RAJIV MALHOTRA – Historian, Nationalist Ideologue, Author
Rajiv Malhotra had his early education in physics before switching to computer science in the 1970s and specializing in artificial intelligence. He established and oversaw multiple IT companies in 20 countries after having a prosperous corporate career in the US. Early in the 1990s, he stopped all for-profit endeavors. He established his non-profit Infinity Foundation in Princeton, USA, and since then has been working full-time on research into civilizations from the perspectives of history, the social sciences, and the humanities. He is the author of numerous best-selling books. A 14-volume set on the History of Indian Science & Technology has also been released by Infinity Foundation. He also contributed a lot of writing to online forums and magazines. Malhotra was awarded an honorary visiting professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University at Delhi’s Centre for Media Studies in October 2018. On November 6, 2018, he gave his first lecture on the subject of Sanskrit non-translatable, which was sponsored by the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies. He has been studying civilizations from a historical, social science, and cognitive science perspective full-time. Malhotra established the Educational Council of Indic Traditions (ECIT) in 2000 after founding the Infinity Foundation in 1994. Combating the distortion of ancient Indian religions and documenting India’s contributions to global culture were the stated objectives.
The Foundation has given more than 400 grants for research, education, and community work and has provided small grants to major universities in support of programs including a visiting professorship in Indic studies at Harvard University, Yoga and Hindi classes at Rutgers University, the research and teaching of non-dualistic philosophies at University of Hawaii, Global Renaissance Institute and a Center for Buddhist studies at Columbia University, a program in religion and science at the University of California, an endowment for the Center for Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, and lectures at the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. The foundation has funded publications like Education about Asia and the International Journal of Hindu Studies as well as the creation of James Madison University’s Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Global Nonviolence. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Centre for Indic Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
More than 400 grants have been awarded by the Infinity Foundation for efforts in research, education, and the community. This involves giving to important US institutions strategically to assist ground-breaking initiatives. The organisation has supported and hosted some of the first and biggest international conferences in India on subjects like comparative religion and Indian mind sciences. Infinity Foundation India, a subsidiary of the foundation, periodically holds Swadeshi Indology Conferences to disseminate its ideas through academic publications, video series, and online learning programmes. It has also created animated videos to clarify Rajiv’s main ideas, dub, and subtitle his popular videos in Indian languages, and translate several of Rajiv’s publications.
Examples of some trailblazing efforts:
HIST Series (History of Indian Science & Technology)
Today, science is often associated with the West, despite the vast and important contributions to science made by India. 14 volumes of the HIST series, each constructed as a multi-year effort by renowned academicians employing the highest standards, have so far been researched and published thanks to funding from the Infinity Foundation. To increase awareness of China’s contributions to global knowledge among researchers worldwide, this effort is modelled after Joseph Needham’s well-known series.
Sanskrit Non-Translatables
Rajiv is creating a brand-new line of instructional films, online classes, and books about the really creative movement to safeguard Sanskrit NonTranslatable words. The project’s objective is to modernise Sanskrit for English. This will be achieved by demonstrating why some Sanskrit concepts shouldn’t be translated into English because there aren’t any comparable terms in English. All of these translations are inaccurate because of serious problems with the English language. To portray the full variety of meanings in the proper situations, the Sanskrit originals are crucial. The different knowledge domains (pari-bhashas) being worked on include philosophy, the performing arts, ayurveda, mathematics, and a number of other subjects. Our Anglicised young will learn from this and become more in tune with their roots as a result.
The Indian Grand Narrative
Every country has a unique identity-forming story that aids in the development of their local, regional, and global identities. The great story of a people is made up of these tales, which combine myths and facts. India does not have a grand narrative of its own; instead, it has fragmentary tales that serve to emotionally and philosophically divide India rather than unite it. Negative stories about failures, misery, abuse, and violations of human rights have gained popularity. A strong dosage of an uplifting grand narrative is required for identity development in the academic community, media, civic society, and even government. Already gaining support, this movement is working to oppose the centrifugal forces. There are numerous articles, films, and conferences scheduled.
Study on Comparative Religions
Rajiv’s main area of focus has been on modernising the Dharma in light of the enormous changes and difficulties we are currently facing. His inventive framework, which categorises religions according to their reliance on history, is an illustration of unique thought. Truth claims based on historical evidence have more weight than the actual meaning of the scriptures for adherents of history-centered (Abrahamic) religions. Original sin and the resurrection are examples of historical doctrine that become essential beliefs that cannot be compromised.
This explains why the Nicene Creed is so important to all of the main Christian faiths. Religions that place a strong emphasis on history hold that God revealed His message through a unique prophet, and that the revelation is preserved in the scriptures. Only these intermediates or prophets have this unique access to God; all other people do not. History is not essential to the Dharma traditions. Buddha, for instance, stressed that his enlightenment was just the realisation of a truth that has always existed. No fresh covenants from any God were being brought by him. For Buddhist ideas to be effective on people today, it is not required to know the Buddha’s personal life narrative. In actuality, according to Buddha, neither he nor any other individual had ever attained enlightenment. Additionally, he claimed that everything he had learned was open to every person to discover for themselves and that neither he nor any other god had sent him as a prophet.
Indian Mind Sciences
The materialistic metaphysics that underlies contemporary physical and biological sciences is challenged by the paradigms underlying Indian traditions. While the results of these Western sciences are impressive, their rigid adherence to a materialist paradigm has prevented them from fully comprehending the nature of consciousness. In this regard, the Infinity Foundation has performed innovative work by organising conferences at several eminent Indian institutions, including the IITs, Delhi University, and many others, to bring the theories of Indian psychology and mind sciences to the forefront. As a result, certain Indian colleges established Indian Psychology as a formal department. While the aforementioned represents one aspect of what Rajiv and the Infinity Foundation have accomplished, the second is Rajiv’s ground-breaking research into Western scholars who have appropriated Indian mind sciences and reformulated these concepts into their own paradigms without citing the Indian sources. There is no like art anywhere in the world.
Perspective on Globalization
The competition between civilizations in a world with increasingly limited resources, as well as the part India will play in this conflict, are two of Rajiv Malhotra’s main areas of academic interest. He asserts that China, Pan-Islam, and the West are the three civilizations vying for supremacy on the international arena, each having its own unique history, sense of purpose, identity, and grand narrative. He looks into several scenarios in which India might take part, providing various consequences for India as a nation-state and the foundations of its civilization.
Creating new vocabulary
Rajiv has created a number of phrases that have entered the dharmically inclined community’s language in order to explain his unique beliefs. He popularised numerous terms that are now used frequently, including “Breaking India,” “Indian Grand Narrative,” “Hindu Open Architecture,” “Mutual Respect,” “History-Centrism,” “Digestion,” and “Hinduphobia.”
Books:
Breaking India, 2011
This book explores the differences between the West and India. It tries to refute some widely held beliefs, such as the notions that Western paradigms are universal and that the teachings of the dharmic traditions are essentially equivalent to those of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Even though the Vedas assert that “truth is one, paths are many,” the distinctions between those paths are not insignificant. I shall contend that, despite their flaws, the dharmic traditions provide viewpoints and methods for a social order that is really pluralistic and fully integrates many diverse religions, including atheism and science. Additionally, they provide models for environmental sustainability and holistic education that are priceless for our developing world.
Being Different, 2013
India is more than just a country. Furthermore, it is a distinct civilization with philosophies and cosmologies that differ significantly from the dominant culture of the time, the West. India’s spiritual traditions are based on dharma, which is not exactly mirrored in western conceptualizations. Unfortunately, the civilizational matrix of India is being assimilated into western universalism in the haste to celebrate the country’s rising prominence on the international stage, which weakens its uniqueness and potential. In this book, India is repositioned from being the observed to being the observer, addressing the difficulty of direct and honest interaction on differences.
Academic Hinduphobia, 2016
When I began to criticise Wendy Doniger’s portrayals of Hinduism, which the majority of Hindus found vulgar and downright offensive, there was a big uproar in the late 1990s. Many others thought it would be too controversial for them to express their feelings in public, while others were too ashamed to face them. My discussion with her pupils swiftly devolved into a public outcry. Many practising Hindus demanded that their tradition be better represented in academic works on the subject. Soon after I published my first articles, Wendy Doniger’s University of Chicago® Magazine conducted an extensive and fair interview with me. It was their main narrative. The vulnerability of this Hindu studies icon alarmed the Doniger camp.
Indra’s Net,2016
This book articulates the multi-dimensional, holographic explanation of reality taught by Hindu dharma and provides a thorough, methodical refutation of such viewpoints. The idea of Indra’s Net, which has its roots in the Atharva Veda, serves as a potent metaphor for this interconnectedness. Many intellectuals have taken to repeating the myth that the dharma traditions lacked any kind of cohesion prior to the British era and that our colonial overlords left us with the characteristics of modern Hinduism. Such academics frequently attack Swami Vivekananda, accusing him of hiding a number of purported “contradictions” between the dharmic systems. He is accused of borrowing concepts from Western religion and science in order to “manufacture” the Hindu worldview and practises.
Battle of Sanskrit, 2017
The ongoing westernisation of the conversation about India is being contested by a rising awakening. The Battle for Sanskrit aims to inform conventional academics of Sanskrit and sanskriti Indian civilisation about a significant school of thought with a US foundation that has begun to dominate the conversation about India’s cultural, social, and political dimensions. The name of this academic discipline is indology or study of Sanskrit. Using their examination of Sanskrit writings, academics in this subject are actively acting in contemporary Indian society to purge the ‘poisons’ that are allegedly embedded in these books.
Sanskrit non-translatables, 2020
The importance of Sanskritizing English – An innovative and bold attempt to Sanskritize English and enrich it with potent Sanskrit terms is Sanskrit Non-Translatables. It extends the unique and ground-breaking notion of Sanskrit’s non-translatability that was initially presented in the book Being Different. This should serve as the catalyst for English readers to fight the digestion of Sanskrit into English by incorporating loanwords into their vocabulary without translation. The book investigates the loss of adhikara for the Sanskrit language as a result of translating its fundamental concepts into English and gives a complete mechanism of the digestive process. The campaign started by this book will oppose this and halt initiatives that aim to make Sanskrit obsolete by translating all of its culturally significant works. It explores 54 texts that cannot be translated and are frequently mistranslated in a variety of genres.
AI and the future of Power, 2020
Similar to an iceberg, artificial intelligence is only partially visible. We must delve deeper in order to properly comprehend it. The upside is that technology is improving machine intelligence. The deeper perspective described in this book reveals that AI is also rendering an increasing number of humans psychologically and cognitively dependent on digital networks. It is impossible to escape the pervasive impact of AI, regardless of your obsession with social media, your knowledge of AI, or your level of paranoia. The brains behind the convergence of quantum computing, nanotechnology, medical technology, brain-machine interface, robotics, aerospace, 5G, the Internet of Things, and other fields is artificial intelligence. The pillars of healthcare, the military, entertainment, education, marketing, and manufacturing are being upended as a result of it amplifying human inventiveness. synthetic intelligence. The pillars of healthcare, the military, entertainment, education, marketing, and manufacturing are being upended as a result of it amplifying human inventiveness.
Snakes in the Ganga,2020 / Breaking India 2.0
serpents in the Ganges reveals hard truths about India’s vulnerabilities:
A well-organized global machine led by a new ideology is responsible for the intense fight against India’s integrity.
In US academia, Marxism has been reborn as Critical Race Theory, which provides the foundation for addressing racism in the country. India has been carelessly laid out as follows: Race and caste are equated. Indian Brahmins and marginalised communities are referred to as the country’s Whites and Blacks, respectively. Groups with legitimate complaints are erroneously grouped together, including Muslims and LGBTQ+ people.
The goal of the so-called Woke movement, which has been conducting an unyielding assault against India’s government, educational institutions, culture, industry, and society, is to destroy Indian civilisation and history.
These social theories were created in partnership with Indian academics, activists, journalists, and artists at Harvard University. This poses a clear and present danger to India’s national security and sovereignty. With their wealth and prestigious titles, certain Indian elites are elevating Harvard to the status of the vishwa guru.
The stability of India is seriously threatened by the importation of Wokeism into several private universities in India. Indian corporations are implementing the most recent Western rating system for governance, social responsibility, and the environment. This supports the international social justice movement.
China has used this most recent infrastructure as a route to India.
Some of the policies of the Indian government have been contaminated by wokeism. For instance, the National Education Policy 2020 promotes the liberal arts as practised at Harvard.
In order to recolonize India with the most modern Western system of Environmental, Social, and Governance ratings, a whole ecosystem of beliefs, institutions, and young leaders is evolving. This supports the international social justice movement.
The Power of Future Machines, 2023 / Essays on Artificial Intelligence
A collection of expert essays titled “The Power of Future Machines” examines how artificial intelligence (AI) will change a variety of human endeavours in the future. Experts from a range of disciplines (military, geopolitics, strategic affairs, physics, policy, and others) engage and discuss the potential effects of Al for a larger audience, building on the dialectical and analytical framework offered in the book Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power: 5 Battlegrounds. This anthology is fascinating to read because of the unique perspectives and perspectives that come from the authors’ areas of expertise.
The Battle for IITs, 2023 / A Defense of Meritocracy
Attackers are targeting IITs! This has significant effects for the IITs across India, their students, and faculty, as well as important legal ramifications. It affects India’s engineering education more broadly. The IIT engineer and other tech professionals would experience such coordinated attacks wherever they go to work. We must comprehend the level of complexity behind this campaign, which is being carried out by Harvard University’s Woke apparatus. IITians and other engineers now have the resources to respond to unfounded charges that they are casteist bigots thanks to this book’s evidence-based refutation.
Ten Heads Of Ravana, 2023 / A Critique of Hinduphobic Scholars
Authors Dr. K.S. Kannan, Dr. H.R. Meera, Manogna Sastry, Subhodeep Mukhopadhyay, T.N. Sudarshan, Dr. Sharda Narayanan, Anurag Sharma, and Divya Reddy have exposed numerous factual errors, deliberate misrepresentations, and distortions in the scholarship of many such intellectual leaders of the modern Rvana in this collection of essays.
Varna Jati Caste,2023 / Basic Social Structures of India
Caste is a key tool used to humiliate Hindus. This concise and simple primer offers a potent rebuttal to the scathing attacks on caste made by Western universalism. It is long past time to provide all open-minded people with a toolkit to better appreciate the nuances of the intricate social structure of Hinduism. After all, this social system has given rise to a civilization with unmatched diversity. The prevalent caste myths are destroyed by the Vedic worldview and the historical path of Varna and Jati.
More Stories
Unloved – The Art of Moving On: A Powerful Guide to Healing After Heartbreak by Harshita Gupta | Book of the Week at The Literature Today
The Literature Today is proud to feature Harshita Gupta’s debut book, Unloved – The Art of Moving On, as our...
Amitav Ghosh Wins Dutch Erasmus Prize for Highlighting Climate Change Impact on Humanity
Indian author Amitav Ghosh has been awarded the prestigious Dutch Erasmus Prize for his significant contributions to highlighting the impact...
Unfathomed – #ThinkingNidra by Nidra Naik
Book: Unfathomed - #ThinkingNidraAuthor: Nidra NaikAvailable on: Amazon | GoodreadsFollow the Author on Instagram: @thinkingnidra Nidra Naik’s Unfathomed is a...
Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore’s Interregnum
Title: Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore's InterregnumAuthor: Vikram SampathPages: 984Publisher: VintageBuy now The enigma of Tipu Sultan, a ruler...
The shortlist for the 2024 Crossword Book Awards is revealed.
The shortlist for the prestigious Jury Awards has been carefully chosen by the distinguished jury of the 2024 Crossword Book...
At the 2024 Bal Sahitya Awards, Sahitya Akademi honours 23 authors for their contributions to children’s literature.
On Thursday, the Sahitya Akademi presented the 2024 Bal Sahitya Awards to 23 writers in recognition of their outstanding contributions...