Hello,

Sorry for the irrelevant question, what is the music played at the beginning and end of each Indian Philosophy Podcast? Maybe it is already mentioned somewhere, but I missed it.

I am totally unqualified to comment on this, but I guess, this separation might be more apparent in the dissenting schools which challenged the Vedic worldview, like say Lokayatas, Charvaks, or even Buddhist texts. Also, regarding Gita : Since the Mahabharata text was compiled over a period of centuries, with countless retellings, revisions, so it might be possible that the religious overtones are a product of a later phase of Vaishnavism.

Thanks Peter it's a really great series. I have always interested in this relationship between dharma/ adharma and Kharma. Khrishna says he comes into the world to punish adharma. This carries with it a concept of right action, though, within the Hindu tradition this seems to have a highly nuanced meaning! Krishna’s conduct at Kuruksetra has consequences not even he can avoid.

Dear Peter,

Just discovered this very interesting magazine thanks to you. Loved the first article, and looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series.

Best,

Penelope

A very interesting podcast. Thinking on the Bhagavad Gita, was it not Krishna’a devotional argument that ultimately swayed Arjuna, not the metaphysical argument as to action without attachment or that related to duty based on caste. The themes of religion and philosophy are clearly deeply intertwined and not so clearly separated as in the west? Do you think religion and philosophy can be so neatly separated in the Indian tradition and if so, where is the dividing line?

I just wanted to congratulate you on coming up with your worst pun yet. "As unimpeachable as a man with a deadly fruit allergy" is beautifully, shatteringly bad - quite possibly the worst pun I have heard in my life - and I want to wish you the best of luck for your future endeavours in this regard! I am very excited to see what you will come up with, but I should perhaps also mention that even without record-winning groan-inducers, like the above one, listening to your podcast will keep me quite pleasantly entertained until you find a way to top yourself again!
Best of Luck!^_^

Great! Looking forward to that talk. Also, hope the other schools like Ajivika, Charvaks which were mentioned in the last episode, get some more mention in upcoming episodes too.
And convey my thanks to Jonardan as well.

Enjoying the series so much that feel like Indra, waiting for the next episode :)
One thing that I am really curious about is to know how these ideas and their validity kept changing with time. I mean when the Upanisads were being written, Prajapati, Indra were still the major gods, right? However, Prajapati's role gets subsumed by Brahma in later texts. Most vedic gods too become minor. And say a later day philosopher comes across this conversation between Prajapti and Indra, will it carry the same weight in his eyes?