Today is the founding day of Gita Press.

This thread tells the story of Gita Press. Their mission, their founding members and their unrelenting resistance against left-liberal & Congress Govt censorship of their organization.

Gita Press was established in 1923 by JD Goyanka.

Hanuman Prasad Poddar was the founding editor of Gita Press.

Its first journal Kalyan was published in 1927. While most journals of this period are confined to libraries and archives, Gita Press and Kalyan still exist with millions of copies

Unlike other publications, Gita Press publishes its books at a very reasonable price.

For example, a Bhagavad Gita can be procured at Rs.30. A copy of Hanuman Chalisa costs just Rs. 2 (50 lakh copies printed every year). Yet, the printing, cover and content quality is FANTASTIC

But why? Why does Gita Press publish excellent books at such a minimum token price which inevitably equals or exceeds the creation cost?

The answer to this question is that Gita Press was not founded to be a profit making enterprise.

Its goals were something very different

Gita Press was founded at a time when Christian Missionaries were making rapid progress in converting Hindus.

They were making all out attacks on Hinduism.

Missionaries distributed copies of Bible to anyone who showed slightest inclination to accept it. Bibles were flowing in

Thread.

Recently, Harsimrat Kaur @HarsimratBadal_ claimed in parliament that Guru Tegh Bahadur protected the religion of Hindus despite of being a Non-Hindu. And Hindus owe a huge favor to others.

In this thread, I will show that Guru Tegh Bahadur was every inch a Hindu!

Let us begin with some contemporary sources.

Guru Tegh Bahadur visited the holy Triveni at Prayaga in 1662 CE.

This visit is documented in contemporary Bhat Vahi records.

Unlike those unpublished "bhat vahis", this one was published by Sikh historian Madanjit Kaur (1978)

This Bhat Vahi was signed by Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The content of the letter is particularly striking.

Guru Tegh Bahadur calls himself a devotee of Naina Devi.

Note. A devotee of Naina Devi. He does not mention Akal Purakh or Waheguru.

In the record, Guru Tegh Bahadur identifies himself as Sodhi Khatri by Varna and Kaushish by gotra.

This is exactly how the followers of orthodox Hinduism identify themselves to this date!

Further, Guru Tegh Bahadur appoints a brahmin purohit named Bhoj Raj.

He orders Sodhis of his line and all his Sikh followers to obey the aforementioned Brahmin Purohit.

This practice of appointing purohits is just what is referred to by some people as "Brahmanical Hinduism"

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.

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.

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.