddhism are much closer to each other than Navayana is to any Buddhism.
ALL

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Jo Luehmann
Jo Luehmann
@JoLuehmann
I am going to say something very uncomfortable. Read before you react please.

Purity culture encourages pedophilia, a thread:

Purity culture encourages pedophilia.

Some of the standards of purity culture are innocence (pretty much ignorance about sex), submission (for women), virginity as the ultimate standard, and “modesty” (for women that is wearing clothes that don’t reveal their adult curves)*
1/

Purity culture makes the desirable standard a child. It makes child likeness desirable in regards to sexuality. It makes virginity, and innocence, and submission; what the male brain should want most in a partner. And your brain doesn’t rewire just because you get married.
2/

This doesn’t mean every man raised in purity culture is a pedophile, that’s not what I am saying. What I am saying is that purity culture wires the brain of men to desire child likeness, which encourages pedophilia. After all desire and objectification happen in our brain.

3/

Now if you are a pedophile who wants to act on those desires, purity culture does a lot of the grooming for you. Purity culture discourages comprehensive sex education leaving children without the ability to know what’s appropriate and what’s not.

4/
CULTURE
Pulp Librarian
Pulp Librarian
@PulpLibrarian
Time once again for my occasional series "Women with great hair fleeing gothic houses!"

And today all the covers are by Walter Popp...


Crucible of Evil, by Lyda Belknap Long. Avon Gothic Original, 1974. Cover art by Walter Popp.


Hornet's Nest, by Evelyn Bond. Avon Gothic Original, 1972 Cover by Walter Popp.


The House In Munich, by Dorothy Dowdell. Avon, 1974. Art by Walter Popp.


The Secret Of Chateau Laval, by Susan Marvin. Avon Gothic, 1973. Art by Walter Popp.
CULTURE
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Beth Moore
Beth Moore
@BethMooreLPM
Oh man, I loved my Bible reading this morning. It was Exodus 28 where God gave Moses the instructions for the priestly apparel Aaron & his sons were to wear. The attention to the minutest detail confirms what we can still count on today: everything God prescribed had purpose.

Whether or not they understood it, whether or not we understand it, God is not haphazard. Nothing is for nothing. For me, one of the most marvelous parts of Bible study is how often he does tie things together for us, connecting the dots, connecting the testaments, the covenants.

I’ll just offer 1 example from Ex 28. V.3 says “You are to instruct all the skilled artisans, whom I’ve filled with a spirit of wisdom (isn’t that fantastic?), to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve Me as priest.” The turban was an important piece of the apparel.

Something I find particularly fascinating is that the skilled artisans were to make a pure gold nameplate to fasten onto the very front of the priest’s turban. It was to have 4 words engraved on it -all caps in our Bibles- “HOLY TO THE LORD. “It is always to be on his forehead.”

Imagine how a conversation would change if we were talking to a person while staring at those four words on his or her forehead. Ok, fast forward to the New Testament where the Holy Spirit says through Peter that we who are in Christ are part of a “royal priesthood.” (2 Pet 2:9)
CULTURE
Sharon Collins
Sharon Collins
@305local
In a recent article published in the Stern, there is now a criminal complaint filed against Michael Inacker, the then CEO of the PR firm WMP for what includes allegations of the knock out payments from the emirate of Qatar to hide a dossier for their role in financing Hezbollah


That allegedly 750,000 euros, which would have been divided between Jason and Michael.


In return, "Jason" was supposed to keep to himself the information he had researched in Qatar, that a high-ranking person in the emirate of Qatar was financially supporting Hezbollah.


https://t.co/TdaAECu35a


There is an interesting point in the article, WMP (Inacker) still had PR contracts with both Qatar and Saudi and “Jason” had some information about arms deliveries organized by people from Qatar with suppliers in Belarus, Serbia, Macedonia, and Yemen.
CULTURE
Dionysus v. 2.0.2.1.
Dionysus v. 2.0.2.1.
@VirtualDionysus
I don't often promote myself on here, but I should. I have done some things that I am proud of. So here is a thread of episodes from @OurTurnPodcast that I contributed a segment and/or co-hosted. #RPG #podcast

Here is one of my very first contributions, a segment about one of my favorite RPGs of all time: 13th Age. @13thAge I still love it, and I have hacked the system to run other genres (ex. Star Wars: The Old Republic). Give it a try

One the one-year anniversary of @OurTurnPodcast, I did a segment about Session Zero for RPGs. I love being a part of Session Zero in any #RPG, both as a GM and
CULTURE

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Manipulation Sign:

If you are compromising too much, there is a chance that you are getting manipulated.

Why are you the one that's always compromising?

How come the other person always gets their way?

Be more curious.

If something seems off, stick up for yourself.

'Wait, you sure I am being manipulated?'

I have no clue, that is only something that you can decide for yourself.

'Dang is there anything I need to look out for?'

Plenty..

But let me give you a few things to look out for.

👇

I see manipulation as skillfully controlling someone's behavior for egotistical or unethical purposes.

'How come people don't leave when it's happening to them?'

Because most people have 0 clue that they are being manipulated.

1. Guilt Trip

You ever made a mistake around someone, only for them to hold it over your head?

The will always bring up the mistake when you 2 are not seeing eye to eye.

These people will use that mistake as leverage to get what they want from you in the future.

Look out.

2. The Rationalizer

This person will commit the worst acts & find a way to rationalize it.

Example: cheaters when they get caught.

They have every excuse in the book for why they did it.

Heck, they are so good at rationalizing, they will make it seem like your fault.
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Yoel Roth
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We’ve recently seen research about so-called “bots” and misinformation on Twitter and wanted to share our perspective on why findings that might seem remarkable at first are likely inaccurate. We’re working on a more detailed explanation, but some comments for now.

We continue to be excited by the research opportunities that Twitter data provides. Our service is the largest source of real-time social media data, and we make this data available to the public for free through our public API. No other major service does this.

Many researchers, academics, and journalists use our public API — a set of tools for programmatically accessing information on Twitter. We make all public Twitter content available via our APIs. You can learn more about them here:

The basic issue with much of the research based on our public APIs is simple: The APIs don't provide insight into our defensive actions to protect Twitter from manipulation, including bots.

Because of this, API-based research can't distinguish between accounts we've already identified as bad (and hidden or removed) and real, authentic ones.
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ArmaniTalks \U0001f399\U0001f525
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A relationship begins to get stiff when excessive patterns begin to form.

Too many patterns leads to a boring, predictable, logical lifestyle.

Get the emotions involved.

Do something spontaneous out of the blue moon & flip the script.

'What's wrong with the patterns?'

Nothing is wrong with patterns.

However, there is a problem when all you have are patterns.

It's boring.

'Can you explain why?'

Sure 👇

The thing with relationships is that it's meant to be an emotional experience.

It's very difficult to logically explain love, right?

'Right.'

Well this is where you want to steer the ship the right way.

1. Too emotional is bad.

2. Too logical is bad.

Let me break it down.

1. Too emotional

If a relationship is completely ruled by emotions, then it's too volatile.

You will never reach productivity if you are aimlessly only following each others emotions.

This lifestyle tarnishes any structure for the couple.

'So why do people do it?'

Because it's fun.

You may ruled by this stage in the honeymoon phase.

Normal.

You'll be so spontaneous that it almost becomes a lifestyle.

But it's hard to level up your life when you're too spontaneous.

Avoid.
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Hindu Media Wiki
Hindu Media Wiki
@HinduMediaWiki
Tamboola - Brings Turning Point in Life

People who offer Tamboola daily to Devis swarupas are blessed with apaara ashta aishwaryas and beyond.

Maa Lalitha Tripurasundari is seen doing Nitya Taamboola Charvana.


"Tamboola Poorita Mukhi, Daadimi Kusuma Prabha"

This nama from Lalitha sahasra describe Maa lalitha parmeshwari as one who has her mouth with Tamboola rasa and looks like one who shines in the hue of pomegranate flowers.


It is said suvasini sthree and kanyas should do Tamboola charvana daily to gain aishwaryas, hve a great health, be always energetic and happy. Men also do it to get a clarity in thoughts and also peaceful mind and bliss.

People who think we are lacking that spark in life should try this and see the benefits themselves. All you need are

Nagavalli Paan
Mishri
Elaichi
Jaiphal
Supari Full
Lavang
Javvadi
Madhu (Honey)
Gulaab Petals / Gulkand
Kesar

People can add all fragrant things additionally

If you dont have all of it, do it with what best is available at home. Maa wants the samarpan and prem. In a family count the number of people and offer that many of the paan to the goddess.
RELIGION
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🕵️‍♂️ How Google's PageRank algorithm works

The PageRank algorithm gives each page a rating of its
importance, which is a recursively defined measure of importance, based on if important pages link to it.
It's recursive because the importance of a page refers back to the importance of other pages that link to it

Here's how it works in practice:
1⃣ We start with some pages and crawl them for links


2⃣ Each page has 1/N points (where N as the total number of pages)


3⃣ Add points to each page for the amount of links to it, divided by the number
of links emanating from the sources of these links
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