Words Sweet as Honey: A History of the Nāstika

Great update, @Nataraj! I'm particularly interested in the source of the greater split between northern and southern Hindus - how will the Northerners react to these new philosophies taking root in the South?

What will be the style of the next few updates? Will we be finding a new narrator, or will it be text-book style?

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Great update, @Nataraj! I'm particularly interested in the source of the greater split between northern and southern Hindus - how will the Northerners react to these new philosophies taking root in the South?

What will be the style of the next few updates? Will we be finding a new narrator, or will it be text-book style?

Cheers,
Ganesha

Keep in mind that the Ajivika and the Charvaka are not technically Hindu. While they are part of the overarching structure of Indian philosophy, they are nastika schools like Buddhism or Jainism, which means they reject the Vedas. What we call Hinduism is actually a collection of astika schools--those that accept the Vedas. Interestingly, there are atheistic strains in both groups, and theistic ones too. As for how they'll react, though, I'd look at the example of Sambandar, the Shaivist Tamil poet-saint who encouraged Koon Pandyan to impale 8000 Jains as a mark of his faith.

We'll have Michaux for one more and then it's going to be a variety of historical narratives (personal accounts, not textbooks) interspersed with Michaux's narrative. I find that the use of an outsider as viewpoint character helps me hint at what's going on not just in India, but beyond, if you're wondering.
 
Top