Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Rise of the Sikh Empire and The Military History of The Punjab

Ranjit Singh was the most adventurous, audacious, and sagacious ruler of the Indian subcontinent since Chandragupta Maurya. Like the Kohinoor he wore, he was a gem among rulers. He rose like a bright and brief firmament when India became a part of the global colonial geopolitics. He abolished the death sentence and created a new empire based on principles of statecraft. In the 1770s, the Punjab was sixty-eight pieces of a wild and prosperous land inhabited by a brutal and querulous people making a living by plunder even as invasion after invasion from the north-west frontier trampled it.

September 13, 2022 Books/Book Review

The Vedic doctrine of the creative Sacrifice of Purusha and the Christian doctrine of redemptive Sacrifice of Yeshua as the keystones of Hinduism and Christianity

On August 30th, 2022 Vivekananda International Foundation organised a talk titled “The Vedic doctrine of the creative Sacrifice of Purusha and the Christian doctrine of redemptive Sacrifice of Yeshua as the keystones of Hinduism and Christianity” by Prof. Maria Krzysztof Byrski, Professor emeritus of the Warsaw University, Poland. This talk was intended to experiment the ways in which Hinduism and Christianity can come together for a dialogue. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF chaired the event and welcomed the speaker and handed over to Prof.

September 12, 2022 Event Report

Gītā for the Millennia (Lecture VII)

The seventh lecture of the online talk series ‘Gītā for the Millennia’, based on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā by Svāmī Mitrananda of Chinmaya Mission, was hosted by Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on August 29, 2022. This session was a continuation of the discussion on the third chapter of the Gītā.

September 09, 2022 Event Report

‘Gītā for the Millennia’ (Lecture VI)

The sixth session of the online talk series ‘Gītā for the Millennia’, based on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā by Svāmī Mitrananda of Chinmaya Mission was held on 1 July 2022. In this session, Svamji continued the discussion of the third chapter of the Gītā.

July 14, 2022 Event Report

Talk on ‘Asia as Method: Towards Deimperialisation and its Afterlife’

The Vivekananda International Foundation organised a talk titled ‘Asia as Method: Towards Deimperialisation and its Afterlife’ by Professor Chen Kuan-Hsing on 20 June 2022. Prof. Chen is an academic from Taiwan, who specialises in inter-Asian cultural studies. He is one of the editors of the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies journal. He is the author of many academic works, including the book titled ‘Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization’ (Duke University Press, 2010).

July 14, 2022 Event Report

‘Gītā for the Millennia’ (Lecture V)

Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised the fifth session on ‘Gītā for the Millennia’, an online talk series based on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā by Svāmī Mitrananda of Chinmaya Mission on June 10, 2022. In this session, Svāmīji focussed on the third chapter of the Gītā, where Karma Yoga is discussed.

June 20, 2022 Event Report

‘Gītā for the Millennia’ (Lecture IV)

On 12th May, 2022, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organized the fourth session on ‘Gītā for the Millennia, an online talk series based on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā by Svāmī Mitrananda of Chinmaya Mission.

May 31, 2022 Event Report

Language of ‘Dharma’ in a World of ‘Right-Duty’ Discourses

Rohith Krishna

Human rights dry up without a language of human duties, which have consequences for the right protection demands itself. But again, the language of human duties withers without a language of Dharma. This article argues that it is a crisis that the modern secular Western society faces in particular, which exposes the limitation of contemporary right-duty discourse in general.

May 26, 2022 Issue Brief

Book Discussion - Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds by Prof. Jeffery D. Long

On 9th May, 2022, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a book discussion on "Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds, authored by Prof. Jeffery D. Long, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College, U.S.A. His major specialisations are in the field of Indian philosophy and traditions. He has authored many books and articles on Dharmic traditions, and is also a recipient of the Hindu American Foundation’s Dharma Seva Award for his academic and non-academic contributions.

May 12, 2022 Event Report

Gītā for the Millennia (Lecture III)

On 2nd May 2022, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted the third talk on ‘Gītā for the Millennia’, an online talk series based on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā by Svāmī Mitrananda, Chinmaya Mission. In this discourse, Svāmīji continued the discussion of the second chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā, and reminded us that if we learn Gītā, even with a little familiarity, we will arrive at an understanding that a wise man should not worry.

May 06, 2022 Event Report