Where our ideas come from. Most of what we write draws on one primary source. We would rather say so clearly than let it look like our own.
References
Madhyasth Darshan
Madhyasth Darshan, also called Sah-astitvavad, the philosophy of coexistence, was given by Shri A. Nagraj. It sets out to describe existence as it is: the self, the body, relationships, society and nature, and how a human being can live in harmony with all of them.
Its central idea is that existence is coexistence. Everything exists in relationship, and each part, understood properly, completes the others. The human goal it names is the four things this site is organised around: समाधान (clarity), समृद्धि (enough), अभय (trust) and सहअस्तित्व (harmony).
How we use it
- Our definitions in Glossary are drawn from its Paribhasha Sanhita, the book of definitions. Each one names the Hindi term and the page.
- Our essays credit it by name wherever an idea comes from it, and list the references under “Sources”.
- The English wording is ours. Translating carefully is hard, and where our words fall short, the original is the authority, not us.
- Our own lines, the short sentences that open many essays, are our attempts to say these ideas in everyday language. They are not quotations from the source.
Translation, paraphrase and application
When you read us citing a page, it helps to know which of three things we are doing:
- A translation puts a passage into English as closely as we can. We use these rarely, and say so when we do.
- A paraphrase restates an idea from the source in our own words. Most definitions in the Glossary are paraphrases.
- An application uses an idea from the source on a question it doesn’t address directly, such as AI, a business or a climate strategy. Applications are our own reasoning, and the source is not responsible for them. Each essay’s “Sources” list points to the passages it starts from.
Books we draw on
All by Shri A. Nagraj, in Hindi:
- मध्यस्थ दर्शन परिभाषा संहिता (Madhyasth Darshan Paribhasha Sanhita), the book of definitions behind our Glossary
- मानव व्यवहार दर्शन (Manav Vyavahar Darshan)
- मानव कर्म दर्शन (Manav Karm Darshan)
- मानव अभ्यास दर्शन (Manav Abhyas Darshan)
- मानव अनुभव दर्शन (Manav Anubhav Darshan)
- समाधानात्मक भौतिकवाद (Samadhanatmak Bhautikvad)
- व्यवहारात्मक जनवाद (Vyavaharatmak Janvad)
- अनुभवात्मक अध्यात्मवाद (Anubhavatmak Adhyatmavad)
- व्यवहारवादी समाजशास्त्र (Vyavaharvadi Samajshastra)
- आवर्तनशील अर्थशास्त्र (Avartanshil Arthashastra)
- मानव संचेतनावादी मनोविज्ञान (Manav Sanchetanavadi Manovigyan)
- मानवीय संविधान सूत्र व्याख्या (Manaviya Samvidhan Sutra Vyakhya)
- जीवन विद्या एक परिचय (Jeevan Vidya: Ek Parichay)
Limitations
- We are students of this philosophy, not authorities on it. Our readings may be incomplete or mistaken.
- Putting Hindi concepts into English always loses something. Some of our words may carry meanings the original doesn’t.