[INDOLOGY] bhagwa dvaj

Thu Aug 3 04:08:13 UTC 2017

Dear Friends,

I'm conducting a geneological study of the *bhagwa dvaj *flag, and would
appreciate any assistance in this matter.

I'm reading about the significance of the flag. As I'm sure many of you are
aware, it is the flag of choice for the RSS. They consider it their 'guru',
and have only recently hoisted the tricolour flag at their Nagpur
headquarters, after several decades of saying they never would. However, it
also happens to sit upon just about every Hindu temple I've ever seen. I'm
curious, then, if this could mean that every temple/ashram supports the
RSS, or that the RSS has simply co-opted the flag, and interpolated their
own political imagination onto the symbology inherent in the flag.
Either way, it is conveniently confusing, as it happens to also represent
sanātana dharma, which is equated with Hinduism. But, then, I would argue
that sanātana dharmic ideology rests at the core of the hindutva project.
Therefore, I'm quite confused about the semiotic entanglement of this one
sign, and its multiple semantic valencies.

I ask these questions because I figure that, if I have trouble
disambiguating these things, what is the chance of success for the recently
minted 200-hr yoga teacher graduate, or casual yoga practitioner?

I'm writing
<http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/yoga-practitioners-and-the-unspoken-global-aspirations-of-indian-ethno-nationalism-patrick-mccartney/>
these
days about the entanglement of global yoga practitioners and their
potentially unwitting, tacit support of hindutva ideology. As an example,
Stephen Knapp, a prominent ISKCON-wallah, and head of the VFA (vedic
friends association), whom some of you might be familiar with,
controversially suggests the following:
<http://www.stephen-knapp.com/basic_points_about_vedic_culture_hinduism.htm>
"The Bhagwa flag has existed and guided the Vedic society right from its
origin. It has inspired and has been honored by the Vedic Saints and
heroes. In ancient times, the warriors used to put on saffron robes and go
to the battlefield. If they are victorious, they will rule and if
vanquished, they might die on the battlefield and thus go to heaven--such
was the motivating force for the heroes."

I find this appeal to a (martial) tradition somewhat perplexing. Aside from
what a lot of Knapp says, this is possibly less controversial; however, for
the uncritical mind, who is expected to unquestionably accept the truth
claims of certain gurus, this type of triction (truth+fiction), is a prime
example of how global yoga practitioners potentially come to unknowingly
support a hindutva world view, which, as Ramdev explains,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG7k42cg2W8> seeks to create a hindutva
alternative to an ISIS caliphate. This, by the way, is his solution. By
creating a global, Vedic theocratic state we can apparently stop a global
Salafist caliphate from succeeding...

Knapp has not responded to my question regarding the textual, historical or
archaeological source of his claims. I'm wondering, then, if anyone is able
to point me towards the earliest mention, perhaps, of the bhagwa dvaj,
anywhere, in a primary, or secondary, text.

Thank you.

All the best,

Patrick McCartney, PhD
Fellow
School of Culture, History & Language
College of the Asia-Pacific
The Australian National University
Canberra, Australia, 0200

Skype - psdmccartney
Phone + Whatsapp:  +61 414 954 748
Twitter - @psdmccartney

*bodhapūrvam calema* ;-)

academia <https://anu-au.academia.edu/patrickmccartney>

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Conversation
<https://theconversation.com/profiles/patrick-mccartney-phd-136054>

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Modern Yoga Research <http://www.modernyogaresearch.org/events/>

#yogabodyANU2016 symposium <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X80KxW2bb0w>
<http://chl.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/658/yoga-and-body-past-and-present-symposium?#tab>

Yoga Fundamentalism - Part 1
<http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/yoga-practitioners-and-the-unspoken-global-aspirations-of-indian-ethno-nationalism-patrick-mccartney/>

<http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/is-the-global-prestige-of-sanskrit-aiding-and-abetting-hindu-nationalists-and-supremacists-patrick-mccartney_/>
Yoga Fundamentalism - Part 2
<http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/is-the-global-prestige-of-sanskrit-aiding-and-abetting-hindu-nationalists-and-supremacists-patrick-mccartney_/>

<http://oicd.net/ge/index.php/politics-beyond-yoga-mat-yoga-fundamentalism-vedic-way-life/>
Politics beyond the yoga mat
<http://oicd.net/ge/index.php/politics-beyond-yoga-mat-yoga-fundamentalism-vedic-way-life/>

The Sanitising Power of Spoken Sanskrit
<https://www.academia.edu/6274287/The_sanitising_power_of_spoken_Sanskrit>

Imagining Sanskrit Land
<https://www.academia.edu/32694583/IMAGINING_SANSKRIT_LAND_ARENA_MAGAZINE_ARTICLE>

Ep1 - Imagining Sanskrit Land <https://youtu.be/jMi7tkPBbJ4>

Ep 2 - Total-am <https://youtu.be/7tAp8m9RHPU>

Ep 3 - Jalam ≠ Chillum <https://youtu.be/cLZeuCT_mwQ>

Ep 4 - It's Time to get Married
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B3un7aHEAc>

A Day in our Ashram
<https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ek+din+hamaare+ashram+mein>

OzHarvest <https://youtu.be/r1E-XWWBmvw>

Stop animation short film of Shakuntala
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVqBD_2P4Pg>

Forced to Clean Human Waste <http://youtu.be/y3XfjbwqC_g>

One of my favourite song <http://trinityroots.bandcamp.com/track/all-we-be>s

The Philosophy of Cycling
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Plato's Cave
<http://www.openculture.com/2011/07/orson_welles_narrates_platos_cave_allegory.html>

Endangered Languages MOOC
<https://www.edx.org/course/language-revival-securing-future-adelaidex-lang101x>

Blackfella-Whitefella <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_DHwp5vYBI>

Triction <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=triction>

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