BC CULTURE
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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
@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
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.
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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
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
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.
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dan spaceman
dan spaceman
@ohlaika
I'm gonna do my other star wars thread tomorrow, which will primarily be me yelling at a @RowanKaiser-shaped strawman for calling the First Order and The Resistance "cosplayers who the rest of the galaxy has to deal with"

the deal w/the New Republic, the First Order, and the Resistance is very weird and complex and I actually take issue with how Story Group frames the actual conflict.

pre-TFA stuff is presented as a "cold war" between the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire that form the First Order, which 100% makes sense.

But they frame the First Order's attack on the Hosnian system and the subsequent battle that takes place across TFA and TLJ as a full on war when it's very clearly a coup. A war implies at least equal standing, but the First Order completely wrecks shop and takes over the galaxy.

ok never mind I'm fucking doing this now.

The First Order fleet we see in TLJ is *not* the entire fleet of the First Order (I don't even think Starkiller Base was their main base of operations honestly, it couldn't have been considering they were operating out of Wild Space)
CULTURE
Pat Gelsinger
Pat Gelsinger
@PGelsinger
In keeping with year-end tradition, I wanted to share the best books I read in 2020 – a year unlike any other - with a list of reads heavily influenced by global events including…

…Race and social justice. While not a planned reading theme as I started the year, social injustices that have plagued our nation for centuries rose up in a jolting manner. May we pass on to our children and grandchildren a more socially just world than we received.

Frederick Douglass, David Blight

Douglass was a self-educated slave who freed himself to become a tireless speaker, political leader & passionate reformer. Even reading his speeches today, you feel drawn to the power, drama & personal suffering of this great man.

Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas & Timothy Keller

Theologian, Pastor, Church Leader & spy/traitor. Quite a resume for an influential young German aristocrat. Details the rise of Hitler & pure evil unleashed in the face of the pure good of Christ as seen through Bonhoeffer’s eyes.

So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo

Jarring. We have so far to go as we confront the realities of systemic racism. Since reading I've sought out reverse mentors to try and learn more. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. (Much profanity for those sensitive to such)
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Mentorshipzim
Mentorshipzim
@mentorshipzim
1. This morning we looked at wills & will writing but that is not the only component of inheritance. You can either die with a will or without one. Those who die without die intestate. And intestate comes in 3 ways.

2. a) If a person dies quiet a valid will,
b) if the person appointed to benefit from a will dies first & no substitution of heir is made
c) if the person appointed cannot take under a will.
The law focuses on the rights of the surviving spouse and the child if there is no will.

3. 2 major things affect intestate succession and these are date of death and marital status. This is because the current law ONLY affects people who died after 1 Nov 1997 & there are different laws that affect married & single people at death. The type of marriage applies too.

4. If you are married in terms of general law or what was once called ‘-Chapter 37’ & now ‘Chapter 5:11 or are married under ‘Chapter 5:07’ which is a registered customary marriage (muchato wekamudzviti) the Deceased Estates Succession Act applies. It’s only for registered 💍

5. If you are married under an unregistered customary law union (UCLU) which means having the traditional wedding without registration, the Administration of Estates Act applies. I don’t want to labour you with the technicalities but the distinction is very important.
CULTURE
Joshua Luna
Joshua Luna
@Joshua_Luna
Thread: For Fil-Ams & other people of color, the "American Dream" often means toiling away just to obtain a small piece of the spoils that were violently ripped away from your community. 1/

(Don't repost my art. Retweets are appreciated. Support my work👉https://t.co/6JXGZJRPWU)


Second-gen AsAms like me grow up oblivious about our own histories because the US education system purposely withholds info about it, & our parents try to outrun their trauma by never sharing their experiences, instead pushing their children toward an assimilation sleepwalk. 2/

AsAms realize too late we've inherited a deal with the devil we never agreed to: we can keep our language, but only if we speak it privately. Our food, if we serve it. Our culture, if it upholds the illusion of America as a benevolent melting pot that saved us from ourselves. 3/

But AsAms aren't the only ones ignorant of this history—Few Americans know of the Philippine-American War & the atrocities the US committed. Even fewer understand how the US's ongoing legacy of war, destruction & colonization in Asia is a major reason the AsAm diaspora exists. 4/

Americans aren't taught about how centuries of exploitation of the Philippines' resources by Western powers has led to most of its workforce immigrating & becoming a global servant class called OFWs. Instead, they're taught that poverty is inherent to Filipinx culture. 5/
CULTURE
.
.
@oyevivekk
Thread: Unforgettable moments in Cinema and T.V Series ♥️🔥

I killed her, It was me.


Oh god.


Make him stay.


I found them.


You're just a freak like me.
CULTURE

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BANASHANKARI AMMA, NEAR BADAMI (KAR)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

Originally built by Chalukyas in 7th century. Devi Banashankari was their family deity. This image of Banashankari Amma was installed by Jagadekamalla I in 630 AD.

Later renovations were done by Marathas.


Once, a demon Durgamasur was troubling the people of this area. Answering the prayers of Devas, Ma Parvati emerged from the yajna fire as Banashankari and killed Durgamasur.
This area has rich forests of coconut, betel nut and other trees.
@GunduHuDuGa


It is said that during a severe famine, Devi provided vegetables and fruits to the people of this area.
Hence, she is also worshipped here as Shakambhari.
In the annual festival called Banashankari jatre, a Rath yatra takes place and Devi moves around the city in the chariot.
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(An extract from Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Soldiering with Dignity)

The man eventually destined to be free India's first Field Marshal was born on 3rd April 1914 at Amritsar. How did a Parsi couple settle for the holy city of the Sikhs? I once asked him and was told that in+


1899, his father recently qualified as a doctor and just married, could make no professional headway in Bombay, and was advised to try his luck at Lahore in the Punjab. With his young wife, he set off by train for Lahore. The long dusty and hot journey took five days and by the+


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lungs out and refused to go any further. So they left the train at Amritsar, and there they stayed for forty-five years.

The Manekshaws had six children, four boys and two girls, and Sam was the fifth child. Sam had his schooling at Nainital's Sherwood College.+

After completing his schooling, he should have gone to England to pursue higher studies; this was the promise made to him by his father but, fortunately for the Indian Army, Dr Manekshaw felt that this particular son was far too young to be on his own in a foreign country, even+
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KANIPAKAM VINAYAKA, CHITOOR (AP)
#bharatmandir

Kani means wetland and Pakam means flow of water into wetland.
Kanipakam Vinayaka is swayambhu (self-manifested). The murti is in a well which is always full of water.


Once, there were three brothers. Each one had a handicap- Dumb, Deaf and Blind. They had a small piece of land for livelihood. For their field, they drew water from a well. One day, they found that the well had dried up so one of them started digging in the well.


His tool hit something and blood oozed out. They found a swayambhu murti of Ganesha here.
Villagers started offering coconut water which overflew into a channel. Hence the name Kanipakam.


The murti is still growing in size. At present, we see the knees and the abdomen only. The Kavacham (Armour) offered to Vinayaka 50 years ago doesn’t fit today.
Vinayaka is believed to be the upholder of truth. So people come here and swear before him to prove their innocence.
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