The Double-Edged Sword: Navigating the Human and Social Paradoxes of the Bhagavad Gita
The warrior prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna - the key protagonist of the Mahabharata war. Image obtained from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Licence

The Double-Edged Sword: Navigating the Human and Social Paradoxes of the Bhagavad Gita

Mahesh Nirmalan MD, FRCA, PhD, FFICM, University of Manchester, United Kingdom Human life is defined by a deep-seated paradox which at times may seem unsurmountable. On the one hand we are biological organisms subject to the rules of physics and chemistry and therefore subject to entropy, decay and dissolution. We get hungry, tired, we age and ultimately, we all cease to function. Yet within this fragile and time limited existence there remains a sense of ‘I’ or ‘me’ that feels constant. Despit


Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan

Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan

Controversial Jaffna MP Ramanathan Archchuna Brandishes Handgun in Land Dispute

Controversial Jaffna MP Ramanathan Archchuna Brandishes Handgun in Land Dispute

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Ramanathan Archchuna, a controversial Member of Parliament from Jaffna, is again facing scrutiny after he was seen brandishing a handgun during a land dispute, according to video reviewed by Jaffna Monitor and interviews with witnesses — an episode that has also raised fresh questions about the authorities who authorized him to carry a firearm. The episode occurred on Saturday in the Periyavilaan area of Jaffna, where the property at the center of the confrontation is curren


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Air Force Denies Radar Plan at Trincomalee Temple Site

Air Force Denies Radar Plan at Trincomalee Temple Site

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lanka Air Force has denied that it plans to install a radar system within the Fort Frederick precinct in Trincomalee, rejecting concerns raised by trustees of the Thirukoneswaram Temple, who had urged the public to oppose what they called a fresh encroachment on sacred land. Air Force officials, speaking to Jaffna Monitor on condition of anonymity in line with service protocols, said no proposal had been advanced to place radar equipment within the temple grounds or


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

From Sinlung to Zion: The Long Journey of a Lost Tribe

From Sinlung to Zion: The Long Journey of a Lost Tribe

They came through the doors shortly after ten at night, a small procession of exhausted travellers shuffling beneath an arch of blue-and-white balloons. A red carpet had been unrolled across the polished floor of Terminal 1. In the distance, a loudspeaker played “Oseh Shalom,” the old peace song that has become a runway anthem for Israeli homecomings. The men wore knitted kippot or hats. The married women wore head coverings, as is customary in Orthodox Judaism. Many were weeping. There were m


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Unafraid and Unbowed

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." - Isaiah 58:1 His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and chief shepherd of the Catholic flock in all of Sri Lanka, has recently marked fifty years in the sacred priesthood. As the highest-ranking prelate whose dominion spans the entire island, he now stands as a mighty voice crying for justice, calling upon the nations of the earth for interv


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Why South Asia Reveres Books-and Fears Their Destruction Irrespective of religion, across the Indian subcontinent, books have long held an exalted status. In the indigenous spiritual traditions that emerged from this land-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism-knowledge is not merely valued; it is venerated in the highest order. In homes, temples, and schools across the region, people treat books with profound reverence-never touching them with their feet, and if done accidentally, offering a


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

The dead do not speak - but the earth does A few years ago, I visited Cambodia. My original aim was to see the Angkor Wat temple complex. But, as always, my journalistic instincts led me deeper into rural Cambodia, where I found myself in quiet conversations with a few former soldiers of the Pol Pot regime, now living ordinary lives as toddy tappers, farmers, and small shop owners. One of them - a former henchman of the Khmer Rouge - opened up after a few glasses of toddy. In a hauntingly calm


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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Charith: The Cost of War, Carried for Life

Charith: The Cost of War, Carried for Life

By: Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke I first met Charith in the early hours of 19th November 2008, in Ward 8 of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital. He arrived as a wounded soldier from the war front, bearing injuries that would change the course of his life forever. For three months he remained under my care, during which time our relationship grew beyond that of surgeon and patient. Years later, Charith recognizes me not by sight but by the sound of my voice. Sadly, he lives in permanent darkness. C


Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Air Force Radar Plan Near Thirukoneswaram Temple Draws Opposition

Air Force Radar Plan Near Thirukoneswaram Temple Draws Opposition

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A proposal by the Sri Lanka Air Force to install a radar system on land within the historic Fort Frederick precinct in Trincomalee has drawn opposition from trustees of the Thirukoneswaram Temple, who say the move threatens the sanctity of the site and extends a decades-long pattern of military encroachment. The temple, which is associated in local tradition with King Ravana, is a Hindu shrine perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the Indian Ocean in eastern Sri Lanka.


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Balangoda Kassapa Thero’s Remarks Draw Contempt Plea as Chavakachcheri Court Weighs Next Step

Balangoda Kassapa Thero’s Remarks Draw Contempt Plea as Chavakachcheri Court Weighs Next Step

CHAVAKACHCHERI, Sri Lanka — The Chavakachcheri Magistrate’s Court is to decide next week whether to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Balangoda Kassapa Thero, following submissions by a group of lawyers who allege that statements he made at a press conference in Colombo amount to contempt. The issue arises in connection with an ongoing case involving a Buddhist monk accused of attempting to sexually assault a minor at the Navatkuli Vihara. The accused monk was arrested, remanded, a


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

A Guest List, Not a Policy Signal

A Guest List, Not a Policy Signal

By: K. Selvarathnam In a recent commentary for Jaffna Monitor, the veteran Indian journalist M. R. Narayan Swamy argued that the exclusion of Douglas Devananda from India’s Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan’s April 19 meeting with Sri Lankan Tamil leaders at the Taj Samudra was more than an oversight. It was, he suggested, a slight to the Eelam People’s Democratic Party leader and, by extension, evidence of a “gaping hole” in New Delhi’s Sri Lanka policy. With due respect to the writer, howev


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

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