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We examine the impact of the current colonial-racist discourse around Hindu Dharma on Indians across the world and prove that this discourse causes psychological effects similar to those caused by racism: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a detachment from our cultural heritage.

Talk:V. Narayana Rao

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Sachi Anjunkar


V. Narayana Rao signed as a Visweswara Rao and Sita Koppaka Professor in Telugu Culture, Literature and History, Emory University[1]in 2017. According to his research gate profile, his current affiliations seems to be at University of Wisconsin–Madison[2].

In 2016, he signed a letter[3] addressed to the State Board of Education, California Department of Education, dated May 17, 2016. The letter falsely[4] stated the following:

  1. "There is no established connection between Hinduism and the Indus Civilization."
  2. "It is inappropriate to remove mention of the connection of caste to Hinduism."


In 2006, he signed a letter addressed to the California Department of Education, expressing his concern about the representation of Hinduism and Ancient India in Grade 6 Social Studies textbooks despite having no publications relating to the topics being covered. He stated:

"The idea that Sanatana Dharma is a basic belief of Hinduism ignores both changes in the historical usage of the term to connote an array of notions and ritual practices, and its tendency since the late nineteenth century, to be associated with Hindu Nationalist groups in whose usage it has become a monolith and acquired a narrow and exclusively Sanskritic connotation. Such groups have since the time of the founding of the first Hindutva organization in 1925 been associated with violence and destruction. "[5]

In this letter, he misrepresents the academic "state of the art." making most of his stances suspect. Specifically, he positions the "Aryan migration theory" as the most accurate at this point in time misrepresenting academic research ignoring 13+ papers that challenge that position[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18].

In the letter, he

  • Delinks Hinduism and Ancient India as because they claim that Hinduism emerged in the 19th century [19]. Finally, they decide to refine well known ancient Hindu texts such as the Aṣṭādhyāyī and Tolkāppiyam as "non-Hindu" to justify their position[20].
  • Delinks Sanskrit, the language of many ancient Hindu texts with Hindu Dharma[21] and argue falsely that Hindu women are treated as impure and unfit ignoring the richness of the traditions and respect always provided to women and described in detail across a wide body of texts[22].
  • Attributes well understood Hindu concepts like ahiṃsā to Buddhism and Jainism[23]

Publications related to India or South Asia[edit]

Books[edit]

  1. Rao, Velcheru. The Political Novel in Telugu. 1975. doi:10.1163/9789004643741009.
  2. Rao, Velcheru, and Gene Roghair. Siva's Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha. 1990. doi:10.1515/9781400860906.
  3. Rao, Velcheru. Classical Telugu Poetry: An Anthology. 2002. doi:10.1525/9780520925885.
  4. Rao, Velcheru. Classical Telugu Poetry. 2020. doi:10.1525/9780520976658.

Book chapters[edit]

  1. Rao, Velcheru. "A Rāmāyaṇa of Their Own: Women's Oral Tradition in Telugu." 1991. doi:10.1525/9780520911758-008.
  2. Rao, Velcheru, et al. "A new imperial idiom in the sixteenth century: Krishnadevaraya and his political theory of Vijayanagara." 2004. doi:10.4000/books.ifp.7916.
  3. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "What Happens When a Poem Is Translated into a Poem?." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0002.
  4. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Building in Sound." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0003.
  5. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "A Novella in Two Voices." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0004.
  6. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Afterlife." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0005.
  7. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Srinatha: The Poet who Made Gods and Kings." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.001.0001.

Journal Articles[edit]

  1. Rao, Velcheru. "A Rāmāyaṇa of Their Own: Women's Oral Tradition in Telugu." 1991. doi:10.1525/9780520911758-008.
  2. Rao, Velcheru, et al. "A new imperial idiom in the sixteenth century: Krishnadevaraya and his political theory of Vijayanagara." 2004. doi:10.4000/books.ifp.7916.
  3. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "What Happens When a Poem Is Translated into a Poem?." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0002.
  4. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Building in Sound." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0003.
  5. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "A Novella in Two Voices." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0004.
  6. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Afterlife." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.003.0005.
  7. Rao, Velcheru, and David Shulman. "Srinatha: The Poet who Made Gods and Kings." 2012. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863020.001.0001.
  8. Cutler, Norman, Hank Heifetz, and Velcheru Rao. "For the Lord of the Animals: Poems from the Telugu. The 'Kāḷahastīśvara Śatakamu' of Dhūrjaṭi." Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 47, 1988, pp. 357. doi:10.2307/1178300.
  9. Tsuchida, Christina, et al. "Śiva's Warriors. The 'Basava Purāṇa' of Pālkuriki Somanātha." Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 50, 1991, pp. 390. doi:10.2307/1178414.
  10. Steever, Sanford, and Velcheru Rao. "Śiva's Warriors: The Basava Purāṇa of Palkūruki Somanātha." Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 112, 1992, pp. 172. doi:10.2307/604638.
  11. Heifetz, Hank, et al. "The Philosophy of the Grammarians." The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 51, 1992, pp. 190. doi:10.2307/2058399.
  12. Peterson, Indira, et al. "For the Lord of the Animals, Poems from the Telugu: The Kāḷahastīśvara Śatakamu of Dhūrjạti." Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 112, 1992, pp. 658. doi:10.2307/604483.
  13. Rao, Velcheru, and Philip Lutgendorf. "The Life of a Text; Performing of the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas." Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 54, 1995. doi:10.2307/2058817.
  14. Rao, Velcheru. "Coconut and Honey: Sanskrit and Telugu in Medieval Andhra." Social Scientist, vol. 23, 1995, pp. 24. doi:10.2307/3517881.
  15. Peterson, Indira, et al. "Symbols of Substance: Court and State in Nayaka Period Tamilnadu." American Historical Review, vol. 100, 1995. doi:10.2307/2168286.
  16. Ali, Daud, et al. "A Poem at the Right Moment: Remembered Verses from Premodern South India." Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 58, 1999. doi:10.2307/2658464.
  17. Rao, Velcheru, et al. "A PRAGMATIC RESPONSE." History and Theory, vol. 46, 2007, pp. 409-427. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2303.2007.00418.x.
  18. Tamen, Miguel, et al. "Introduction: From Scratch." Common Knowledge, vol. 14, 2008, pp. 380-383. doi:10.1215/0961754X-2008-004.
  19. Rao, Velcheru, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. "Notes on Political Thought in Medieval and Early Modern South India." Modern Asian Studies, vol. 43, 2009, pp. 175-210. doi:10.1017/S0026749X07003368.
    The author's translations and interpretations of the 'Arthashastra' are questionable and likely influenced by personal biases against Hindu Dharma as evidenced by his mistranslation of a common and popular word "Artha" as profit [24]
    He is disappointed that Arthashatra is written in Sanskrit because those slokas cannot be easily memorized by him[25]
  20. Rao, Velcheru. "By way of an introduction: Innovations in Telugu cultural history." The Indian Economic & Social History Review, vol. 56, 2019. doi:10.1177/0019464619852250.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ V. Narayana Rao Khabar News Profile accessed May 18, 2024
  2. ↑ V. Narayana Rao Research Gate Profile accessed May 18, 2024, 2024
  3. ↑ 5-17 Kamala Visweswaran South Asian Faculty Group
  4. ↑ Gupta, S. P. 'The Dawn of Civilization.' In History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: Volume I: Part 1, edited by G. C. Pandey and D. P. Chattopadhyaya. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations, 1999.
  5. ↑ 11-18 Kamala Visweswaran CBE Final Report
  6. ↑ Bryant, Edwin. The Quest for the Origins of the Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan, Migration Debate. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  7. ↑ Elst, Koenraad. Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar. New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993.
  8. ↑ Feuerstein, Georg, Subhash Kak, and David Frawley. In Search for the Cradle of Civilization. Wheaton: Quest Books, 2001.
  9. ↑ Frawley, David. Gods, Sages, and Kings: Vedic Secrets of Ancient Civilization. New Delhi: Motilal Banarasi Dass, 1993.
  10. ↑ Frawley, David. The Rig Veda and the History of India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2001.
  11. ↑ Lal, B. B. How Deep are the Roots of Indian Civilization? Archaeology Answers. New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2009.
  12. ↑ Lal, B. B. “Aryan Invasion of India: Perpetuation of a Myth.” In The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History, edited by Edwin F. Bryant and Laurie L. Patton, 50–74. New York: Routledge, 2005.
  13. ↑ Shaffer, J. G., and Diane A. Litchenstein. “South-Asian Archeology and the Myth of Indo-Aryan Invasions.” In The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History, edited by Edwin F. Bryant and Laurie L. Patton, 75–104. New York: Routledge, 2005.
  14. ↑ Talageri, Shrikant. The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis. Rev. ed. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2004.
  15. ↑ Talageri, Shrikant. The AryanInvasion Theory: A Re-appraisal. Rev. ed. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2006.
  16. ↑ Possehl, Gregory L. The Indus Civilization. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 2002
  17. ↑ Robb, Peter, ed. The Concept of Race in South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995.
  18. ↑ Trautmann, Thomas R. The Aryan Debate. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  19. ↑ "Problems in Identifying Hinduism with Ancient India: Hinduism is a plural tradition" ... "whereas most of the traditions that went into the making of what we know as Hinduism today emerged in the centuries immediately before and after the onset of the Common Era (C.E.). “Hinduism” does not even emerge as a term of reference until the colonial period in the 19th century... "
  20. ↑ of “Ancient India” with Hinduism means that other texts, which are not strictly about “Hinduism”, but important to South Asia’s intellectual heritage, such as the Sanskrit grammar by Panini or the Tolkappiyam of classical Tamil, are completely sidelined.
  21. ↑ "Problems identifying Ancient India with Sanskrit: Dual classical traditions"
  22. ↑ Sanskritic Hindu laws describe women as impure and unfit for scholarship, as lacking judgment and capability, of being the carriers of caste purity, as being entitled to lesser property and inheritance than men, etc. we recommend that they be given more information both of the strictures against women’s participation in public and religious life
  23. ↑ While the Upanishads make mention of the notion of ahimsa, it does not become important to Hinduism until after Buddhism and Jainism make it central to their conception of life. In other words, there was no prior ‘Hindu’ support for ahimsa; it is only when Hinduism became more like the Hinduism we know today that it took over ahimsa from Jainism and Buddhism
  24. ↑ "The only concept that might suggest a Hindu ‘worldview’ of some sort is that a certain number of the verses refer to the scheme of the four goals of life, the caturvidha purusharthas (that is dharma, artha, kama and moksha) of which artha and kama, profit and pleasure, are the most significant areas upon which niti texts focus."
  25. ↑ "this text is written in the form of Sanskrit shlokas, not particularly easy for memorization or oral transmission"
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