शुक्रवार, 19 अक्तूबर 2018

१महाभारत व्याख्यान१ पांडवजन्माचे अद्भुत भाग २ विदुर Mahabharat 11 Part ...

महाभारत व्याख्यान गीता उपदेशातील धर्माचे स्वरूप -३ MAHABHARAT 47

महाभारत व्याख्यान ३५ वनपर्वातील कथानके भाग १ दि ६ डि. २०१७

महाभारत व्याख्यान १५ भाग १ लाक्षागृहाचे राजकारण on 5 Jul 2017Mahabhara...

महाभारत व्याख्यान २७ भीम व नकुलाचा दिग्विजय Mahabharat part 27 on 4 ऑक्...

महाभारत व्याख्यान ६४ भाग २ अष्टावक्रांना ज्ञानोपदेश mahabharat 64 on 4 J...

महाभारत व्याख्यान ६४ भाग १ वृत्रासुरवर विजय mahabharat 64 on 4 Jul 2018

श्री शिधये यांचे शंखवादन

महाभारत व्याख्यान १९ कौरव कपटाचा तिसरा अध्याय भाग २ Mahabharat 19

महाभारत व्याख्यान १९ कौरव कपटाचा तिसरा अध्याय भाग १ Mahabharat 19 Part 1

गुरुवार, 18 अक्तूबर 2018

ब्रह्मकुमारी संस्थाके एक चर्चासत्रमें - बालक-पालक संबंध कैसे हों

ब्रह्मकुमारी संस्थाके एक चर्चासत्रमें मैं --
बच्चोंके साथ कभी बच्चा बनकर, कभी माता-पिता बनकर, कभी गुरु बनकर तो कभी मित्र बनकर सहना पडता है । और कई बार पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा की वृत्ति भी स्वीकारनी पडती है। 
लेकिन यह तथ्य है कि मातापिताका संबल रहे तो बच्चे आत्महत्या नही करेंगे, न पराजयसे हताश होंगे। बहुत संभव है कि अच्छे इन्सान बनेंगे।

https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=9CmVJX3Fna8&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIr0_fxK6tI0%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

महाभारत व्याख्यान ४आस्तिकपर्वातील विद्यासाधना भाग ३ Mahabharat 4 part 3 ...

महाभारत व्याख्यान ११ पांडवजन्माचे अद्भुत भाग १ Mahabharat 11 Pandu Janm ...

महाभारत व्याख्यान ४ भाग २ जरत्कारु Mahabharat 4 part 2 jaratkaru

महाभारत व्याख्यान ४ आस्तिकपर्वातील विद्यासाधना भाग १ Mahabharat 4 part ...

महाभारत व्याख्यान ३० पांडव-वनगमन भाग ३ Mahabharat 30 Pandav Vanprasthan ...

सोमवार, 15 अक्तूबर 2018

शुभ महालय

शुभ महालय

शरद ऋतु के आते ही हल्की-हल्की ठंड के साथ शुरू हो जाती है बंगाल में ख़रीदारी की धूम, दुर्गा महोत्सव की तैयारी। दुर्गा पूजा शुरू होने के कई महीने पहले से ही बाज़ार में लोगों की भीड़ और नए वस्त्राभूषण ख़रीदती महिलाओं का कलरव हर गली, हर मोड़ पर सुनाई देने लगता है। 

आज महालया है। सुबह-सुबह उठ गया है सारा मुहल्ला। रेडियो पर चल रहा है चंडी पाठ और घर-घर से आ रही है आवाज़ 'या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्तिरुपेण संस्थिता' उनींदी आँखों से शाल ओढे घर का हर सदस्य सुन रहा है चंडी पाठ रेडियो के सामने बैठा। घर में टी.वी. होने पर भी रेडियो पर चंडी पाठ सुनने की प्रथा को तोड़ना आसान नहीं। चंडी पाठ में महिषासुरमर्दिनी की कथा एक मधुर और लयबद्ध सुर में संस्कृत और बांग्ला में मंत्रोच्चारण के साथ सुनाते हैं बीरेंद्र कृष्ण भद्र। आज वे तो जीवित नहीं मगर उनकी आवाज़ अमर है। कथा कुछ इस तरह से है -

असुर महिष ने घोर तपस्या की और ब्रह्म देव प्रसन्न हो गए। महिष ने अमरता का वरदान माँग लिया मगर ब्रह्म देव के लिए ऐसा वरदान देना संभव नहीं था तब महिषासुर ने वरदान माँगा कि अगर उसकी मृत्यु हो तो किसी औरत के हाथों। उसे विश्वास था कि निर्बल महिला उस शक्तिशाली का कुछ नहीं बिगाड़ सकती। ब्रह्म देव ने वरदान दे दिया और शुरू हो गया महिषासुर का उत्पात। सभी देवता उससे हार गए और इंद्र देव को भी अपना राजसिंहासन छोड़ना पड़ा। महिषासुर ने ब्राह्मणों और निरीह जनों पर अपना अत्याचार बढ़ा दिया। सारा जग त्राहि-त्राहि कर उठा और तब सभी देवों ने मिलकर अपनी-अपनी शक्ति का अंश दे कर देवी के रूप में एक महाशक्ति का निर्माण किया। नौ दिन और नौ रात के घमासान युद्ध के बाद देवी दुर्गा ने महिषासुर का वध किया और वो महिषासुरमर्दिनी कहलाईं। इस कथा को सुनते-सुनते चंडी पाठ के दौरान आँखों में पानी भर आना एक अदभुत मगर स्वाभाविक-सी बात है। महालया के दिन ही माँ दुर्गा की अधूरी गढ़ी प्रतिमा पर आँखें बनाईं जाती हैं जिसे चक्षु-दान कहते हैं। इस दिन लोग अपने मृत संबंधियों को भी याद करते हैं और उन्हें 'तर्पण' अर्पित करते हैं। महालया के बाद ही शुरू हो जाता है देवीपक्ष और जुट जाते हैं सब लोग त्यौहार की तैयारी में, ज़ोर-शोर से।

माना जाता है कि हर साल दुर्गा अपने पति शिव को कैलाश में ही छोड़ अपने बच्चों गणेश, कार्तिकेय, लक्ष्मी और सरस्वती के साथ सिर्फ़ दस दिनों के लिए पीहर आती हैं। उनकी प्रतिमा की पूजा होती है सातवें, आठवें और नौवें दिन। छठें दिन या षष्ठी के दिन दुर्गा की प्रतिमा को पंडाल तक लाया जाता है। दुर्गा की प्रतिमाएँ एक महीने पहले से गढ़नी शुरू हो जाती हैं और उससे भी पहले से तैयार होने लगते हैं पंडाल। बंगाल का कुमारटुली प्रसिद्ध है दुर्गा की सुंदर प्रतिमाएँ गढ़ने के लिए जहाँ मिट्टी से ये मूर्तियाँ बनाईं जाती हैं और विदेशों तक में भेजी जाती हैं। कलकत्ता में होने वाली दुर्गा पूजाओं में लगभग ८० प्रतिशत प्रतिमाएँ कुमारटुली से बन कर आती हैं। लकड़ी के ढांचे पर जूट और भूसा बाँध कर तैयार होता है प्रतिमा बनाने का आधार और बाद में मिट्टी के साथ धान के छिलके को मिला कर मूर्ति तैयार की जाती है। प्रतिमा की साज-सज्जा बड़ी मेहनत के साथ की जाती है जिसमें नाना प्रकार के वस्त्राभूषण उपयोग में लाए जाते हैं।

आजकल मूर्ति को सुंदर और कलात्मक बनाने के लिए न सिर्फ़ सिल्क के वस्त्र बल्कि अन्य अनेक तरह की वस्तुओं का प्रयोग होने लगा है। इसी तरह पंडाल भी न जाने कितने तरह के बनने लगे हैं। अमृतसर का स्वर्ण मंदिर हो या पैरिस का ईफ़िल टावर- कलकत्ता में बाँस और कपड़े से बने ये दुर्गा पंडाल आप को धोखे में डाल सकते हैं। पंडाल को रोशनी से सजाया जाता है और सारा शहर जगमग कर उठता है। षष्ठी के दिन प्रतिमा को पंडाल में लाकर रखा जाता है और शाम को 'बोधन' के साथ दुर्गा के मुख से आवरण हटाया जाता है। महाषष्ठी के दिन घर की औरतें उपवास रखती हैं और शाम को मैदे से बनी पूरियाँ खाती हैं। उपवास तो नहीं मगर 'लुचि-तरकारी' यानि पूरी सब्ज़ी खाने के इस रस्म में घर के सभी लोग भाग लेते हैं। इस दिन नए कपड़े पहनने का रिवाज़ है और छोटे बच्चे नए कपड़े पहने हर जगह चहकते दिखाई देते हैं। पास के पंडाल में मूर्ति के दर्शन कर आना आज से शुरू होता है जो लगातार चार दिन तक चलता है।

दुर्गा पूजा के ये चार दिन। हर जगह खुशी और उल्लास। लोग हर रोज़ सुबह उपवास रख माँ दुर्गा के चरणों में पुष्पांजलि अर्पित करने दुर्गा पंडाल जाते हैं और अपनी मनोकामना पूरी होने की प्रार्थना करते हैं। इन दिनों हर सुबह पुष्पांजलि के निर्धारित समय पर पंडाल पहुँचने के लिए घर में भागमभाग और पुष्पांजलि का कभी भी निर्धारित समय पर न हो पाना जैसे इन दिनों का हिस्सा होता है। सुबह-सुबह ही दुर्गा पंडाल में महिलाओं को लाल पाड़ की साड़ी पहने पूजा के काम में व्यस्त देखा जा सकता है। कोई महाभोग की तैयारी करती दिखाई देती हैं तो कोई फूल की माला गूँथती। लोगों की भीड़ और धूप बाती की आध्यात्मिक गंध के साथ ढाक (ढोल) की आवाज़ पूरे वातावरण को पवित्र कर देती हैं। माँ दुर्गा की आरती होती है और उसके बाद उन्हें भोग लगाया जाता है। दोपहर को सभी उपस्थित जनों को खिचड़ी और तरकारी का प्रसाद खिलाया जाता है। दुर्गा पूजा के इन दिनों में स्थानीय कलाकारों को अपनी प्रतिभा प्रदर्शित करने का पूरा अवसर मिलता है और हर शाम सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रम आयोजित होते हैं।

महाअष्टमी या नवरात्रि के आठवें दिन का अपना महत्व है। अष्टमी के दिन होती है संधिपूजा। संधिपूजा का एक निश्चित मुहूर्त होता है और उस मुहूर्त में बलि चढ़ाई जाती है। पुराने ज़माने में लोग बकरे की बलि चढ़ाते थे मगर ये प्रथा अब ना के बराबर रह गई है। ज़्यादातर जगहों पर किसी फल जैसे कुम्हड़े आदि की बलि चढ़ाई जाती है। मंत्रोच्चारण के साथ १०८ जलते दीयों के बीच उस संधिक्षण की बलि के लिए लोग निर्जल उपवास रखते हैं और उन कुछ क्षणों के लिए सारा जग जैसे शांत हो जाता है। कहते हैं उस संधिक्षण में माँ के प्राण आते हैं। पूजा के नवें दिन या महानवमी को आरती भोग आदि के साथ-साथ शाम को पंडाल में तरह-तरह के कार्यक्रमों और प्रतियोगिताओं का आयोजन किया जाता है। नवमी के दिन सुबह एक छोटी लड़की को साड़ी पहना कर सजाकर उसकी पूजा की जाती है जिसे 'कुमारी पूजा' कहते हैं। उस कुमारी पूजा को देख कर वहाँ उपस्थित हर दूसरी छोटी लड़की 'कुमारी' के भाग्य से ईर्ष्या करती है।

शाम को 'धूनुचि नाच' प्रतियोगिता में लड़के हिस्सा लेते हैं। 'धूनुचि' मिट्टी के बड़े सुराहीनुमा प्रदीप होते हैं जिनमें नारियल के छिलकों को जलाया जाता है और 'धूनो' नामक सुगंधित पदार्थ डाल कर उन प्रदीपों को हाथ में ले कर लड़के अपनी प्रतिभा का प्रदर्शन करते हैं। एक साथ 4-5 धूनुचि ले कर और उसमें से गिरती आग के बीच नाचते ये जोशीले लड़के जैसे माँ दुर्गा को खुश करने में कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ते। बीच-बीच में उस गिरती आग को आसपास खड़े लोग ज़मीन पर से हटा देते हैं ताकि नाचने वाले का पाँव न पड़ जाए उन चिंगारियों पर। कभी-कभी इस मतवाले माहौल में लड़के ढाकिए से ढाक ले कर बजाने लगते हैं अपने को ज़मीन पर नहीं पाते। धूनुचि नाच के अलावा 'शंख वादन' प्रतियोगिता आयोजित होती है जिसमें बिना साँस लिए सबसे देर तक जो शंख बजाता है उसे विजयी घोषित किया जाता है। शंख वादन प्रतियोगिता में साधारणत: महिलाएँ हिस्सा लेती हैं। अगले दिन दशमी को सुबह माँ दुर्गा की पूजा के साथ ही उन्हें मंत्रोच्चारण के साथ विसर्जित कर दिया जाता है मगर प्रतिमाओं का विसर्जन होता है शाम को जब हर प्रतिमा के साथ एक बड़ी भीड़ होती है। प्रतिमा के विसर्जन से पहले, विवाहित महिलाएँ माँ दुर्गा की प्रतिमा को सिंदूर लगाने पंडाल आती हैं और वहाँ होली की ही तरह सुहागिनें सिंदूर से खेलती हैं। माहौल कुछ ऐसा बन जाता है जैसे लाड़ली बेटी दुर्गा मायके से ससुराल जा रही हो और सभी उसे विदा करने आए हों।

विजयादशमी के दिन छोटे अपने से बड़ों के पैर छू कर आशीर्वाद लेते हैं और मुँह मीठा करते हैं। लोग एक दूसरे से मिलने सबके घर जाते हैं और ये प्रक्रिया कई दिनों तक चलती रहती हैं। इस तरह संपूर्ण होती है दुर्गा पूजा और शुरू होता है फिर एक लंबा इंतज़ार साल भर का। कलकत्ता के अलावा भारत के अन्य प्रदेशों में ही नहीं बल्कि विदेशों में भी दुर्गा पूजा बड़े ही धूमधाम से मनाई जाती है। अक्तूबर का महीना और शरद ऋतु की ठंड के आते ही जैसे मन में कहीं एक खुशी का-सा आभास होने लगता है। दुर्गा पूजा के संपूर्ण होते ही प्रतिमा के विसर्जन के बाद शांतिजल (एक तरह का पूजा का जल जो पुजारी बिल्वपत्र से सब पर छिड़कते हैं) लेने आए लोगों का नि:स्तब्ध पंडाल को देख मन का उदास हो जाना जैसे स्वाभाविक-सा जान पड़ता है। बुराई पर अच्छाई की विजय के रूप में चाहे राम के वनवास से आगमन पर दशहरा मनाया जाता हो या दुर्गा देवी द्वारा महिषासुर के वध को याद किया जाता हो भारतीय अपनी परिष्कृत सांस्कृतिक पृष्ठभूमि में हर जगह गर्व के साथ इन परंपराओं का निर्वाह कर रहे हैं।

#मानोशी
१६ अक्तूबर २००५
(अभिव्यक्ति-हिंदी में प्रकाशित )

बुधवार, 3 अक्तूबर 2018

मंत्रपुष्पांजली - राष्ट्रवंदना

*मंत्रपुष्पांजली* हि खरी हिंदूंची राष्ट्रीय प्रार्थना आहे हि सर्वांनी (पाठ) मुखोद्गत करावी

खरं तर *मंत्रपुष्पांजली* हे एक *राष्ट्रगीत* आहे, *विश्वप्रार्थना* आहे. त्यात एकात्म राष्ट्रजीवनाची आकांक्षा आहे. आबालवृद्धांच्या हृदयांतील ज्योत जागविणारे स्फुर्तीगान आहे. द्रष्ट्या ऋषीजनांनी जाणतेपणाने प्रस्थापित केलेला प्रघात आहे. त्या *विश्वगीताचा* अर्थबोध सामान्यजनांपर्यंत पोहोचावानव्हे जाणत्यांनी प्रयत्नपूर्वक सामान्यांपर्यंत पोहोचवावा म्हणून या लेखाचे प्रयोजन.

खालील चित्रफीतीत श्री. चारुदत्त आफळे यांचे या विषयावरील विवेचन जरुर श्रवण करावे.

*ॐ यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजंत देवास्तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन्ते हं नाकं महिमान: सचंत यत्र पूर्वे साध्या: संति देवा:**ॐ राजाधिराजाय प्रसह्ये साहिने नमो वयं वैश्रवणाय कुर्महे स मे कामान्कामकामाय मह्यम्कामेश्वरो वैश्रवणो ददातुकुबेराय वैश्रवणाय महाराजाय नम:* *ॐ स्वस्ति साम्राज्यं भौज्यं स्वाराज्यं वैराज्यं पारमेष्ठ्यं राज्यं माहाराज्यमाधिपत्यमयं समंतपर्यायी स्यात्सार्वभौम: सार्वायु आंतादापरार्धात्पृथिव्यै समुद्रपर्यंता या* *एकराळिति तदप्येष श्लोकोऽभिगीतो मरुत: परिवेष्टारो मरुत्तस्यावसन्गृहे आविक्षितस्य कामप्रेर्विश्वेदेवा: सभासद इति**एकदंतायविद्महे वक्रंतुडाय धीमहि तन्नोदंती प्रचोदयात् शुभं भवतु*

*मंत्र पुष्पांजलीमध्ये* एकूण चार कडवी आहेत ती खालीलप्रमाणे- या मंत्रांचा अर्थ समजणे आवश्यक आहे. अर्थ समजला की अनुभूतीचा आनंद नक्कीच होईल. प्रत्येक श्लोकाचा अर्थ येणेप्रमाणेः

श्लोक  १ -
*यज्ञेन यज्ञं अयजन्त देवाः तानि धर्माणि प्रथामानि आसन् तेह नांक महिमानः सचन्तयत्र पूर्वे साध्याःसंति देव:*

श्लोकाचा अर्थ – देवांनी यज्ञाच्याद्वारे यज्ञरुप प्रजापतीचे पूजन केले. यज्ञ आणि तत्सम उपासनेचे ते प्रारंभीचे धर्मविधी होते. जिथे पूर्वी देवता निवास (स्वर्गलोकी) करीत असत ते स्थान यज्ञाचरणाने प्राप्त करून साधक महानता (गौरव) प्राप्त करते झाले.

श्लोक २ - 
*ओम राजाधिराजाय प्रसह्यसाहिने। मनोवयं वैश्रवणाय कुर्महे। स मे कामान् कामाकामाय मह्यं। कामेश्वरो वैश्रवणो ददातु कुबेराय वैश्रवणाय महाराजाय नमः*

श्लोकाचा अर्थ – आम्हाला सर्वकाही (प्रसह्य) अनुकुल घडवून आणणाऱ्या राजाधिराज वैश्रवण कुबेराला आम्ही वंदन करतो. तो कामेश्वरकुबेर कामनार्थी अशा मला (माझ्या सर्व कामनांची )पूर्ति प्रदान करो.

श्लोक ३ (प्रथमार्ध) -
 *ओम स्वस्ति। साम्राज्यं भौज्यं स्वाराज्यं वैराज्यं पारमेष्ट्यं राज्यं महाराज्यमाधिपत्यमयं।*

श्लोकाचा अर्थ – आमचे सर्व कल्याणकारी राज्य असावे. आमचे साम्राज्य सर्व उपभोग्य वस्तुंनी परिपूर्ण असावे. येथे लोकराज्य असावे. आमचे राज्य आसक्तिरहित,लोभरहित असावे अशा परमश्रेष्ठ महाराज्यावर आमची अधिसत्ता असावी.

श्लोक ३ (द्वितियार्ध)- *समन्तपर्यायीस्यात् सार्वभौमः सार्वायुषः आन्तादापरार्धात्। पृथीव्यै समुद्रपर्यंताया एकरा‌ळ इति।*

श्लोकाचा अर्थ – आमचे राज्य क्षितिजाच्या सीमेपर्यंत सुरक्षित असो. समुद्रापर्यंत पसरलेल्या पृथ्वीवर आमचे एकसंघ दीर्घायु राज्य असो. आमचे राज्य सृष्टीच्या अंतापर्यंत म्हणजे परार्ध वर्ष पर्यंत सुरक्षित राहो.

श्लोक ४ - 
*तदप्येषः श्लोकोभिगीतो। मरुतः परिवेष्टारो मरुतस्यावसन् गृहे। आविक्षितस्य कामप्रेर्विश्वेदेवाः सभासद इति।।*

श्लोकाचा अर्थ – या कारणास्तव अशा राज्याच्या आणि राज्याच्या किर्तीस्तवनासाठी हा श्लोक म्हटला आहे. अविक्षिताचा पुत्र मरुताच्या राज्यसभेचे सर्व सभासद असलेल्या मरुतगणांनी परिवेष्टित केलेले हे राज्य आम्हाला लाभो हीच कामना.

संपूर्ण विश्वाच्या कल्याणाचीआकांक्षेची व सामर्थ्याची जाणीव प्रत्येकाला करून देणारीही विश्वप्रार्थना. अंतीम सत्य शोधण्याचे मार्ग अनेक असतीलपंथोपपंथ विविध असतील परंतु सर्वांचा उद्देश एकसर्व मतपंथांच्या विषयी समादरसर्व मतपंथाच्या प्रगतीच्या सर्वांना समान संधी असलेलेसर्वहितकारी राज्य तेव्हांच शक्य आहे जेव्हा संपूर्ण मानवजातीमध्ये सहिष्णु समरस एकात्मतेची भावना असेल.

*राष्ट्राय स्वाहा:*

रविवार, 23 सितंबर 2018

Max Muller Letters

Max Muller destroyed the roots of India beyond imagination and harming us even today.


16APR2015

Max Müller was a British agent, especially employed (in 1847) to write the translations of the Vedas in such a demeaning way so that the Hindus should lose faith in them. His personal letters reveals this fact.
He was highly paid for this job. According to the statistical information given on page 214 of the “English Education, 1798-1902” by John William Adamson, printed by Cambridge University Press in 1930, the revised scale of a male teacher was £90 per year and for a woman, £60 in 1853. The present salary of a teacher in London is £14,000 to £36,000 per year, which averages a minimum of at least 200 times increase in the last 146 years. Max Müller was paid £4 per sheet of his writing which comes to £800 of today (1999). This is an incredibly high price for only one sheet of writing. But it’s the general law of business, that the price of a commodity increases with its demand. The British were in such an imperative need to get someone to do this job and Max Müller was the right person, so they paid whatever Max Müller asked for. His enthusiastic letter to his mother dated April 15, 1847 reveals this fact.

Max Müller’s letters dated August 25, 1856 and December 16, 1868 reveal the fact that he was desperate to bring Christianity into India so that the religion of the Hindus should be doomed.
His letters also reveal that he lived in poverty before he was employed by the British and his duplicity in translation was praised by his superiors. In London, where he lived, there were a lot of orientalists working for the British.
To Chevalier Bunsen, 55 St. John Street, Oxford, August 25, 1856, he wrote:
“I should like to live for 10 years quite quietly and learn the language, try to make friends, and then see whether I was fit to take part in a work, by means of which the old mischief of Indian priest craft could be overthrown and the way opened for the entrance of simple Christian teaching. Whatever finds root in India soon overshadows the whole of Asia.”

To the Dean of St. Paul’s (Dr. Milman), Stauton House Bournemouth, February 26, 1867, he wrote:
“I have myself the strongest belief in the growth of Christianity in India. There is no country so ripe for Christianity as India, and yet the difficulties seem enormous.”

(source: The True History and the Religion of India: A Concise Encycloedia of Authentic Hinduism – By Swami Prakashanand Saraswati  p. 268 – 270). For more on Max Muller refer to chapter FirstIndologists and Aryan Invasion Theory)
As Max Mueller, the propagator of the Aryan invasion theory, wrote to his wife,
“It took only 200 years for us to Christianise the whole of Africa, but even after 400 years India eludes us, I have come to realize that it is Sanskrit which has enabled India to do so. And to break it I have decided to learn Sanskrit.”

The soul of India lies in Sanskrit. And Lord Macaulay saw to it that the later generations are successfully cut off from their roots. (source: Assaulting India’s pluralist ethos – by D. Harikumar The Hindu).
TO HIS WIFE, OXFORD, December 9, 1867.
“…I feel convinced, though I shall not live to see it, that this edition of mine and the translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India, and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what that root is, I feel sure, the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3,000 years.”

TO HIS MOTHER, 5 NEWMANS ROW, LINCOLNS INN FIELDSApril 15, 1847.
“I can yet hardly believe that I have at last got what I have struggled for so long… I am to hand over to the Company, ready for press, fifty sheets each year; for this I have asked £200 a year, £4 a sheet. They have been considering the matter since December, and it was only yesterday that it was officially settled.”
“…In fact, I spent a delightful time, and when I reached London yesterday I found all settled, and I could say and feel, Thank God! Now I must at once send my thanks, andset to work to earn the first £100.”

TO CHEVALIER BUNSEN. 55 ST. JOHN STREET, OXFORDAugust 25, 1856.
“India is much riper for Christianity than Rome or Greece were at the time of St. Paul. The rotten tree has for some time had artificial supports… For the good of this struggle I should like to lay down my life, or at least to lend my hand to bring about this struggle. Dhulip Singh is much at Court, and is evidently destined to play a political part in India.”

TO THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. OXFORD,December 16, 1868.
“India has been conquered once, but India must be conquered again, and that second conquest should be a conquest by education. Much has been done for education of late, but if the funds were tripled and quadrupled, that would hardly be enough… A new national literature may spring up, impregnated with western ideas,yet retaining its native spirit and character… A new national literature will bring with it a new national life, and new moral vigour. As to religion, that will take care of itself. The missionaries have done far more than they themselves seem to be aware of.” “The ancient religion of India is doomed, and if Christianity does not step in, whose fault will it be?”

On April 17, 1855, Bunsen wrote to thank Max Müller for an article on his Outlines.
“You have so thoroughly adopted the English disguise that it will not be easy for anyone to suspect you of having written this ‘curious article.’ It especially delights me to see how ingeniously you contrive to say what you announce you do not wish to discuss, i.e. the purport of the theology. In short, we are all of opinion that your cousin was right when she said of you in Paris to Neukomm, that you ought to be in the diplomatic service!”
MaxMuller declared that Hinduism is dead and dying religion, while Christianity is living and vibrant. He said,
”The worship of Shiva or Vishnu and the other popular deities, is of the same, nay, in many cases of a more degraded and savage character than the worship, of Jupiter, Apollo, and Minerva; it belongs to a stratum of thought which is long buried beneath our feet, it may live on like the lion and the tiger but the mere air of free thought and civilized life will extinguish it.’ (Westminster lectures on Missions December 1873)

There is much more to tell. It was on December 1854, the Prussian ambassador Barron Von Bunsen became instrumental in arranging a meeting of the German MaxMuller with the English Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay. Germany and England were not on good terms. The East India Company agreed to pay Pound 200 per annum to Max Muller, the German national, for translation of Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. Then the annual salary of a British teacher was only pound 60. The German Max Muller accepted the offer in the interest of spreading Christianity in India. The company agreed to pay a sum of one lakh only in the way as he writes to his wife in his letter in July 1862. As a truly declared Christian, he writes,
“All I can say is that I have read and heard the worst that can be said against our religion. I mean the true original teachings of the Christ. I feel that I am ready in mind, if not in body, to lay down my life for the truth of his teachings. All our difficulties arise from the doctrine of men and not from his doctrine.”
His friend P.B. Pusey in 1860 wrote to him,
“Your work will form a new era in the efforts of the conversion of India and Oxford will have reason to be thankful that, by giving you a home, it will have facilitated a work of such primary and lasting importance for the conversion of India and which, by enabling us to compare that false religion with the true, illustrates the more than blessedness of what we enjoy.”’(Cradle of Civilization Page 12)
Max Muller in his letter to Bairamji Malwari on 28 Jan. 1882, writes,
“People like Dayanand give undue importance to Vedas. They deduce the meaning which is not in the root. Observe Veda as a historical document only then even the simple thought of the primitives would look pleasant. But to search the source of electricity, magnetism, ethics and philosophy, we have to cut a sorry figure.”
Max Muller set the date of Rig Veda at only 1200 B.C. under Christen faith. The Christian belief current in those days was that the world was created at 9 A.M. on 23rd. October 4004 B.C. Bishop Ussher had declared it as the date of creation. The Holy Bible says that the human race began with Adam and Eve. Since their most direct descendents were among the Semitic tribe, Hebrew had to be the oldest language, then how can the Aryans be the possessors of the oldest culture? As no position is acceptable, lowering their culture, so the Vedic culture has to be of a later date and time. The cause of such facile conclusion and tailored theories, ignoring the facts of available history, was their commitment to Christianity.
There was great opposition among scholars. MaxMuller had to eventually disown the date he had ascribed and had to accept that “he put 1200 B.C. without any evidence whatsoever,” but the date continues still as a benchmark.
Dales, a U.S.A. historian challenged the proposed date and the findings to it. Wheeler, the political appointee of Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India, was quick to retrace but not without a cunning. He amended and said that, “It cannot be proved that the invaders were Aryans. It is also possible that it might be completely wrong to conclude like it but however it is not entirely impossible” (Refer; In Search of Cradle of Civilization page 7-8) Max Muller was changing position regarding the dates of said Invasion. He said,” Whether Vedic hymns were written in 1000, 1500, or 2000 B.C or 3000B.C. no power on earth will ever be able to determine.”
Kenoyer says, ’we have no evidence for new population entering into sub-continent and replacing the indigenous people of the Indus valley” ‘From scholars like Langdon to Ranfrieve, the archaeological investigation accepted India as original homeland of Aryans and disapproved the A.I.T. of Max Muller. Thereafter Gordon Childe and Wheeler indicated that the Aryans may possibly be the invaders. Macoi was doubtful. Wheeler and Norman Brown sided with Max Muller and deliberately distorted the historical basis. Wheeler had to retrace and Childe was hesitant in naming Aryans. From Sir Wheeler to Stuart Piggott, there has been planned attempt to prove the Aryan Invasion theory(AIT).
Max Muller was the master mind behind the Aryan Invasion Theory. He was the highly paid German employee of the East India Company. He intended to safeguard the rights of the foreigners on Indian soil to rule the country. So he planned to deny the Hindus of any political and moral ground to claim independence from the British proving that they too like them were outsiders and invaders .All of them were foreigners and invaders and being immigrants had claim on India. The then Viceroy Lord Curzon said that India had ever been the booty of foreign invaders and the British P.M. said,”We have as much right to be in India as anyone else except perhaps for the depressed class who are the native stock.’ (Koreroed Elst: Political aspects of the A. I. T, Debate page 49)The European political weapon; the A.I.T. questioned the very Aryan identity on their own land of birth. The loyalists and the Macaulay brand Indians began to justify the British presence and called it a reunion with the Aryan cousins
Macaulay was determined to prove his Aryan Invasion Theory. He ignored the significance of Vedas as historical document and declared Vedas as mythology and theology but not as history. It is really strange that Europeans see relevance of history in their Christian scriptures, the Bible and treat Bible as history, the historical situation out of which the Old Testament and the Gospels grew.
Even they set aside the linguistic evidence to prove that the epics bear no historical evidence. These missionary scholars planned further to call these epics as myth and create doubt and confusion even on the existence of Rama and Krishna. We all know that the treatment of myth in the western experience has been negative. !8th. Century Greek and Roman heritage of pre-Christian religious stories; badly distorted and misshaped, were treated as myths. This word was used for all non-Jews and non-Christian cultural stories. On the other hand, the missionary scholars chose to place biblical and Christian stories in the category of history so the stories of Moses and Parting the Red Sea came as history unmindful of any chronological and textual evidences. It is strange that these very assaulters considered Ramayana and Mahabharata as myth despite enough archaeological and textual evidences. What else can we expect of these people who are out to DeHinduize Hindus in their own land? They used the term myth as a powerful weapon to minimize the effect of Hindu way of life; religious literature and sacred stories and to delegitimize the stories told to common folk of illiterate and ignorant people. All ancient seers, Manu, Parashar, Vyasa, Narada, Vashishtha etc. and even Rama and Krishna became mythic and therefore unreal to them. Vedas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas and Mahabharata, Ramayana all ancient literature of value became mythology, traditional narratives involving supernatural or imaginary persons and often embodying popular ideas on natural or social phenomena.
They founded anti-Vedic and pro-Christian societies in order to de-Hinduism and Christianize the De-Hinduized ones. One such was Brahmo Samaj. Max Mullar, in September 1879, said, “There is a religious movement going on in India, the Brahma Samaj, which both in its origin and in its later development is mainly the result of European influences. It began with an attempt to bring the modern corrupt form of worship back to the purity and simplicity of the Vedas; and by ascribing to the Vedas the authority of a Divine revelation, it was hoped to secure that infallible authority without which no religion was supposed to be possible .How was that movement stopped and turned into a new channel? Simply by the publication of the Veda and by work of European scholars, such as Stevenson, Mill, Rosin, Wilson and others, who showed the natives what the Vedas really were and made them see the folly of their way?” Brainwashed isn’t it ?

At the beginning the Samaj followed the chanting of Vedic ruchas in its meetings and accept the infallibility of the Vedas. Raja Ram Mohan Rai was the leading light who cherished Vedic ideals but also wanted some reforms. By 1848, the Vedic utilitarianism was superseded and western influence came in. Feeling of Hinduism faded away and forefathers were not remembered with pride. These people hesitated in mentioning the word “Brahma “even. The names of Hindu sages and seers were neglected. It was believed that since creation, there have never been men so learned as the Europeans. Fortunately there existed a line of thinkers like Dayanand , AryaSamaj, RKMission and Yogi Aurobindo who saved the fall and decline of Hinduism.
Macaulay said, “We must form a class of persons who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons, Indian in blood and color but English in taste, in opinion, in mind and in intellect.”
Fortunately for British and unfortunately for Indians ,the British continued to get such Indian people Indian in blood and color but English in taste, in opinion, in mind and in intellect. Unfortunately for India even after independence Nehru led congress government followed by later congress governments have followed the same mantra as desired by Macaulay a century ago.
The country desperately needs a spiritual revival among the administration and media. Until and unless this is achieved our cultural glory will not be reinstated .
—————————————————————————————————-
References:
“The Life and Letters of Friedrich Max Müller.” First published in 1902 (London and N.Y.). Reprint in 1976 (USA).

गुरुवार, 20 सितंबर 2018

THE MYTH OF ARYAN MIGRATION/INVASION -- Shiv Sastry

THE MYTH OF ARYAN MIGRATION/INVASION

  1. What is the Aryan Invasion/Migration myth?
It is about language, not migration. The story is that a technologically superior race called Aryans created a super-language that spread all over Europe and Asia. It is imagined that Aryans originated in an area somewhere between Europe and Asia and fanned out like spokes of a wheel riding on chariots pulled by horses, conquering and imposing their language on Europe and India. Those languages became “Indo-European languages” spoken between Ireland and India.


  1. Why does it matter?

Unfortunately it matters most only to Indians because it erases and discards ancient Indian history. It does nothing to European history and European philologists (historical linguists) and historians have no problem with it. For them it is a minor quibble that is being raised by a bunch of right-wing Hindus


  1. How does AIT affect Indians?

It discards and denies Indian history on many counts. AIT claims that an Indian origin source, the Rig Veda mentions a people called “Aryans” who used to wage wars on chariots driven by horses. This is false.  The adjective “Arya” meaning noble in the Veda has been modified to the noun “Aryan” - to indicate a race of people. The racial connotation has been denied but never erased. It is claimed this race could only have come from Eurasia where horses and chariots have been found in antiquity as compared to the sparse findings of the same in India.


  1. Who created the Aryan Invasion Theory?

AIT/AMT was almost wholly created by European historical linguists (Philologists) who went ahead and wrote an entire history of how a mother language to modern “Indo-European languages” was created somewhere in Eurasia and spread around the old world. Even today archaeology and Indian or Zoroastrian textual evidence is rejected in favour of linguistics constructs.

  1. When is this Aryan Invasion said to have taken place?

This is a critical point, but I will restrict the date to what is stated for India because it is this date which denies all Indian history prior to that date.  The Aryan invasion is said to have taken place between 1500 and 1000 BCE. It cannot be older or more recent because other theories built up by linguists will fail if the date changes. Hence that date is defended like crown jewels.
  1. Why is the 1500-1000 BCE date important for the theory?

For European linguists - it cannot be older than 1500 BCE. In fact if the date goes older than 1800 BCE then it will tear down the “evidence” claimed for the so called ‘Hittite language” and the “Mitanni texts”. It will make Sanskrit (called Indo-Aryan by linguists) older than both those entities and kill the language spread theory. For Indo-European linguists the language spread theory is more important than Indian history. But for Indians, our history is either discarded as fake or compressed into a short 500 years by the theory. If the date is made more recent than 1000 BCE - then the language spread theory by linguists cannot survive. So the 1500 to 1000 BCE dates are critical to them and totally fake for Indians.

  1. Can the Aryan Invasion/Migration theory be shown to be false?

Yes. But this is not a trivial exercise. In 200 years a lot of fake constructs have been made and tens of thousands of pages written in support of a theory essentially cooked up by linguists. I have written a lot on these issues but I will briefly mention the points that are either faked or denied

  1. Did the language that became Sanskrit come to India from somewhere else within the stated period on 1500-1000 BCE?

There is absolutely zero proof for any such language at the point of origin. There is no text, tablet, pottery shard or narrative. The idea that the language started off from some area in Eurasia is completely imaginary. Note that some people nowadays claim that there was a language called Proto Indo-European (PIE) spoken. But PIE is only a hypothetical language. Even linguistics reference texts do not claim that it was a spoken language. Without any proof of the language at the point of origin, it has been claimed that people brought IE language to India.


  1. How can linguists be so stupid as to make a patently false claim? Who is fooling whom?

No. Linguists are not stupid. They claim that there is indirect proof of language. Rig Veda mentions “Horse, wheel and chariot” while there have been archaeological findings of horses, wheel and chariots in the Eurasian steppe. The language was found in India, but the archaeological link to items mentioned in all IE languages have been found in Eurasia. This is claimed as proof that the same language (or its precursor) was present in Eurasia. Incredibly, a mention of horses and chariots in the Rig Veda is equated with graves 4000 km away. This is simply an assumption with zero proof. It is one of the weakest links in the linguists theories, the proverbial “elephant in the room” that basically weakens the current AIT based language spread theory.
  1. But isn’t it true that India did not have horses, chariots and wheels even by the time of the Indus valley civilization?

This is totally false. It is an area where Indians will need to re-educate themselves. Horse bones of the true horse , Equus caballus have been found in Bagor in Rajasthan dating back to 3500 BCE. Horse bones dating well before 1500 BCE have been found in the Indian valley civilization. True horse bones dated to 2000 BCE have been found in UP. Toy wheels on carts and chariots have been found in the Harappan area from 3500 BCE. A complete war chariot from 2000 BCE has been found in Sanauli near Delhi.  The world’s earliest painted images of chariots have been found in central Indian cave art dated back to the late microlithic and early chalcolithic period (2500-1500 BCE). The 1500 BCE Daimabad bronze chariot was found in Maharashtra 2000 km south of the Khyber pass from a time when India was supposed to have no chariots or wheels.

  1. Is there any other positive evidence that the AIT dates are wrong?

Yes. Two more. One is the Saraswati river evidence and the other is in archaeo astronomy

  1. What is the Saraswati river evidence?

An entire book can be written about this. The Vedas and post Veda texts refer to a mighty river situated to the east of the Indus in north-west India. Earlier texts speak of a huge river. Later texts speak of a river that dried up in the desert. The river is said to be the western border of a land called Aryavarta with the Himalayas in the north, Vindhyas in the south and Haridwar in the east. These are clearly Indian landmarks but there is almost no river today (only minor monsoon-fed streams exist). However modern satellite imagery, riverbed-core drilling and paleoclimatological studies have proven that there was just such a mighty river exactly in that area from 10,000 BCE  but which started drying up by 6000 BCE and was pretty much dry by 2000 BCE. It so happens that the IVC/Harappan remains lie along the site of this mighty river, but the Vedic period was probably much earlier.

  1. How can I claim that the Vedic period was much earlier?

The proof lies in Archaeo-astronomical references in ancient Indian texts.  Herman Jacobi (1850-1937) was both a Sanskrit scholar and an astronomer, a unique combination of skills that allowed him to notice, in the Rig Veda, what linguists with no understanding of astronomy, or astronomers with little knowledge of the Vedas could never notice. Jacobi’s serendipitous discovery was a passage in the Rig Veda V.18-19 that described a full moon on the day of the winter solstice in the month of Phalguna. Jacobi correctly dated the event back to a time in the third millennium BCE or earlier. It turns out that another Indian scholar had actually discovered similar references in ancient texts even before Jacobi. In 1893, Bal Gangadhar Tilak had noted a reference in the Rig Veda of the occurrence of the vernal equinox in the constellation Orion, dating the event back to 4,000 BCE. More recently, people like Nilesh Nilakanth Oak have taken this work to new heights by examining every single archaeoastronomical reference in old texts to test for validity against modern astronomical knowledge. Oak is now showing dates that are astonishingly remote, and while the dates may be a topic of some disagreement, they are all older than the rigid 1500-1000  BCE dates demanded by linguists to support their theory via a fake Aryan myth story.

  1. What about genetics?  Hasn’t genetics proven that there were migrations? In fact migrations from steppe around 1500 BCE?

The Aryan Invasion theory is about language movement, not just people movement. It is not enough to show people movement, one must prove language movement.  

There are two important preconditions to make a claim that people from place A took their language to place B and introduced that language for the first time in place B. First there must be incontrovertible evidence that the migrants from place A actually used to speak the language that they took to place B in the prehistoric era that they migrated. Second, there must be evidence that the language they carried with them did not already exist in the "place B" to which they migrated. Anything less is conjecture. Not science.

There is zero evidence of language in steppe or any other area to make the claim that it was brought to India. The horse and chariot ideas have been discredited and disproved.  Any migration carrying IE language to India for the first time has to be shown to have occurred before 2500 BCE because, as mentioned above. there is powerful evidence of IE language having been in India by 2500 BCE and most likely for millennia prior to that. The 1500 BCE date fails on multiple counts and along with it the Aryan migration myth.

  1. Didn’t IE languages spread with Agriculture?

Well, if they did then IE languages  were in India by 8000 BCE because there is firm evidence of Agriculture in Mehrgarh (Pakistan) by 9000 BCE and in UP in India by 8000 BCE.


Shiv Sastry
September 2018