Art, Cosmology and the Divine | Part VI

Main photo (alongside) is a Basohli illustration to the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna Lifting the Mountain Govardhana, Tira-Sujanpur, early 18th c.

The final part of this six-part series (Read earlier parts: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V) in which distinguished scientist, academic and Vedic scholar Subhash Kak shows how traditional Indian art is not only aesthetically sublime, but is a reflection of the cosmos and of the Divine itself. In this Part VI, Subhash Kak discusses how the Indian way, with its focus on transcendence can help modern society find a harmony of body and soul. A story from the Puranas serves as an apt metaphor.

Part VI: The Indian aesthetic in an age of war

Read this article in the LivingWise Project Digest.

Read Part I: Introduction

Read part II: General equivalences

Read Part III: Temples and Gods

Read Part IV: churning of the ocean

Read Part V: Krishna’s dance

References:  Kak, S., 2000. The Astronomical Code of the Rgveda. Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi.
Kak, S., 2002. The Gods Within. Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi.
Kak, S., 2002. The Asvamedha: The Rite and its Logic. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi.
Kak, S., 2003. The Prajna Sutra: Aphorisms of Intuition. LSU, Baton Rouge.
Kak, S., 2004. The Architecture of Knowledge. CRC/Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi.
Kak, S., 2005.  Early Indian art and architecture. Migration and Diffusion, vol 6, 2005, pp. 6-27.
Kak, S. 2006. The axis and the perimeter of the Hindu temple. Mankind Quarterly, 2006.