Shabda Press is dedicated to the publication of books that present Vedic philosophy in a scientific yet accessible manner. This presentation currently focuses on three main areas which are important and intended for different kinds of audiences.
- First, we publish translations and commentaries on original Vedic texts. Vedic philosophy has been divided into many branches, which describe reality from different perspectives. Misguided interpretations of these perspectives treat them as disparate, dissonant, and contradictory ideologies. The result of such interpretations is that people believe that these works “evolved” over time through many “authors” and “ages”. These translations and commentaries show why the same reality must be understood through multiple perspectives; while each perspective is necessary, they are collectively sufficient. The existence of multiple perspectives doesn’t entail conflicting ideologies evolving over time. Rather, such criticism assumes universalism in which reality must either be described in a perspective agnostic manner or differences entail contradictions. If universalism is discarded and an aspect view of reality is embraced, then we can appreciate all these texts.
- Second, we publish books that explain Vedic philosophy and its relevance to solving unsolved problems in mathematics, physics, biology, computing theory, philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, organization theory, etc. It is important to know why and how a traditional religious philosophy is relevant to the problems of modern time and thinking. Most people today believe that modern science supersedes all that we knew in the past. These books disprove that. They show how modern displacements of Vedic ideas have created numerous problems that are unsolvable in current ways of thinking. These problems are rationalized, postponed, or simply covered up, to create the illusion of scientific superiority. If these problems are analyzed and contrasted to Vedic ideas, then we can truly appreciate the perfection of the Vedic system.
- Third, we publish books that explain Vedic ideas about matter and cosmos, the alternative ideas of the lawfulness of nature, and their relation to the ideas about the nature of soul and God, in a rational, verifiable, and scientific manner. The meaning of all technical words in the Vedic system differs significantly from the meaning of the same words in modern use. Words like space, time, matter, causality, life, body, mind, universe, law, money, beauty, power, choice, etc. have radically different meanings in Vedic texts. When Vedic texts were translated into English (and other European languages), dictionaries transformed Vedic words into English words, although they could not transform the Vedic meanings into English meanings. The translations assumed that words have the same meanings in all languages. These books show that this is not true. They delve into the alternative meanings of words, illustrating a worldview totally different from the modern one.
The first group of books is important for people who are studying Sanskrit texts; even as they are familiar with these texts, they are either confused about their true meanings or convinced about their falsehood through many false interpretations. They tend to relativize these texts through comparison to ancient European mythologies or medieval European “dark age” speculations.
The second group of books is important for people who fail to see why Sanskrit texts must even be studied; after all, they are mythologies and speculations of people from a time when modern science wasn’t developed. Such people tend to profess the superiority of modern science and reject everything that seems improbable or inconceivable in terms of its concepts.
The third group of books is important for those who are not directly interested in Sanskrit texts nor well-versed in modern science. We can call them “intelligent but lay readers”. They are generally non-academics, but they might have an interest in the Vedic system due to acquaintance with some spiritual practice, or interests in alternative lifestyles, alternative medicine, and so on.
At present, all the books are authored by Ashish Dalela, who also posts articles here and responds to questions here.
If these books intrigue you and you want to interact, you can reach us through the contact page.