Papers by Vinod Aravindakshan
Zenodo, 2026
The Mulapariyayasutta has the distinction of being the most dense, difficult, abstruse and compli... more The Mulapariyayasutta has the distinction of being the most dense, difficult, abstruse and complicated texts of the Pali Canon. While the translation of the lost Sanskrit original is preserved in Chinese, fragments of this lost Sanskrit manuscript have been found in Turfan, Central Asia. This paper is a reconstruction of the lost Sanskrit text of the ancient Mulaparyayasutra text. This paper covers: • The reconstructed Sanskrit text. • The English translation of the Sanskrit text. • Commentary on the Pali and Sanskrit text. • Anglicized Pali text.
Zenodo, 2026
It is often assumed that Gautama Buddha taught a philosophy absolutely counter to Vedic Sanathana... more It is often assumed that Gautama Buddha taught a philosophy absolutely counter to Vedic Sanathana Dharma. It is also assumed that he did not believe in the idea of the Atman.
By analysing a key verse in the Sundarika Sutta (Sutta Nipāta 3:4), I show that Gautama Buddha not only believed in the Atman, but also advocated core Vedic, Advaita Vedanta and Sankhya concepts found in the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads.
Zenodo, 2026
Probability as a subject is poorly understood by researchers in religion and the humanities. I sh... more Probability as a subject is poorly understood by researchers in religion and the humanities. I show some of the common corruptions of the scientific method and how the scientific method is incorrectly applied to define history and the reality of the past. By pointing out the dangers and problems of an objectivist approach, I propose that an objective or scientific approach is ill suited to study subjects like history and religion.
Zenodo, 2025
The Khajuraho temples are some of the most misunderstood monuments of all time. I explain that mu... more The Khajuraho temples are some of the most misunderstood monuments of all time. I explain that much of the misunderstanding of temples (including Khajuraho) stem from a basic ignorance of what temples represent and its architectural symbolism. Once, a temple layout is seen as an ascent of spiritual chakras, the meaning and purpose of temple worship becomes clear. Thus, I argue that the Khajuraho temples are no more unique than any other temple in India.
Zenodo, 2025
Well before the scientific method was created in the last couple of centuries, there existed a mu... more Well before the scientific method was created in the last couple of centuries, there existed a much older method of investigation. The Vedic method of investigation of reality was built around a robust method of Samsara, Yoga, Sadhana and Siddhis. These terms are translated as observations of the world, a worldview of how things work, experiments with reality and experimentally verifiable results. The Indians never bothered to apply this framework to study the external objective universe because it was assumed that the objective universe is a subset of the subjective universe. Studying the subjective universe was more important, hence the Indians used this method to investigate the motivation of the self. The Europeans merely turned the focus of this investigations from the subjective to the external world. They labelled this approach as modern experimental science. There is nothing new, original or remarkable about this scientific method. If some model has existed for five to eight thousand years before the advent of modern science, the least one would expect is that scientists would give at least some credit to the original source.
Zenodo, 2025
The current understanding of the Hindu deity, Sri Ganesha, is full of popular misunderstandings. ... more The current understanding of the Hindu deity, Sri Ganesha, is full of popular misunderstandings. Western interpreters and Indologists cannot understand the symbolism behind an elephant headed God leading to malicious misinterpretations of Hindu divinity. Applying an objective framework to study Indian divinity leads to bizarre claims and nonsensical tropes. I propose a different approach from a native Hindu practitioners' perspective. Because of a colonial hangover among western researchers, the perspectives of the native Hindu devotees and priests have been typically ignored in the Western understanding of Indian thought. The Advaita and Adhyathma interpretations of Vedanta state that the understanding of Sri Ganesha is filled with symbolism and spiritual meaning. The various facets of Sri Ganesha will be explored in detail. This article is a guide to genuine future researchers to apply more rigor, intellectual honesty, common sense and symbolism in the study of Indian divinity in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths.
Zenodo, 2025
There is a different way of relating our personal experience of the universe to lived reality. Sc... more There is a different way of relating our personal experience of the universe to lived reality. Science and the modern world make a claim that there is only one reality to the external world and that is objective reality. The Vedas, on the other hand, propose multiple levels of reality. There are at least six types of reality and three types of problems humans face. This analysis from a multidimensional perspective helps us breakdown the problem of evil into multiple buckets. This classification helps us understand that evil is not unidimensional. Knowing this perspective helps us understand that evil is but a creation of the mind and a mental construct. Thus, by changing one's mental paradigm, everyone can find a solution to this eternal problem.
Zenodo, 2025
The current scientific theory posits that there is one single objective world all of us inhabit. ... more The current scientific theory posits that there is one single objective world all of us inhabit. It also says that all the species existing in the universe grasp a small piece of this objective reality. The problem with this approach is that humans consider their perceived subjective reality as the one true objective reality. I argue that humans have no idea of the true objective universe and what it really is. All each person perceives is their own subjective universe where they are the observer. This is revealed by a simple example of comparing different perceived universes across species. The conclusion is that humans have no idea of the true objective universe, which is a mere figment of one's imagination. Using Science, each human confuses their individual subjective universe for the objective universe. In effect, all each human can ever know is our own subjective universe. Science rarely studies the perceived universe of other species, so the true objective universe will never be uncovered. Hence, all talk of an objective universe is a tall claim that is neither supported by logic nor experience. An Advaita Hindu based philosophical approach reveals more about the true nature of the universe compares to an imaginary sciencebased approach.
Zenodo, 2025
There is an absolutely new way to interpret the seals and tablets from the Indus Valley Civilizat... more There is an absolutely new way to interpret the seals and tablets from the Indus Valley Civilization. After the absolute failure of so called "indologists" over the past hundreds of years to derive any meaning from the Indus Valley tablets, a new model is proposed. This model which is a story-based interpretation of the motifs which has never been attempted so far. I argue that the Buffalo Sacrifice tablet and other tablets acquire a totally new Dharmic meaning when interpreted as a recounting of famous Puranic stories. I have used the Puranic interpretation of Durga as a way to interpret the Buffalo Sacrifice tablet. Every figure on the tablet now acquires a new meaning. Shiva the Adi-Yogi, Durga, Mahishasura and Indra are revealed as the three mysterious figures in the tablet. This interpretation raises a question that challenges long held colonial biases of Indologists. Firstly, Puranic stories and Rig Vedic stories predate the Indus Valley Civilization. They may have emerged together and co-existed in an oral form before being written down in the Vedas and Puranas. Secondly, Shiva and Shakti were prominent deities worshipped in the Indus Valley. Thirdly, the Indus Valley Civilization was completely Hindu in character and essence.
Zenodo, 2025
Standard interpretations of the seals and images from the Indus Valley Civilization have struggle... more Standard interpretations of the seals and images from the Indus Valley Civilization have struggled to understand the meanings and significance of the motifs. The best researchers across the world have struggled to find the meaning of the symbols of the Indus Valley Civilization. I argue that the lack of success is driven by a lack of understanding of Indian religious stories and an ignorance of how interconnected Indian spirituality and daily tradition is. I make the case for a story-based interpretation of Indus Valley seals and symbols. This has never been attempted so far. I use this technique on the Pashupati seal and the Buffalo Sacrifice Tablet to explain how an indecipherable seal becomes laden with meaning when interpreted the right way. I also propose that Vaishnavite and Shaivite worship is thousands of years older than commonly believed. The Pashupati seal is possibly full of Vaishnavite and Shaivite symbols which all modern scholars of Indian anthropology and religion may have completely missed. Using this new story-based model of interpreting India Valley seals could be the way to unlocking their true significance. It remains to be seen if this model can be used to unlock other seals. However, the direction has a lot of promise
Academia, 2025
The Western understanding of history is linear. Truth claims are often measured on the basis of h... more The Western understanding of history is linear. Truth claims are often measured on the basis of how these align with the Christian salvation theology. Indian understanding of history is cyclical and non-linear. Hence, trying to fit the history Indian scriptures on a linear historical timeline of the West is disastrous.
In the same way, modern science and the Renaissance merely plagiarizes and repeats long dead Neo-Platonic ideas heavily infused with religious soteriological theology. India has its own investigations of reality based on immanence. I argue that Indians must understand the underlying assumptions of modern science and history, which are heavily slanted towards the West ignoring Eastern worldviews. The non-West should develop its own ways to integrate Science into society based on their own homegrown models of Science rather than blindly borrowing upon alien Greek and religion infused western scientific theology.
Academia, 2025
Modern researchers love to give a date to the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas etc. They try... more Modern researchers love to give a date to the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas etc. They try to solve a specific problem of historicity, but I will argue that they also end up creating a lot of other problems. They end up adopting a western linear idea of history to understand the timeline of the Vedas and often end up with extreme contradictions. I argue that historians need to reimagine their current understanding of history if they need to understand the Indian epics and scriptures.
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Papers by Vinod Aravindakshan
By analysing a key verse in the Sundarika Sutta (Sutta Nipāta 3:4), I show that Gautama Buddha not only believed in the Atman, but also advocated core Vedic, Advaita Vedanta and Sankhya concepts found in the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads.
In the same way, modern science and the Renaissance merely plagiarizes and repeats long dead Neo-Platonic ideas heavily infused with religious soteriological theology. India has its own investigations of reality based on immanence. I argue that Indians must understand the underlying assumptions of modern science and history, which are heavily slanted towards the West ignoring Eastern worldviews. The non-West should develop its own ways to integrate Science into society based on their own homegrown models of Science rather than blindly borrowing upon alien Greek and religion infused western scientific theology.