Balaji Ramakrishnan

I heard someone in the youtube shorts say, "By supporting Sanatana Dharma BJP state president Annamalai is supporting birth based previlege and kula thozhil." Oh really? Sanatana Dharma is going to play a significant role in polarising the voters in 2024 national election. BJP has already started supporting Sanatanis (aka. Hindus). I wish the party makes the election about Sanatana Dharma vs Anti Sanatana Dharma at the national level. In the state of Tamil Nadu, there are various forces at play to portray that Sanatana Dharma is not Hinduism. Those forces wish to portray that birth-based casteism supporting, ultra orthodox untouchability supporting division of Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma.

இரக்கம் வராமல் போனதென்ன காரணம்? என் ஸ்வாமிக்கு. கருணை கடல் என்றுன்னை காதில் கேட்டு நம்பி வந்தேன் Why would my Swami not have sympathy on me? I came believing that you are the ocean of compassion. இரக்கம் வராமல் போனதென்ன காரணம்? என் ஸ்வாமிக்கு. Why would my Swami not have sympathy on me? ஆலம் அருந்தி அண்டர் உயிரை ஆதரித்ததுமது கீர்த்தி. பாலகிருஷ்ணன் பாடி தினமும் பணிந்திடும் நடராஜ மூர்த்தி. பழி எத்தனை நான் செய்யினும் பாலித்திடும் சிவசிதம்பரம் மொழி கற்றவர் வழி உற்றுணை முப்பொழுதும் மறவேனே! Your fame is - you drank poison to save Devas and Asuras! Nataraja Murti is who this Balakrishnan (i.e. me) sings and prays! How much ever wrong deeds I do, Siva Chidambaram saves me. I follow people who are well versed in the language to remember you during all the three parts of the day. இரக்கம் வராமல் போனதென்ன காரணம்? என் ஸ்வாமிக்கு. Why would my Swami not have sympathy on me? அண்டர் If one searches in google, many references can be seen to mean that andar ( அண்டர் ) means shepherds. But to my knowled...

Love towards an opposite gender is an emotion that should not be supressed. Love does happen and is very real. We all should pursue our love. Preferabbly love must end in marriage and the couple must live happily ever after. The fact is living happily ever after is an utopian worldview, not very practical. When in love, as long as we don't spend long durations together, we keep missing the other and when we do meet our love, we have a lot of pent up love to express. Post marriage, there is no question of pent up love. The expression becomes far lesser. People who had been receiving pent up love pre marriage, misses the outburst of the expression post marriage. This often leads to the receiver of love outbursts feeling cheated. Consequently fights start. It's impossible to express love every hour or even every day. The same is the case with arranged marriages in the pre honeymoon period (getting to know each other where each find the other interesting and attractive) vs post ho...

 3) Draupati, the wife of the 5 Pandavas. Worship and ridiculings in Tamil Nadu. Can being wife of 5 men ever be defended? While it can be argued that a woman involving in polyandry should also be treated like polygamy, meaning, women had equal powers, the fact is that men and women were not equal. Women did have restrictions just like today. But, nobility were an exception. Draupati, Kunti, Gandhari, etc. spoke and did what they thought. They simply did not buckle to patriarchy. They complimented men and completed their spouse. Draupati is simply not a lady who could be forced. She did not let her voice unheard in the court of Hastinapur when an injustice was meted out on her. She did consent to marry the Pandavas. So, the usual argument of subjugation of women in Mahabharata falls flat. An other argument against Draupati is that she is promiscous. From time immemorial, having intimate relationship with husbands have never been considered promiscous. Niyoga tradition was also an a...

Mahabharata Unravelled (lesser known facets of a well known history) is a book written by Ami Ganatra ji that tries to bring to our attention several facts of the great ithihas which TV serials on Mahabharata failed to bring. The author has cited original and authentic sources to narrate those nuances and facts. Never once while reading the book did I feel bored. The reason is not just that the ithihas is close to my heart, but the primary reason is the simple yet interesting narration. I recommend this to everyone. https://www.amazon.in/Bloomsbury-Mahabharata-Unravelled-Lesser-Known-Well-Known/dp/9354351271 I am writing this in 2 parts so that each part makes a 2 mins read. 1) Which side did Tamil (Tamil kings) take during Mahabharata? Through out Tamil Nadu, we will be able to see many people supporting the Kauravas. For the most part, the support is just to oppose the side of staunch Hindus, the Pandavas side. Have we ever wondered which side our ancestors took? It's the Pandav...

மாதவன் மருகா, மலரிணை பாதமே கதி என பணிந்தேன். நீ தயை புரியாதிருந்திடல் இங்கிதமா? பரிவுடன் அருள்வாய். Son in law of Madhava (i.e. Muruga), I surrendered at your flower-like feet. Is it ethical on your part if you don't take pity on me. Please bless me. Ragam: Behag Lyricist and composer: Shri. Lalgudi Jayaraman

In this blog post I am going to try and articulate the need and importance of political leverage and why the brahmin community needs it for its survival and at a later point of time, thriving. It will also be evident that communities without political leverage would be bound to undergo subhuman treatment from other communities and denial of even fundamental justice. I have used the term community more loosely to mean caste, religion and group of people. Do we need to stick to caste identities? This is an important question every one in the modern era asks. To elaborate, I have seen many brahmins ask, "why do you cling to caste identities?", "why are you so narrow minded?", "are castes relevant today?", "should we be even giving importance to caste anymore?", "should we not annihilate caste?", "I am a peaceful person that lives his life calmly without affecting anyone. Why should I get involved in politics? Why should I be concerned...