Riddle In Hinduism

 

Riddle In Hinduism

                                                   -Dr B R Ambedkar

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Contents

PART I  - RELIGIOUS

Riddle No. 1 : The difficulty of knowing why one is a Hindu

Riddle No. 2 : The Origin Of The Vedas—The Brahminic Explanation or An Exercise In The Art Of Circumlocution

Riddle No. 3 : The Testimony Of Other Shastras On The Origin Of The Vedas

Riddle no. 4 : Why suddenly the brahmins declare the vedas to be infallible and not to be questioned?

Riddle no. 5 : Why did the brahmins go further and declare that the vedas are neither made by man nor by god?

Riddle no. 6 : The contents of the vedas: have they any moral or spiritual value?

Riddle no. 7 : The turn of the tide or how did the brahmins deceare the vedas to be lower than the lowest of their shastras?

Riddle no. 8 : How the upanishads declared war on the vedas?

Riddle no. 9 : How the upanishads came to be made subordinate to the vedas?

Riddle no. 10 : Why did the brahmins make the hindu gods fight against one another?

Riddle no. 11 : Why did the brahmins make the hindu gods suffer to rise and fall?

Riddle no. 12 :  Why did the brahmins dethrone the gods and enthrone the goddesses?

Riddle no. 13 : The riddle of the ahimsa

Riddle no. 14 : From ahimsa back to himsa

Riddle no. 15 :  How did the brahmins wed an ahimsak god to a bloodthirsty Goddess?

FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM

 

FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM

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(Kale Memorial Lecture)

Address delivered on 29th January 1939 at the Annual Function

of

the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics held in the Gokhale Hall, Poona

" The distance you have gone is less important than the direction in which you are going today." 

-tolstoy

First Published: 1939 Reprinted from the first edition

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Contents

    Preface

I : Introductory

II : Birth and growth of Indian federation

III  : The structure of the federation

IV :  Powers of the federation

V  : Character of the federation

VI : Benefits of the federal scheme

VII  : The bane of the federal scheme

VIII :  The fatality of federation

IX  :  Federation without tie states

X :  Federation from different points of view

XI : Conclusion

EVIDENCE BEFORE THE SOUTHBOROUGH COMMITTEE

EVIDENCE BEFORE

THE SOUTHBOROUGH COMMITTEE ON FRANCHISE

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Examined on: 27th January 1919

From the Report of the Reforms Committee (Franchise) Vol. II, 1919  

The Committee was constituted as under: The Rt. Hon. Lord Southborough, G.c.b., g.c.v.o., g.c.m.c.

(Chairman).

Sir Frank G. Sly, k.c.s.l, I.C.S. Sahibzada Aftab Ahmed Khan. The Hon'ble Babu Surendranath Banerjea. The Hon'ble Mr. M. N. Hogg. W. M. Hailey, Esq., c.s.I, c.i.e., I.C.S. The Hon'ble Mr. Srinivasa Sastri (Not present on 25-1-1919

and 27-1-1919). And the following added members : L. C. Crump, Esq., l.c.s. K. Natarajan, Esq. P. C. Tallents, Esq., l.c.s. (Secretary).

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EVIDENCE BEFORE THE SOUTHBOROUGH COMMITTEE

WRITTEN STATEMENT

" The most difficult and the most momentous question of Government (is) how to transmit the force of individual opinion and preference into public action. This is the crux of popular institutions." So says Professor A. B. Hart. But this is only half the definition of popular Government. It is therefore necessary to emphasize the other half which is equal if not more in importance. As the Government is the most important field for the exercise of individual capacities, it is in the interest of the people that no person as such should be denied the opportunity of actively participating in the process of Government. That is to say popular Government is not only Government for the people but by the people. To express the same in a different way, representation of opinions by itself is not sufficient to constitute popular Government. To cover its true meaning it requires personal representation as well. It is because the former is often found without the latter that the Franchise Committee has to see in devising the franchises and constituencies for a popular Government in India, it provides for both, i.e., representation of opinions and representation of persons. Any scheme of franchise and constituency that fails to bring this about fails to create a popular Government.