Karnavati the Great, Invincible Rani of Garhwal — 1631, the kingdom was in mourning. Raja Mahipat Shah, the Lion of Garhwal, had become a martyr in the 9 year long war with Kumoun. He left behind a seven year old son — now king, the precious metal mines of the mountains, and hungry enemies on all sides sniffing…

Socrates expressed his views on democracy by asking, “would you like a ship to be captained by anyone or those who are educated in the art of sailing?” He was arguing not for a democracy open to everyone, neither for rule by the elites, instead he demanded only the educated…

Learnings of a Student — Leaders emerge in ambiguity. When oblivion swallows, leaders are the ones who take action. They are crucial to a social species, especially a species as consequential as us homo sapiens. Thus, it is important to understand leadership. Many people study leadership by studying leaders; however, to be a great leader…

A Written Documentation and Commentary on the Oral History of the Panwar Clan — Two brothers — Kanak Pal, and Suraj Singh of the Panwar clan of Agnivanshi Rajputs, migrated from their homeland in Gujrat in 688 C.E. This information can be confirmed by the information on Tehri Garhwal provided by Christopher Buyer’s Royal Arch database. The brothers married the daughters of the King…

The Good and Honest Debate — The katha or conversation of Vada is complex, rational, and well structured. According to Udyotakara the Vada katha is honest, peaceful, and congenial. It takes places between people of equal credibility, exploring a variety of dimensions in a subject with the goal to establish ultimate truths. …

Sambhasha Explained — Indians love to debate, it is in the DNA of the subcontinent and bleeds into the entirety of Dharmagan. Over the course of centuries, Indian thinkers begin to recognize methods of acceptable reasonable debate, and distinguishing them from the unacceptable Hetvabhasha or pseudo-reasoning debates. The branch of philosophy which studies…

Darshanas of Dharma — Corresponding Video for this Essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0hnz6Nz4ro&t=12s The Nyāya-sūtra and the many karikas argue that epistemic success is central in the search for happiness, since we must understand the world properly should we desire to achieve the goods it offers (Dasti.) Thus, Nyāya darhma is the pursuit of Truth. Nyāya is…

Darshanas of Dharma — Click link to view Video Essay based on this article: https://youtu.be/Hj1JF_0tqR4 Sāṅkhya is often simplified to atheistic dualism; however, a better way to understand Sāṅkhyaka dharma is that it aims to take into account all the important factors of the whole world, and especially of the human condition (Ruzsa.) The…

What are the valid Sources of Knowledge? — One of the fundamental questions asked in Dharmika philosophy is, what are the valid sources of knowledge? These sources of knowledge are called the Pramana (Devanagri — प्रमाण, Pronounced — Pramāṇa). There are six Pramana in total; however, not every school or darshana accepts all of them. …