Sahana Singh
@singhsahana • 33,990 subscribers
Author, Commentator, Public Speaker, Connector of dots, Conveyor of thoughts, Convenor of minds
Videos
This is Bharatiya Sabhyata. She’s not just handing out hot rotis to monkeys; she is blowing air into them to cool them down so the monkeys’ tongues won’t get burned. This is how Bhuta Yajna mentioned in Bhagavad Gita, Manusmriti and other Sanskrit texts is performed.
Sahana Singh627,272 görüntüleme • 8 ay önce
If you are still singing the "Happy Birthday" song and have not discovered the melodious Janmadinam Idam song in Sanskrit composed by Swami Tejomayananda, you are missing something. The birthday song in English merely wishes you a happy day but the Janmadinam song? It wishes you a life of meaning, purpose, blessings from Ishwara and fame coming from virtuous deeds. When it comes to profundity, it is hard to beat Sanskrit.
Sahana Singh120,875 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
Why did the Arabs and later the Christians reject negative numbers when the concepts arrived from India? For the Indians who were comfortable with abstract entities, zero and negative numbers did not cause much difficulty. In fact, negative numbers were even used in accounting by the baniya community. For the Arabs, math was more in the realm of geometry; so areas and lengths could only be seen as positive quantities. The original reel was posted by Instagram handle samyuspeaks at
Sahana Singh251,903 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
When I learned about the Samavartana ceremony in ancient India while researching on India's educational heritage, I was simply mindblown by the verses from Shikshavalli in Taittiriya Upanishad that were chanted. And I thought why the hell are we not chanting these very verses when students graduate today? So much meaning, so much depth! But then I realized this ceremony was designed for Brahmacharis who have led a life designed for learning deep truths. Imagine a graduation ceremony culminating in a sacred bath for the student! All the same it made me feel good to see IIT Delhi including these chants at their recent convocation. We are still far from decolonization but perhaps even the symbolism of a timeless ceremony should be appreciated. More than anything it is fun to see the leftists frothing at the mouth over the 'Hindu' chants at an IIT convocation.
Sahana Singh22,223 görüntüleme • 13 gün önce
There is a heartbreaking Persian ballad written during the Arab invasion of Persia crying out to India for help. The song mourns the death of Zoroastrian Persia and hopes that one Bahram would return with forces from India to free their homeland which is being humiliated and forced to give up fire worship. The original reel was posted by Instagram handle samyuspeaks at
Sahana Singh129,839 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
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Why are Hindu women traditionally not allowed to attend a cremation ceremony? It would appear to me that society wished to protect the female from the trauma of watching the body burn and the head exploding. But interestingly, when it came to birth, the men were kept away from watching the pains and bloody messiness of childbirth. As Dr Koenraad Elst and Dr Pankaj Saxena have pointed out, death was a man’s job and birth was a woman’s job.
Sahana Singh101,599 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
When people are asked who their favorite character in Mahabharata is, they mostly say Arjuna or Karna. But for me, it has always been Bhima. He did not need Krishna to teach him the Gita. He did not become a psychological mess before the war. He was aligned with the divine will of Krishna. He killed the greatest threats to Dharma - Jarasandha, Kichaka and then went on eliminate 99 of the 100 Kauravas. He was the epitome of physical and mental strength. There is no one quite like Bhima. The original reel is posted by Instagram handle samyuspeaks at
Sahana Singh83,332 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce
When I first learned that the proofreading symbol commonly known as carat, an inverted V that we use for adding words in sentences actually came from Sanskrit, I was astounded! In Mrichhakatikam, a Sanskrit play written over 2000 years ago, the villain Shakaara rudely uses the word Kakapada to insult someone’s marking on the forehead. Our teacher Sarvesh Tiwari casually remarked that it is the same symbol we use today. How many more gems am I going to find in Sanskrit language?
Sahana Singh55,386 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
If there's one video that reflects exactly what NRIs and OCIs feel upon landing in India - this is it. Can't believe an Indian did not make this. The "I want it now even if mad dogs chase me" kind of visceral urgency has been conveyed so effectively! No wonder it has gone viral.
Sahana Singh327,476 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
When Guillame le Gentil, the French astronomer visited India, he was keen to learn how the Brahmins accurately calculated the timing of eclipses without using tables. He has described an encounter with a Tamilian astronomer in Pondicherry who moved some cowrie shells on the floor, chanted shlokas and gave the answer without writing any numbers anywhere. The original video has been posted by Instagram handle samyuspeaks at
Sahana Singh69,313 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
One more performance by the wandering flautist who came to my doorstep yesterday, Shri Ramaniah whom so many of you appreciated. I felt tears welling up when he left to play on another street with hardly anyone opening the door to him. If you want to support him, his number is 9611049957.
Sahana Singh106,008 görüntüleme • 8 ay önce
Not many know that the practice of open defecation in India actually came from knowing the dangers of contact with fecal matter. Until the early 20th century, in villages, it was still safe to defecate in secluded places. It was only when populations increased enormously that it became dangerous. After Independence, India should have taken the lead in smart ECOSAN toilets.
Sahana Singh47,468 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
Switching to throne-like Western toilets is one of the biggest lifestyle mistakes of modern times. Human anatomy was designed for squatting. In a natural squat position, the rectum aligns properly, allowing effortless elimination. On a seated toilet, the body has to strain. It leads to constipation, hemorrhoids, pelvic floor dysfunction and long-term digestive issues. But that’s not all. We lost the ability to squat! In rural India, squatting was once an everyday posture. People rested, chatted, even had their chai in a relaxed squat. Today? We go to the gym to “learn” how to squat again. It’s marketed as a premium fitness movement for mobility, strength, and longevity. We abandoned a daily habit that kept our bodies aligned only to repackage it as exercise. Seems to me that modernity is just another word for amnesia!
Sahana Singh50,631 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
It's interesting that control over sexual desires was an important attribute of education for men in India. The Kaupina was worn by male students as a symbol of their celibacy. But the women were dressing as seductively as they wanted. This reel was originally posted by Instagram handle Samyu Speaks at
Sahana Singh30,597 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
This venerable Uber driver in Delhi (from Bihar) gave me so many Ayurvedic recipes for good health. Indian Knowledge Systems are woven into everyday conversations. I recorded this part where he’s telling me about how he drinks Punarnava instead of tea in the morning.
Sahana Singh59,802 görüntüleme • 8 ay önce
I am at Vishwambhar Veda Pathshala near Ayodhya. Every now and then in the mornings, the students and Acharyas set out on a Prabhat Pheri like this. They sing or chant for Bharat Mata or Bhagwan as they walk through green fields and village streets. It is a beautiful experience!
Sahana Singh57,766 görüntüleme • 9 ay önce
Brahmacharya was once an extremely important aspect of Indian education. If you did not learn self-control as a part of your learning, you were not fit to be even called educated. Self control refered to not just sexual urges but food, sleep, and even thoughts. The best part is that techniques for self-control were taught; it was not just lecturing to control desires.
Sahana Singh39,400 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
Divinity has a way of finding you at some point in the day in India if only you listen. That is because despite the awful traffic, the land is steeped in spirituality. My forehead furrowed from looking at the computer suddenly relaxed and I because aware of music on the street. Not the boom boom kind but something so evocative. At first, I wanted to just finish my writing. But my mind pushed me to find out who is playing and why is he on the street. So glad I followed my heart. The flautist was one Ramanai who no longer gets as many invitations to play at events. Strapping on a shruti box and audio apparatus he roams from street to street in Bengaluru hoping someone will appreciate his art. If you like his music and want to support him, Ramanai’s number is 9611049957.
Sahana Singh44,012 görüntüleme • 8 ay önce
Do you want to see the ecstasy experienced by a plant-based nutritionist when she sees a healthy breakfast laid out before her? This cart with varieties of sprouts was standing right outside Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya and I was at hand recording Shobha Swamy’s reactions. 😂 Check out for her recipes.
Sahana Singh42,558 görüntüleme • 9 ay önce