CR PARK SPEAKS NEWSLETTER

  " अपि स्वर्णमयी लङ्का न मे लक्ष्मण रोचते । जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी ॥" "Api svarṇamayī Laṅkā na me Lakṣmaṇa rocate; Jananī janmabhūmiśca svargādapi garīyasī." "O Lakshmana, even if Lanka is made of gold, it does not appeal to me. My mother and my motherland are greater even than heaven." Few verses from the Indian epics have echoed through centuries with as much emotional resonance as this declaration attributed to Lord Rama after the victory over Lanka. While the golden city represented prosperity, power, and abundance, Rama's choice reflected a deeper truth—that a homeland is not measured by its wealth but by the bonds of belonging, identity, duty, and love. As India celebrates another Independence Day, this ancient verse invites us to revisit the meaning of freedom in a world that is increasingly interconnected, digital, and global. Political independence was achieved in 1947 through extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and collective deter...

Ṛta: The Cosmic Order That Holds the Universe Together By Dr Anindita Roy (Ph.D) crparkspeaks@gmail.com Long before the ideas of gravity, natural laws, or ecological balance were formally understood by science, the sages of the Rigveda envisioned a profound principle that governed everything in existence. They called it Ṛta ( ऋत) —the eternal cosmic order that sustains the universe. More than just a religious concept, Ṛta represents one of humanity's earliest philosophical attempts to explain why the universe functions in harmony. What is Ṛta  ( ऋत) ? The Sanskrit word Ṛta   ( ऋत)  is derived from the root ṛ , meaning to move properly, to rise, or to be in the right course . It signifies the universal order that regulates the movement of celestial bodies, the changing of seasons, the flow of rivers, the cycle of life and death, and even the moral conduct of human beings. In the Rigveda, Ṛta  ( ऋत)  is not merely a law of nature—it is the very princi...