Akasha or Akash means space or sky or aether in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian languages the corresponding word retains a generic meaning of "sky".
Puranas are a vast genre of Hindu literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and in other Indian languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, and Adi Shakti. The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which were originally composed in Sanskrit and later translated into many other Indian languages, and the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature and Sangam literature are some of the oldest surviving epic poems ever written.
Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars hesitate in defining the term "Hindu scriptures" given the diverse nature of Hinduism, but many list the Agamas as Hindu scriptures, and Dominic Goodall includes Bhagavata Purana and Yajnavalkya Smriti in the list of Hindu scriptures as well.
Āstika and nāstika are concepts that have been used to classify the schools of Indian philosophy by modern scholars, as well as some Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. The various definitions for āstika and nāstika philosophies have been disputed since ancient times, and there is no consensus. One standard distinction, as within ancient- and medieval-era Sanskrit philosophical literature, is that āstika schools accept the Vedas, the ancient texts of India, as fundamentally authoritative, while the nāstika schools do not. However, a separate way of distinguishing the two terms has evolved in current Indian languages like Telugu, Hindi and Bengali, wherein āstika and its derivatives usually mean 'theist', and nāstika and its derivatives denote 'atheism'. Still, philosophical tradition maintains the earlier distinction, for example, in identifying the school of Sāṃkhya, which is non-theistic, as āstika (Veda-affirming) philosophy, though "God" is often used as an epithet for consciousness (purusha) within its doctrine. Similarly, though Buddhism is considered to be nāstika, Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar of the god Vishnu in some Hindu denominations. Due to its acceptance of the Vedas, āstika philosophy, in the original sense, is often equivalent to Hindu philosophy: philosophy that developed alongside the Hindu religion.
Anekāntavāda is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects.
The Shiva Purana is one of eighteen major texts of the Purana genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily revolves around the Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods.
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (MRML) is a leading publishing house located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1952 by Manohar Lal Jain, it is one of the oldest publishing houses in India.
Sukhlal Sanghvi, also known as Pandit Sukhlalji, was a Jain scholar and philosopher. He belonged to the Sthanakvasi sect of Jainism. Pandit Sukhlal lost his eyesight at the age of sixteen on account of smallpox. However, he persisted and became profoundly versed in Jain logic and rose to become a professor at Banaras Hindu University. Paul Dundas calls him one of the most incisive modern interpreters of Jain philosophy. Dundas notes that Sanghavi represents what now seems to be a virtually lost scholarly and intellectual world. He was a mentor for famous Jain scholar Padmanabh Jaini. During his lifetime he won such awards as the Sahitya Akademi Award and won recognition from the Government of India by getting Padma Bhushan award. Sukhlalji was also known as Pragnachaksu because he was so vastly learned despite being visually disabled.
Nalini Balbir is a French Indologist who lives in Paris. She is a scholar of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. She was previously a student of Indologist Colette Caillat. She is known for her work on the publication of the Catalogue of the Jain Manuscripts of the British Library published by the Institute of Jainology.
Padmanabh Shrivarma Jaini was an Indian born scholar of Jainism and Buddhism, living in Berkeley, California, United States. He was from a Digambar Jain family; however he was equally familiar with both the Digambara and Svetambara forms of Jainism. He has taught at the Banaras Hindu University, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and at the University of California at Berkeley, from which he retired in 1994. Jaini was the author of several books and papers. His best known work is The Jaina Path of Purification (1979). Some of his major articles have been published under these titles: The Collected Papers on Jaina Studies (2000) and Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies (2001). He died on 25 May 2021 at Berkeley at age 97.
Lala Har Dayal Mathur was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple living and intellectual acumen inspired many expatriate Indians living in Canada and the U.S. in their campaign against British rule in India during the First World War.
The World Sanskrit conference is an international conference organised at various locations globally. It has been held in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Delhi International Sanskrit Conference of 1972 is considered to be the first World Sanskrit Conference. So far it has been held in India four times.
Johannes Bronkhorst is a Dutch Orientalist and Indologist, specializing in Buddhist studies and early Buddhism. He is emeritus professor at the University of Lausanne.
Garga Horā is a very ancient treatise on the predictive part of Hindu astrology. Its author, Ṛṣi Garga, is one of the sages of the Purāṇika times. He was the son of Ṛṣi Bharadvāja. There are 8 Siddhāntas of Hindu astrology, they are – Brahmā, Sūrya, Soma, Vasiṣṭhta, Pulastya, Romaka, Arya, and Garga Siddhāntas – the last named is named after the author of Garga Horā, and Garga Saṁhitā, and with whom Jyotiṣa is associated. Garga Horā is written in the Sanskrit Sutra – format and from this work Varāhamihira has drawn profusely. Incidentally, both, Garga and Varāhamihira, have in their respective works referred to the proficiencies of the Greeks in the field of Astronomy.
Karl Harrington Potter was an American-born writer, academic, and Indologist, from the University of Washington. He studied at the University of California, as well as Harvard University and is known for his writings on Indian philosophy.
Dalsukh Dahyabhai Malvania (1910–2000) was an Indian scholar, writer and philosopher, known for his writings on Jain, Buddhist and Hindu philosophies. He contributed to Jain literature with his writings on the scriptures of the Śvētāmbara sect of Jainism. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1992, for his contributions to literature and education.
V. R. Panchamukhi, is an Indian Economist and Sanskrit scholar. He was born on September 17, 1936, in Dharwad, Karnataka. He is the eldest son of Vidyaratna Shri R. S. Panchamukhi, an archaeologist and indologist and Sanskrit Scholar.
Satyadhyana Tirtha was an Indian Hindu philosopher, scholar, yogi, mystic, theologian and saint. He was the 38th pontiff of Uttaradi Math and served the pontificate from 1911-1942. He was considered most active and zealous pontiffs of 20th century. He was an untiring propagandist, the best debater of his days and almost a terror to his adversaries in philosophical polemics. It was at his initiative and inspiration that a splendid Marathi translation of Madhva's Brahmasutra Bhashya, with the Tatvaprakashika of Jayatirtha was published for the benefit of a large number of followers of Madhvacharya in Maharashtra. He made extensive tours all over India, held disputations and published polemical tracts and phamplets in many languages in North and South India for free distribution. He started, Sriman Madhva Siddhanta Abhivruddhikarini Sabha around 1905-06 and registered in 1930 to promote the study of Sanskrit literature and philosophy, particularly the study of Dvaita Philosophy, to hold meetings and conferences of Madhva scholars.
Bhavani Narayanrao Krishnamurti Sharma, commonly known as B. N. K. Sharma or B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma, was an Indian writer, scholar, professor, and Indologist. Sharma was a professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit in Ruparel College, Bombay from (1953–1969). Sharma was one of the foremost exponents of Madhvacharya's school of Dvaita Vedanta. B. N. K. Sharma learned the art of debates under Satyadhyana Tirtha of Uttaradi Math. Sharma travelled along with Satyadhyana Tirtha from, learned all philosophical knowledge from him and also used to rectify his doubts from Satyadhyana Tirtha.
