Knowledge is a multi-pronged tool. Unfortunately, it’s never disinterested. The goal of knowledge can be either to propagate Dharma or to advance the cause of Adharma.
Unfortunately, much of the global knowledge system in the humanities and social sciences has been used to propagate the cause of Adharma vis a vis Bharat and its civilizational and cultural ethos.
The soft propaganda against Bharatiya culture, history, and civilization manifests itself through the academic hegemony of the anti-Hindu and anti-Bharat forces that ironically enough, are considered authorities on topics related to Hindu Dharma, civilization, and the history of Bharat. Some of these forces operate from inside Bharat and some from outside but irrespective of their location, the damage they do to Bharat is immense. They are powerful voices to reckon with and thus, whatever they say or write becomes the “truth” in the mainstream public narrative and media discourse.
“Ten Heads of Ravana: A Critique of Hinduphobic Scholars” edited by Rajiv Malhotra and Divya Reddy is perhaps the first-ever academic attempt to challenge the discourse of renowned Hinduphobic scholars on such a massive scale. The book takes the metaphor of Ravana to critique the misuse of knowledge and intellect by these Hinduphobic scholars. Thus, the 10 scholars whose ideas have been critiqued in the book, are symbolic of the ten heads of Ravana.
The book covers an exhaustive ground critiquing the ideas and theories of scholars like Romila Thapar, Sheldon Pollock, Michael Witzel, Devdutt Pattanaik, Irfan Habib, Shashi Tharoor, Audrey Truschke, Ramachandra Guha, Kancha Ilaiah, and Wendy Doniger. It’s a collection of ten essays and each is devoted to an academic rebuttal of the work of one Hinduphobic scholar/writer. Some of these names are only known to those exposed to academic debates on Hindu Dharma and culture, while others are well-known in the popular culture circuit. Figures like Romila Thapar, Shashi Tharoor, Devdutt Pattanaik, and Ramachandra Guha are the kind of scholars whose ideas have gained widespread currency through mainstream media and social media. Some of these figures also double up as newspaper columnists, speakers, etc, and have gained over-exposure in both Bharatiya and foreign media. Thus, they are a tad bit more dangerous than the Hinduphobic academic scholars whose works haven’t yet made it to the popular TV debates.
“Ten Heads of Ravana” does seem quite an intimidating read for people without an academic background. It’s full of references and footnotes. Each essay summarizes the popular ideas ’theoretical propositions of a particular Hinduphobic scholar, quotes directly from their works, and then counters their ideas using arguments and quotes/paraphrasing from various other sources. This might make the book seem out of reach for people used to reading more accessible non-fiction books. But once you start, the intimidation wears off.
The essays are academic, but they are very lucidly written with many sub-headings, and each sub-heading takes on a popular idea of the Hinduphobic scholar being critiqued. Even if you don’t understand everything, it’s easy to get the gist of what the author is saying and their main arguments. Moreover, the themes being taken up in these essays: the whitewashing of Islamic rule by well-known historians, the distortion of Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, the distortion and demonizing of Sanskrit studies by so-called Sanskrit scholars, the overselling of Aryan Migration theory to prove that Bharat has no original identity of its own and everyone is essentially an outsider, to deliberately misinterpret and misrepresent the open-ended and liberal mould of Hindu Dharma to discredit political Hinduism, etc, are the kind of themes that educated Bharatiyas are amply exposed to through media and popular culture. Thus, while reading this book, you will realize that you are already familiar with many of the ideas and arguments of these Hinduphobic scholars that these essays critique.
Talking about each Hinduphobic scholar and their rebuttal separately would be too time-consuming. So let’s look at the main ideas of these Hinduphobic scholars that this book critiques. Most of these ideas are not exclusive to one scholar and there is often an overlapping of common themes in the works of these Hinduphobic scholars.
One of the pet projects of these Hinduphbic scholars is the whitewashing of the Islamic rule in Bharat. The first essay is devoted to a critique of Romila Thapar’s scholarship, a powerful contemporary historian who has played a pivotal role in whitewashing the anti-Hindu hatred of the Islamic invaders of Bharat. Not just that, Romila Thapar also distorts medieval history to give the impression that much of the literary and cultural activity that flourished during Mughal rule of Bharat did so under the patronage of the Mughals. She also tries to whitewash conversions that happened during the Islamic rule of Bharat by insinuating that these were not forceful, rather they happened because of peaceful Sufi influence. The essay critiques major tenets of her scholarship, one by one, citing facts from original sources.
Similarly, Audrey Truschke another Hinduphobic scholar, has played a pivotal role in whitewashing the sins of Islamic invaders of Bharat and glorifying them. “A well-known public intellectual, academic, and social media activist”, Truschke tries to sail in too many boats all at once and claims to be an authority on almost anything and everything related to Bharatiya history and culture. She justifies and rationalizes the destruction of Hindu temples by Muslim rulers arguing that it was a standard practice by an invader ( even Hindu rulers destroyed the Temples of the Hindu kingdom they attacked and conquered ) and it had nothing to do with Islam.
Incidentally, Truschke is one of the key forces behind the “Hindutva Harassment Field Manual” initiative, the book tells us. We had talked about this “initiative” in detail in another article; an anti-Hindu propaganda website by the name of “Hindutva Harassment Field Manual” claims to define Hindutva, talks about the apparent difference between Hindutva and Hinduism, and doles out advice to people harassed by Hindutva tools (whatever that means).
Another common theme found in the works of these anti-Hindu scholars is the overselling of now discredited Aryan Migration Theory to prove Bharat has no original inhabitants, and Hindu Dharma has no original basis but it is a mix and appropriation of various other religions. The Aryan Migration Theory is also being used by these scholars to create an arbitrary divide between the north and south of Bharat, and for manufacturing a separate Dravidian identity, argues the book.
Then, the book delves deep into the soft anti-Hindu propaganda of scholars like Shashi Tharoor and Devdutt Pattanaik who are considered an authority on Hindu Dharma by many educated Bharatiyas. Shashi Tharoor misrepresents Hindu Dharma by using its pluralistic ethos as a weapon against Hindus itself. He tries to whitewash everything from the British rule of Bharat to forced conversions of Hindus under the guise that “Hinduism is tolerant”. Tharoor also propagates the common stereotype that Bharat is not really a nation-state since we are a mixture of so many cultures, and we don’t have any specific origins as such, therefore, nationalism is uncalled for, etc.
Devadutt Pattanaik, another highly popular author amongst educated Bharatiyas appropriates and misinterprets Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other Hindu epics to create his own fancy and frivolous theories on management, etc. He concocts stuff by forcefully relating the teachings of ancient Hindu epics to fields like management and business. He also attributes meanings and interpretations to Hindu epics that never existed to push forth his ideology and make his books interesting and dramatic. Rajiv Malhotra’s Infinity Foundation has done consistent work when it comes to busting Devadutt Pattanaik’s propaganda and one can find many insightful videos and material on their youtube channel.
Then, “Ten Heads of Ravana” sheds light on the vicious propaganda of well-known Sanskrit scholars like Sheldon Pollock and Michael Witzel who spit venom against Hindu civilization, Dharma, and culture in the name of studying Sanskrit. According to these scholars, a language like Sanskrit is embedded in deep-seated power structures and its study is linked to the spread of Brahmanical hegemony.
The book devotes a chapter to the critique of the so-called Dalit scholar Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd who leaves no stone unturned in abusing Hindu customs, traditions, Gods, and Goddesses, and openly advocates Christian conversions for supposedly saving and redeeming Hindus.
“Ten Heads of Ravana” is an eye-opening work that brings together enormous scholarly expertise under one umbrella. Taking on these hugely powerful and influential scholars is no mean feat. The book does it wonderfully, without making personal attacks on these scholars or resorting to mudslinging. What you see is a rigorous scholarly critique of the ideas perpetuated by these Hinduphobic scholars.
What you get out of this book depends on how much knowledge you already have on these issues. But irrespective of your knowledge level, if you are an educated Bharatiya, this book is a must-read for you. It will give you an excellent insight into the tools and tactics of the elaborate woke propaganda machinery, and how deeply it has entrenched itself into the global academia and mainstream narrative on Hinduism. It’s ironic that almost every well-known influential academic figure on Hindu Dharma is trying to prove that Hindu Dharma is exploitative, patriarchal, anti-Dalit, and this and that. Any academic voice trying to say something positive and enlightening about Hindu Dharma is shunned and discredited.
The book also brings our attention to the fact that much effort is needed from the government of Bharat to encourage pro-Bharat and pro-Hindu Dharma research initiatives in the humanities and social sciences. That will be the best rebuttal to these Hinduphobic scholars indeed.
