Ten Heads of Ravana: A Critique of Hinduphobic Scholars

The academic credentials, distinctions, honours and scholastic attainments of Sanskrit Scholars whose essays and articles have been reproduced in this book, captured under the title “About the Authors” appended to the book, and the brilliant Introduction by Rajiv Malhotra Sir, speak themselves and are so great that they render any review superfluous, especially in the wake of huge chunks of rapturous reviews the book has already garnered.Bharat is, has always been, and will always be the Home of Sanatana Dharma and its language ‘ Sanskrit’, no matter how many more million theories like Aryan Invasion/Migration theory dispute that fact. They are our priceless and timeless possessions and Divine endowments. These precious Vedic possessions have for millennia served as some sort of natural literary resources for Vedic Scholars and others alike for their studies and are beacon light for the existing and coming generations. But these did not escape the prevalent disease of literary criticism which is actuated and coloured by abject notions and conceptions of Dharma. This book dissects such criticism and restores the original purity and glory of Vedic literature.The editors of “TEN HEADS OF RAVANA” under our review have done a remarkable service, whose noble object is to rescue our Vedic Resources and works from transmogrification, and keep the light of truth illuminating, and their study is omnisciently comprehensive. They selected 10 works/articles written by our Vedic/Sanskrit Scholars, who dissected the critical works with their metaphysic lancet, demolished spurious theories spun around our Vedic Literature and tamed the interpretations that are denigrating of our ancient Vedic culture and practices and redeemed our Sanatana Dharma. Each Essay is a masterpiece of scholarship. I salute the Editors, the Scholars and the Infinity Foundation India for attempting to vindicate the original texts and protect them from the vicious tentacles of Hydra called ‘Hinduphobia’. They exhibited a true spirit of a honest and unbiased critic. It is not an ad hominem attack on any one. They only advanced opposite views in defence of Sanatana Dharma. The discerning Scholars could learn the methods of research, the art of sifting the historical facts, evaluation of historical evidence, and writing a healthy, and objective critique of which this book is a model. With its overflowing intellectual fervour it teaches them many more things.G R Murthy

Excellent read and easy read to decolonise our mind from false narratives served to us by eminent historians and mythologist who have not been truthful and celebrity historians who have not cared to present the facts but brushed facts under the carpet

sanatan dharma and bharat varsh has been under threat since ages and continues even today. they are today in the form of maxcist lobby , few white sanskrit knowing people, jehadis and many more. this book exposes them and should be read by every one who loves his motherland. peolplelike romila thapar and irfan habib, have destroyed one whole generation. but i am hopeful, that efforts of sri rajeev mehrotra and other great soul will bear fruit.j sai deepak, ranganathan , vikram sampath, sanyal and many more....are fighting this battle. modi is not fighting he is only making sound.its our dharmic duty, that we give, all kind of support, to these people , who are fighting for our sanskriti.

Ok

Ten Head of Ravana edited by Rajiv Malhotra & Divya Reddy is an excellent book. Even if it is not as good and exhaustive as the other books of Rajiv Malhotra, one feels elated that a whole new generation of hard-hitting writers is being nurtured to defend Hinduism. One can class the Ten Heads of Ravana into three categories of writers who have been exposed for what they really are – producers of outright falsehood, despite their redoubtable academic titles.(1) Sheldon Pollock, Michael Witzel, Audrey Truschke and Wendy Doniger are the four heads of Ravana from the West. It is easy to see after you read this book how motivated they are to denigrate Indian culture, how gung-ho they are like gun toting cowboys looking for action. The fact that they have studied a whole lot of books on Hinduism makes them all the more suspect because they were after all looking for evidence they can use to destroy rather than to understand a culture which is very different from theirs. “But how can you understand another culture without any sympathy? How can you criticise another culture with so much confidence when you don’t know even the fundamentals, especially when the fundamentals are other worldly and spiritual?” is what common sense has taught all of us, but no, these authors don’t believe that is necessary. On the other hand, when Indians read Shakespeare or other great classics of the West, they are told to identify themselves with the culture, read behind and in between the lines as well, which is absolutely fine. The result is that educated Indians are steeped in Western culture (no qualms about it as long as you stay connected with your own culture) and Westerners such as the above four authors start assessing negatively a culture which they have hardly understood. In this respect, Indians are surely a step ahead in cultural evolution.(2) The second category is that of Romila Thapar and Irfan Habib, two of the prominent academicians who have built the Marxist foundation of history and social sciences in India. They have been taken far too seriously in the last few decades. We thought they were impregnable fortresses of Leftist history, but now they have been thankfully demolished and exposed. One is surprised to know how unacademic and biased they actually are. Then their dubious role in the Ram Janmabhoomi case (where they posed as experts to testify against the ruins of a Hindu temple underneath the demolished structure) speaks volumes on them; we know that the Court eventually threw out their evidence or rather the lack of it. It was so heartening to learn at that time that an honest Muslim official conducted the archeological survey of the temple and testified in its favour in the Court while these academic bigwigs moved heaven and earth to deny its existence.(3) The last category consists of Shashi Tharoor, Devdutt Patnaik, Ramchandra Guha and Kancha Ilaiah. They are basically not academics but Indian sepoys fighting for their intellectual masters in the West, even while some of them call themselves Hindus with an arrogant swagger.Shashi Tharoor: Brilliant speaker (far better than his counterparts in Oxford or Cambridge) but who has never learned to think. Otherwise why would he be so comfortable with “anything goes” with Hinduism, which means to be so open and inclusive that you need not defend it at all? It only means that you live with a bundle of contradictions and never honestly deal with them! An eclectic, par excellence, who can silence his rivals with the power of speech than with the power of thought!Devdutt Patnaik: Tries to impress the Indian audience with weird interpretations while posing as an insider. I quote from the author who has deconstructed him:“If dharma is to be accepted as the absolute gold standard that defines Hinduism, then it is clear that Devdutt Patnaik’s scholarship promotes adharma in the guise of glorifying dharma. Just as Ravana kidnapped Sita and carried her away to Lanka , in the same way, Devutt has hijacked traditional discourses on Hinduism and popularised a flawed post-modern and Left-liberal compliant and domesticated avatar of Hinduism.”Ramchandra Guha: Tries to play the “good cop” and gives the false impression that he is an even-handed critic of the Left and the Right, but finally scurries to the Left to seek patronage.Kancha Ilaiah: Nothing but sheer vituperation against Hinduism, without any logic and decency. His purpose is to convert the hateful Hindus to civilised Christians, which is why he calls himself a shepherd. Not even fit to be a politician because even politicians cannot afford to be so harsh in their criticism.

Book for the shelf of every dharmic intellectual. Pity that the nonsense of Intellectual Kshatriya is peddled though.Shri Krishna declares in the Bhagwat Gitaचातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः।तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम्।।In that context has a new vibhag been created? Who has created it?Intellectual Kshatriya what dies it mean? A Kshatriya who is an Intellectual or an Intellectual who is a Kshatriya?Any historical examples? Parashuram? Dronacharya? Yudhisthir?How about Shankaracharya?It is interesting that Babaji in "Sanskrit Untranslateables" steers away from this stupidity and uses the term "intellectual warriors".