The Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT), which subsequently morphed into the Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) due to compelling evidence negating the invasion hypothesis has also run against factual headwinds (Danino 2016). These developments, however, have not prevented the misinterpretation and eventual misuse in political discourse of a convenient narrative for the supposedly marginalized groups to rise up, and reject the invaders and their ideologies in order to establish a secular society free from “Aryan influences.” This is also the prevailing leftist and Marxist-influenced academic view and it remains a dominant narrative in Indian schools even today: “As such, it has long been used to neatly divide India into dichotomous categories such as North and South Indians, Aryans and Dravidians, the fair-skinned and the dark-skinned, ‘high castes’ and ‘Dalits’, all of these binaries representing the classic division between the privileged and the oppressed.” (Chavda 2017).

However, evidence-based reinterpretations are increasingly providing an alternative and increasingly authentic version of Indian or Hindu history, and more importantly, a new narrative on South India or Tamil Nadu itself. There is a compelling body of archaeological, epigraphy, and literary evidence that instead suggests a concurrent, not separate, development of the South Indian/Tamil culture along with the original and indigenous Vedic culture. The notion of ‘Aryan vs. Dravidian’ is now becoming “speculative at best and resides in the domain of conjecture.” (TCP 2016).

Pioneering work by Dr. Ramachandran Nagaswamy, a historian, epigraphist who has specialized in deciphering and interpreting inscriptions in Tamil and Sanskrit from artifacts throughout Tamil Nadu, has helped amplify this relatively recent revision of history (TAA 2020). His lifelong work has led to the creation of verifiable data and supporting evidence that distills a realistic and credible version of history that questions and even negates the prevailing views about Tamil Nadu, its history, and its culture. This article attempts to provide a brief summary of Dr. Nagaswamy’s book (Nagaswamy 2016) based on published reviews as well as video materials available online (Nagaswamy 2020).

Dr. Nagaswamy’s book, Tamil Nadu, the Land of the Vedas, is a scholarly work presented in twenty chapters covering Vedic life, devotional, philosophical, and worldly literature, inscriptions, shastras, and records of kings and their administrations. It establishes that Tamil is one of the oldest classical and regional languages of India with a history that can be traced to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Subsequent to that period, Tamil has continued its development along dialectical and cultural lines.

Dr. Nagaswamy shows how the Vedas served as the principal basis for the administrations of the various rulers and kings in Tamil Nadu. Placing emphasis on native knowledge and daily life, the administrators blended both Tamil and Sanskritic values and traditions. This perspective, verifiable by available documents, challenges the prevailing myth that Tamil Nadu developed independently from the rest of India.

The book uses a wide variety of evidence such as written records from administrations under the Ceraņ, Cōḻaņ, Pallavā, and Pāṇḍya kings. The author establishes that these rulers traced their genealogies to well-known names in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. The Cerās considered themselves descendants of the Yādavas (to which Śrī Kṛṣṇa belongs), the Cholās descendants of Rāma, Pallavās descendants of Droṇa, and Pāṇḍyās descendants of Arjuna. This line of associations suggests linkages to the concurrent lives of the South Indian rulers to the Mahābhārata protagonists who were based in the northern part of the land.

Of particular importance is that Dr. Nagaswamy relies on records from the Sangam period, which is considered to be between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE. It has been named after the Sangam academies which flourished during that era under the royal patronage of the Pāṇḍya kings of Madurai. At these sangams, scholars gathered to discuss and debate literary works. Major contributions to Tamil literature from this period include Tolkāppiyam, Eṭṭuttokai, Pattuppāṭṭu, Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku, Cilappatiāram and Maṇimekalai (Dikshitar 1941).

Dr. Nagaswamy’s book further explains that the kings under the four dynasties mentioned above not only studied the Vedas and the Dharmaśātras but also performed sacrifices and rituals as prescribed in the Vedas (presumably the Yajur Veda) and made generous contributions for the upholding of Vedic and Dharmic values. Records contain references to specific yagnas such as Hiraṇya-garbha, Tulābhāra, Gosahasra, Bahusuvarṇa, Rājasūya, and Aśvamedha.

In addition, the society under the South Indian dynasties was organized according to the principles of Vedic dharma. The Brahmaṇas helped the kings in judicial and financial administrations. The Vanigas (Vaiśyas) oversaw trade, and the vellalas developed agriculture and were the principal government revenue administrators. Interestingly, the Brahmanas, Kṣatriyas, Vanigas, vellalas studied the Vedas and nearly 80% of the population studied the functional/practical aspects of the Vedas. In other words, South Indian people lived a life based on Vedic frameworks. The Patiṟṟuppattu poems point out that the ancient Tamil kings studied Vedas, Vedāṅga, and performed daily Vedic rites mentioned as Pañcamahāyagña in Vedic tradition. Avvaiyār, the greatest poet of the Sangam age, praises the three crowned Tamil kings for performing Vedic sacrifices. In birth, marriage, and death rites, the ancient Tamils followed Vedic injunctions. The kings appointed Vedic scholars as their chief ministers and presented them with lands called “Brahmadeyas.” Trade, both internal and international, was conducted by the Vanigas and there are several references in the records from the kingdoms about transactions with the Romans. The Cholās recognized that the country was mainly based on a rural economy and therefore entrusted the revenue administration of the village to the Muvendavelars—the officers who belonged to the agrarian family of the Vellalas. The Cholā kings established several Nallur as exclusive cultivators’ villages in addition to Brahmadeyas of Vedic Brāhmaṇas. It is also seen that it was the duty of the Brāhmaṇas to interpret the law for the benefit of the villagers (Nagaswamy 2016, 2020).

According to a book review published in The Hindu newspaper, “[w]ars in ancient Tamil country were fought according to tenets of the Dharma Śāstra, where battles with armies happened only as a last resort when individual combat failed. Moving to bhakti literature, the chapters look in detail as to how the inner message of the Shaivite and Vaishnavaite hymns is consonant with the message of the Upanishads that self-realization in thought and deed is the ultimate form of reaching freedom from this endless cycle of births and deaths” (Hindu 2017).

From a performing arts perspective, Tamil literature includes music and dance traditions that are based on Bharata’s Nāṭya Śāstra. It is also suggested that the Tamil grammar work Tolkāppiyam is a derivative of Nāṭya Śāstra. One of the most important of all Tamil works, the Tirukkuṟaḷ composed by Thiruvalluvar, has been assigned to the 1st century BCE period. This pioneering work is virtually a reflection of Dharmaśāstras. In a separate book (Nagaswamy 2017), Dr. Nagaswamy demonstrates that Thirukkural is derived from the Hindu Vedic tradition: the former imitates the latter’s śāstras as well as its fundamental outlook of Dharmic life including artha, kāma, dharma, and mokṣaa. Thiruvalluvar also talks about the pañcamahāyajña—the five daily offerings every human must make—that are also mentioned in the Dharmaśāstras. Reverence to ancestors through worship was also very popular and the various rituals and practices were performed according to Vedic principles.

In a separate and concurrent work by David Shulman (Shulman 2016), the Tamil language and the associated culture has been found to have had deep roots in south India and certainly the case before the AIT narratives were proposed. Recounting a story about the great sage Agastyar, who is the author of the first formal text on Tamil grammar, Agattiyam, that served the early poets in the Sangam period, Śiva himself endowed Agastyar with knowledge of Tamil grammar before he was sent southward to balance the earth.

Dr. Nagaswamy’s extensive findings fundamentally challenge the prevailing but increasingly questionable framework that asserts the development of an independent non-Bhāratīya Dravidian culture in Tamil Nadu. Dr. Nagaswamy has presented compelling evidence based on the epigraphical wealth of Tamil Nadu to show that the region has always been the Land of the Vedas. With this type of deep research and re-interpretation possible today, it is high time Hindu historical research evolves to re-interpret our collective history first and then re-educate the world based on evidence.

This article is an adaptation of a term paper submitted for the course “Reconstructing Hindu History: The Omissions,” taught by Dr. Raj Vedam.

References

Chavda, Abhijit., The Aryan Invasion Myth: How 21st Century Science Debunks 19th Century Indology. https://indianinterest.com/history/the-aryan-invasion-myth-how-21st-century-science-debunks-19th-century-indology/debunks-19th-century-indology/. Accessed May 2017.

Danino, M., Aryans and the Indus Civilization. In A Companion to South Asia in the Past (eds G.R. Schug and S.R. Walimbe). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119055280.ch13. 2016

Dikshitar, V. R. Ramachandra, and V. R. Ramchandra Dikshitar. “THE SANGAM AGE.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 5 (1941): 152–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44304708.

Nagaswamy, R., Tamil Nadu the Land of Vedas. Chennai: Tamil Arts Academy, 2016.

Nagaswamy, R., Tirukkural, An Abridgement of Sastras. Chennai: Tamil Arts Academy and Giri Trading Agency, 2017.

Nagaswamy, R., Tamil Nadu and the Vedas (By Padma Bhushan Dr. R. Nagaswami). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e49F52JOdwY. Accessed June 2020.

Shulman, David., Tamil. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674974678

Tamil Arts Academy (TAA). https://tamilartsacademy.com/aboutrn.html. Accessed January 2020.

Tamizh Cultural Portal (TCP). Tolkappiyar, Ilango, and Bharata. https://tamizhportal.org/2016/03/tolkappiyar-ilango-and-bharata-part-1-sivam-illaiyendral-sakthi-illai-sakthi-illaiyendral-sivam-illai/. Accessed March 2016.

The Hindu, Vedic route to the past. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/Vedic-route-to-the-past/article14397341.ece1. fridayreview/Vedic-route-to-the-past/article14397341.ece1. May 2017.

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The challenge to western academia

It has been a full 30 years since India opened up out of Nehruvian socialism, “liberalized” its economy, and has seen a full generation accrue varied benefits, of being lifted levels above their largely poor or middle-class socio-economic struggles, while many have remained behind. We have seen many European and Asian countries rebound much quicker than India since World War II, so better techniques and policy options remain to be explored.

This “opening” has extended into the academic and journalistic spheres too, albeit at a slower rate. These challenges to the India narrative have contributed to the emergence of intellectuals in waves; we are merely carrying on, building further, establishing media and academic foundations. From the works of B. B. Lal, Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel, to several others that are still active including Meenakshi Jain; in this decade we are live witnesses to the pioneering efforts of Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee and others. The social media space today naturally includes noise, but also has many quietly active and diligent researchers working with their own efforts and funds. While the work ahead is monumental, there is reason to be optimistic.

Rare but always present have been the challenges within academic circles, and this is where the researchers, the intellectuals, and the philosophers at institutions like HUA are faced with a critical responsibility to march on. Decades ago, it would have been a dream, but now it is a reality; the ability to engage and produce rigorous scholarly rebuttals, using the language of Indology, is ongoing, with plenty of conscientious western thinkers, such as Nicholas Kazanas, Michel Danino, and several others also joining to provide an India-centric rebuttal. It is our work to ensure that these are disseminated wider, not simply to those preferring the numbness of transient enjoyment in existence, but to the tide who understand the nature of righteous duty.

But what about the common people?

Like many in the last two generations, I, too, have been a beneficiary of a reviving India. What used to be an impossible dream, except for the few who managed to exit India with high qualifications and access, is now turning into a reality for many more. I have had work and travel opportunities that have taken me across Europe and North America, and have seen the “better life”, “the dream”; yet it is rootedness in India that is one of my accomplishments, despite a mild “lactification” (to use Fanon’s term).

It is not just the battles with false-indoctrinated “South Asian” bureau chiefs and academics, but also the commonality of existence in our more innocent encounters with today’s peoples of European descent, who are as human and curious and open as we are, when we are. In modern times, it is a relief to experience less of the jarring racialized and prejudiced interactions of the past, to the warmth and welcome, the curiosity to engage (not just to explore) more of India’s philosophical and visibly impressive offerings. And beyond that, the simplicity, a genuine normality of engagement.

No civilization should simply claim greatness for itself alone; all peoples across time and eternity have brought forth beautiful contributions and developments that override the unresolved horrors. With India, it is indeed a unique place: its visible lack of full recovery from inflicted brutalities have not masked its ancient philosophy, teachings, nor has it hidden what today’s India continues to offer. In my countless interactions, in Russia, the Baltics, and the Balkans, all the way to the western shores with many stops across Africa and Asia, human decency, mutual respect and genuine curiosity remains very much alive.

For these people, unaware of the required narrative change, and the overdue paradigm shifts that may take another generation or two, just engagement with the right values is always one of the steps. It is said that Dharma protects those who protect it, and it sees the world not for conquest, but as family. We are lucky indeed to be associated with these teachings of our ancestors, and commendable are those who live it, with visible benefits to others they meet. The consciousness, the humanity, among peoples of European descent, has never died, and that is a source of comfort and hope.

For among the people far removed from the corridors of power, it is the lived life, doing the right thing, even heroic acts and long-standing contributions, these are among the aims. The strength of family and community, the inner journey to self-discovery, all are done in their own way; it is with some gratitude that an Indian can say our Rishis and Gurus across millennia have left the world a great value system that reinforces the good, and refreshes itself with time. Sanatana.

A higher consciousness

Cruel and invented theories of race, of being, of conquest, the dark side, are never able to fully extinguish the pillars of higher consciousness. In the past, it may have been the more base-minded, the more criminal, the ignorant, and even the innocent that might have fallen for these ideas of superiority borne out of expansionist theologies and ideologies. Seeing poverty or simply different and unusual behavior in the previously colonized nations may have only reinforced those beliefs in some of the less conscientious or even innocent. The encounters would be with people who were hesitant, unsure, attempting to please or just trying to stay safe; the generations of our parents and grandparents, leave alone their forefathers, faced visible ignominies, and often bore it meekly, as habit.

What the common people (of the former colonizing nations) rarely encountered was pushback from a confident, humane and well-wishing non-Western native. The more well-intentioned European thinkers of the past were to be swallowed by the dominant narrative of being the ‘chosen people’, and would have been wise to not challenge it. However, there is a difference now; the critical mass of fellow humans of non-European descent, who can assert their true self without harm, is slowly and continually rising, albeit with additional complications. The morals of the victimizers, never fully extinguished, has compelled them to also look for answers, in themselves and through a search that has taken them far away from their homelands.

This is the opportunity for this generation to continue to build, to not stay silent, to not seek a quarrelsome connectedness. It must retain a spiritual connection while wielding a pen in this endeavor to reset the narrative. This must be continually attempted, even as opposing forces double down with newer and more malicious methods. There is hope. Let the truth prevail, for it is Satya that remains the unyielding pillar in the future paradigm.

The post The Pillar in the New Paradigm appeared first on Hindu University of America.

This essay will cover the army composition, its organizational structure, troops distribution, war strategy, and weaponry.

Warfare in Ancient Bharat: Part 2 of 2

Army Composition

The army was considered one of the seven key elements of a state. According to Sukra Niti, what a mind is to man, an army is to a state. So, without an army, a state comes to a standstill. It also states, “There is neither kingdom, nor wealth, nor prowess. The treasury is the root of the army, and the army is the root of the treasury. It is by maintaining the army that the treasury and the kingdom prosper, and the enemy is destroyed.”

The ancient Hindu armies had a four-fold division called ‘caturanga-bala’ consisting of chariots, elephants, cavalry, and infantry in this order of prominence.

Chariots:

They were considered the most important in warfare. Sukra had mentioned of the iron chariot which consisted of swift-moving wheels, with good seats for the warriors and a seat in the middle for the charioteer and it was equipped with different offensive and defensive weapons. The Mahabharata had an elaborate mention of chariots.

Elephants:

Elephants are considered the next important force in the army. Greek ambassador Megasthenes explains how the elephants were hunted and tamed in Bharat. Some of the prominent works that deal with elephants are the Hastyayurveda of Palapakya and the Matangalila of Narayana. Roman historian Curtius Rufus mentions that the elephants created great terror and their trumpets frightened the Greek horses and their riders. They caused much disorder in the ranks, and veterans of many victories looked for shelter.

He also says that the most dismal sight was elephants gripping the Greek soldiers with their trunks, hoisting them above their heads, and delivering them to their soldiers to be beheaded. Similarly, Diodorus and Plutarch mentioned elephant warfare and their strength in the war between Alexander and Purushottam (Porus). According to Dhanurveda, the military training of elephants consists of mountaineering, moving through the water, running, jumping, rising, sitting, etc. The elephants should be made devoid of fear by putting them inside fire circles.

Cavalry:

The cavalrymen rode the horses with a whip that was fixed to the wrist unlike for the horses of a chariot. The cavalrymen were armed with bows and arrows or a spear or a sword. The cavalry had a wide range of tactical advantages. It was indispensable in situations requiring quickness of movement. Eminent works that deal with Horses and cavalry are Asva Sastra of Hemasuri and Asvacikitsa of Nakula.

Infantry:

According to the Agni Purana, victory attends to those armies where foot soldiers i.e., the infantry are numerically strong. The Sukraniti mentions foot soldiers possess firearms during combat. Dhanurveda mentions that the soldiers in an infantry should be of equal height and everyone in the infantry should be an expert in jumping and running. Moreover, they should be trained to move backward, stand still, run, and run apace rushing headlong into the hostile army, and move in different directions according to signals. According to Arrian, “They carry a bow made of equal length with the man who bears it.

This they rest upon the ground and pressing against it with their left foot, thus discharge the arrow having drawn the string backward: the shaft they use is little short of being three yards long, and there is nothing which can resist an Indian archer’s shot – neither shield nor breastplate nor any stronger defense if such there be”. Arrian also says, “All Indians are free. The Indian army was in constant pay, during war and peace. Arms and horses supplied by the state and army never ravaged the country. The bravery of the army is superior to any other army they had to contend with.”

Besides the four-fold classification of the army, Artha Sastra mentions a six-fold division. According to this division, the army consisted of six ‘limbs’ which are:

• Maula (hereditary troops)
• Bhrita (territorial army)
• Sreni (organized militias)
• Mitra (friendly troops)
• Amrita (alien forces)
• Atavi (jungle tribal forces)

Army Organizational Structure

According to Artha Sastra, Army’s organizational structure is as follows:

• Patika – Commander of ten units of the army.
• Senapati – Commander of 10 Patikas.
• Nayaka – Commander of 10 Senapatis.

Troop Distribution

Scriptures, such as The Mahabharata, mention the distribution of troops into nine different units namely: Patti, Senamukha, Gulma, Gana, Vahini, Pruthana, Chamu, Anikini, Akshauhini. Each unit consists of chariots, elephants, horses, and foot soldiers in the ratio of 1:1:3:5. The following table explains the composition of each unit taken from The Mahabharata, Aadi Parva (Adhyayam 2, verses 19-26).

War strategy

There are several different types of military formations mentioned in Hindu scriptures. Some of these formations are: Padma Vyuha, Chakra Vyuha, Ratha Vyuha, Sarpa Vyuha, Garuda Vyuha, Simha Vyuha, Agni Vyuha, Danda Vyuha, Matsya Vyuha, Makara Vyuha, Sucimukha Vyuha, Sakata Vyuha, Vajra Vyuha etc. The type of vyuha (array) used shall depend on the type of anticipated attack.

Weaponry

According to Dhanurveda, weapons fall into four categories based on their nature:

• Mukta – which are thrown
• Amukta – which are not thrown
• Muktamukta – which are thrown or not thrown
• Yantramukta – which are thrown by spells

Twelve weapons fall under the Mukta category: Dhanu (Bow), Arrow, Bindivala (Crooked club), Sakti (Spear), Drughana (Hatchet), Tomara (Tomahawk), Nalika (Musket), Laguda (Club), Pasa (Lasso), Cakra (Discus), Danta kantaka (Tooth-thorn), Musundi (Octagon-headed club)

The Amukta class consists of the following twenty weapons: Vajra (Thunderbolt), Hand sword, Parasu (Axe), Gosirsa (Cow-horn spear), Asidheny (Stiletto), Lavitra (Scythe), Astara (Bumarang), Kunta (Lance), Sthuna (Anvil), Prasa (Spear), Pinaka or Trisula (Trident), Gada (Club), Mudgara (Hammer), Sira (Ploughshare), Musala (Pestle), Pattisa (Battle-axe), Maustika (Fist-sword, Dagger), Parigha (Battering-ram), Mayukhi (Pole), Satagni (Hundred-killer)

The Muktamukta class weapons were further classified into two classes, namely Sopasamhara (connected with the withdrawing or restraining Upasamhara) and the Upasamhara themselves which are the restrainers of the previous class. There are forty-four varieties in the Sopasamhara class and fifty-four varieties in Upasamhara class.

There are only six weapons in the Yantramukta class, and nothing can defeat these six weapons.

1. Visnuchakra (Discus of Vishnu)
2. Vajrastra (Thunderbolt)
3. Brahmastra (Brahma’s Missile)
4. Kalapasaka (Noose of death)
5. Narayanastra (Missile of Narayana)
6. Pasupatastra (Missile of Pasupati)

Unlike Dhanurveda, the Agnipurana classified weapons into five categories. 1. Yantramukta, those thrown by a machine, 2. Panimukta, those thrown by the hand, 3. Mukta-sandharita, those thrown and drawn back, 4. Amukta, those which ate not thrown, and 5. Bahuyuddha, weapons that the body provides for personal struggle. Gustav Oppert in his monologue, ‘On the weapons, army organization and political maxims of the ancient Hindus’, mentions that there are other classifications besides the previously mentioned.

Likewise, various treatises consist of different opinions regarding the superiority of one weapon over the other. For example, Vaisampayana in his Niti Prakasika had high regard for the sword whereas according to Agnipurana, it was considered a subaltern weapon where battles fought with bows are considered noble followed by fighting with spears, swords, and wrestling is considered the worst form of fighting. He also says that the efficiency of the weapons varies and is subject to great changes. Because of the construction mode, the materials used to make a weapon are different, and the quality of a weapon is not the same in different ages and places.

Besides, increasing, decreasing, and preserving the efficiency of a weapon depends a lot on the strength and ability of a person who uses such arms. One notable mention is that according to Gustav, gunpowder can be attributed to Niti Prakasika and Sukraniti. He also mentions that the gunpowder equivalent in Sanskrit is ‘agnicurna’ also called ‘curna’.

Conclusion

Hindu civilization had a rich knowledge of warfare, weapons, military strategies, and martial arts. This made the Hindu kings resist armed Islamic and Portuguese invasions in its history for the longest time which was nowhere to be seen across other civilizations in the world. Despite the mention of gunpowder in Hindu scriptures, and the training of elephants with fire circles to make them devoid of fear, we don’t witness any usage of fire weapons in Bharat’s armed struggle concerning Islamic invasions.

Moreover, Muslim historians recorded instances where naphtha balls were thrown against the rushing elephants and frighten them in wars between Rajputs and Turkish invaders from the North-West (Elliot and Dowson, vol. I). In any case, this rich knowledge combined with our ancestors rooted in Dharmic values led to the failure of total Islamization and the Christianization of Bharat.

References and Works Consulted

Chakravarti, P.C., The Art of War in Ancient India (General Printers & Publishers, 1941), University of Dacca. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282006

Hema Hari, D.K. and Hari, D.K., Autobiography of India: Breaking the Myths – About Identity (Sri Sri Publications Trust, 2018), accessed at https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-India-Identity-Breaking-Myths-Vol1-About-ebook/dp/B07C15GJMG

John C. Rolfe, Litt. D., Curtius Rufus, Quintus [History of Alexander], (Harvard University Press, 1946), University of Pennsylvania. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/quintuscurtius0002unse/page/n7/mode/2up

McCrindle J.W., Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and Arrian, (Thacker, Spink & Co., 1877). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/ancientindiaasd01mccrgoog/page/n6/mode/2up

Mookerji, Radha Kumud, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, University of Madras, 1943. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281321.

Oppert Gustav, NitiPrakasika, (Higginbotham And Co, 1882). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217444

Oppert Gustav, On the weapons, army organization, and political maxims of the Ancient Hindus, (New Order Book Co, 1967). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.46936

Rangarajan, L.N., Kautilya, The Arthashastra (Penguin Books, 1992). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/kautaliya-arthshashtra-ancient-India/mode/2up

Ramachandra Dikshitar, V.R., War in Ancient India (Macmillan & Co., 1944), University of Madras. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.503472

Ray, Purnima, Vasişţa’s Dhanurveda Samhitā (J.P. Publishing House, 2003). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382701

Thippabhatla RamaKrishnaMurthy, Suram Srinivasulu., Shrimahabharatam aadiparvamu-sabhaparvamu-part-1 (Gita Press, Gorakhpur, 2018) Accessed at https://www.gitapress.org/bookdetail/shrimahabharatamu-aadiparvamu-sabhaparvamu-part-1-telugu-2141

Vittal, Vinay, “Kautilya’s Arthasastra: A timeless Grand strategy” (Graduate Thesis, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. 2011). Accessed at https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1019423.pdf

Ancient Indian Warfare, accessed at https://www.worldhistory.org/Indian_Warfare/

Dhanurveda – Works on ancient Indian artilleries. Accessed at http://mahabharata-research.com/onewebmedia/chapter%203.pdf

Hindu Online, accessed at http://hinduonline.co/scriptures/dhanurveda/dhanurveda.html

Mahabharatam, in Telugu (Gita Press, Gorakhpur, 2016). First edition.

Surya’s Tapestry, accessed at https://www.hinduwisdom.info/War_in_Ancient_India.htm

We acknowledge the editorial assistance provided by Dr. Kalyani Samantray, Sri Sri University, Odisha, India.

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Warfare in Ancient Bharat: Part 1

Ancient Bharat had witnessed many wars in every yuga be it Satya (Krita) Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. Some of the famous wars were the war of ten kings, the war between Rama and Ravana in the Treta Yuga, and the Kurukshetra war in the Dwapara Yuga. Besides, many other wars were mentioned in various Puranas and many other wars were recorded in history. If Bharat had witnessed many such wars besides modern ones, it implies that Bharat had a rich history of warfare, weapons, and martial arts which might have evolved to higher functionality from rudimentary levels. This paper is an attempt to summarize ancient Bharat’s warfare and weaponry.

Works on Warfare 

Dhanurveda, one of the four upavedas and part of Yajurveda, deals with archery and military science. The other three upavedas are Ayurveda, Gandharvaveda, and Natyaveda, which are part of the Rig, Sama, and Atharvana Vedas respectively. The term ‘Dhanurveda’ usually denotes the artillery science. Dhanurveda mainly covers weapons and training, war ethics, war strategy, and army composition besides training horses, elephants, etc.

Moreover, Vasishta’s treatise on Dhanurveda, called Dhanurveda Samhita, and Nitiprakashika by Vaisampayana deal with the same. Agni Purana also deals with weapons. The Vishnu Purana mentions Dhanurveda as one of the eighteen traditional branches of knowledge. In addition to the mention of training horses and elephants in Dhanurveda, there are works like Asva Sastra, Asvacikitsa, Hastyayurveda, and Matangalila that explicitly deal with elephants and horses. Arthashastra by Kautilya was based on several earlier treatises, and teachers like Vishalaksha and Bharadwaja deal with politics, state administration, warfare, military strategies, other essential aspects of war, etc.

According to L. N. Rangarajan, the author of the book ‘Kautilya-The Arthashastra’, there were a minimum of four distinct schools of thought and thirteen individual teachers of Arthashastra before Kautilya. Other notable works that fall into the category of Arthashastra are Sukra Niti by Sukracharya, Kamandakiya Nitishastra, Harihara Caturanga, Sangrama-Vijayodaya, etc. 

War and Types of War

In Sanatana Dharma, wars are fully justified as an integral part of dharma. War is completely acceptable if it is fought to uphold Dharma or to protect the weak and the innocent. According to Manu and Kautilya, wars were fought not only for self-defense against external aggression but also for the territory’s enlargement by conquest. Moreover, they explain that a king aims to destroy a natural enemy because if he does not eliminate the enemy, he will be eliminated by the enemy.

It can be widely seen that war was always used as a last resort after exhausting all the measures to maintain peace, which is evident from Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other such scriptures. The ancient Hindu society realized the importance of peace and hence followed a four-stage process to avoid war and settle disputes. These stages are:

• Sama – peaceful negotiation
• Dana – offering gifts appeasing the enemy
• Bheda – veiled threat
• Danda – use of force

According to ancient Hindu society, war was not just confined to physical war. War was classified into four kinds by Kautilya, who is also called Chanakya in Artha Sastra.

• Mantrayuddha – war by counsel employed by a weaker king when waging an open war is not a good idea
• Prakasayuddha – open war
• Kutayuddha – a concealed war that meant irregular warfare and psychological warfare, including the instigation of treachery in the enemy camp
• Gudayuddha – using covert methods to achieve the objective without waging a battle

In one of the strategies employed by the ancient Bharatiya kings that fall under Gudayuddha, gifts were sent to the invading kings, which also included the Poison Maiden (Visha Kanya) to kill the enemy king. In a letter (Latin – Elgood, Arabic translation by Al-Batriq) written by Aristotle to Alexander cautioning him about a Poison Maiden, he says “Remember what happened when the king of India sent three rich gifts and among them that beautiful maiden whom they had fed on poison until she was the nature of a snake.

Had I not perceived it because of my fear, for I feared the clever men of those countries and their craft, and had I not found by proof that she would be killing thee by her embrace and by her perspiration, she would surely have killed thee.”   

Ethics and Rules of War in Ancient Bharat

During a war, Hindu kings abided by certain ethics which were mentioned in several ancient scriptures mentioned previously. Even accounts of Greek scholars mentioned that wars in Bharat were fought between kings and armies and no civilians were harmed in this process. Greek ambassador Megasthenes mentions, “Whereas among other nations it is usual in the contests of war to ravage the soil and thus reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil, even when in battle is raging in the neighborhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict make carnage of each other, but allow these engaged in husbandry to remain unmolested.

Besides they neither ravage an enemy’s land with fire nor cut down its trees. Nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman’s at work on land do him harm, for men of this class, being regarded as public benefactors, are protected from all injury”. This kind of war code was employed in the western world through the Geneva convention in 1949.

War Ethics and rules of engagement in the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Dhanurveda, and Vedas:

• The place and time of war must be specified beforehand to be in accordance with dharma.
• War is to begin at sunrise and end at sunset.
• A single warrior cannot be attacked by multiple warriors.
• When two warriors engage in a duel, they shouldn’t be intervened.
• A surrendered warrior should be unharmed.
• A surrendered warrior becomes a prisoner of war and is subject to the protections allocated to such a warrior.
• An unarmed warrior cannot be harmed.
• Anyone (human or animal) not involved in the war should be left unharmed.
• Unless considered a direct threat, animals in battle cannot be killed.
• A warrior involved in a battle with a weapon should abide by certain rules. For example, striking the enemy with a mace below the waist was forbidden.
• Warriors should not be engaged in an unjust war; it had to be a just war.
• Land should not be harmed in any form.
• Women, children, the sick, and farmers should not be affected in a battle and war prisoners were considered sacred.
• A warrior should not be struck from the back.
• Poisoned weapons and arrowheads were forbidden.
• Mass destruction weapons that wiped off the entire population were prohibited.
• An enemy who is lying unconscious, who is crippled, who does not have a weapon or is stricken with fear, and who came for asylum should not be killed.
• A strong and brave warrior should not chase and kill any fleeing enemy stricken with fear.

When a territory is acquired by conquest, the conqueror king shall:

• Be twice as good as the previous king.
• Follow policies that are pleasing and beneficial to the constituents by acting according to his dharma.
• Adopt the way of life, dress, language, and customs of the people of the acquired territory, show the same devotion to the gods of the territory as to his own gods and participate in the people’s festivals and amusements.
• Ensure the practice of all customs which are in accordance with dharma.
• Ensure that worship is held regularly in all the temples and ashrams.
• Grant land, money, and tax exemptions to the men distinguished for their learning, speech, dharma, or bravery.
• The ill, the helpless, and the distressed shall be helped.

When the enemy camp is raided, these people should not be attacked:

• Anyone falling in the fight.
• Those turning their backs.
• Anyone surrendering.
• Anyone who unties his hair as a symbol of surrender or throws his weapons down.
• Anyone contorted by fear.
• Anyone who does not fight.

Furthermore, Manu Smriti also has some battle rules:

• The conqueror has the obligation of treating the defeated ones with humanity.
• A warrior should not strike with weapons concealed nor with barbed, poisoned, or the points of which are blazing with fire.
• People walking on the road, travelers, or those who are engaged in eating and drinking or pursuing their activities and Brahmans should not be harmed unless engaged in a war.
• Combat between the mounted and the unmounted was prohibited.
• Combat between warriors of officer rank and foot soldiers was not allowed.
• Collective attacks against a single soldier and the slaying of a warrior who had a temporary disadvantage during the battle were strictly prohibited

Despite multiple treatises pointing out the act of using poisoned weapons as cowardly, Dhanurveda had techniques of Phalapayana, a technique to make arrows poisonous. One of the recorded instances where poisonous swords and arrows were used was in the battle between King Sambus and Alexander where Ptolemy, the Greek general of Alexander was wounded by a poisoned arrow. Moreover, many soldiers who were wounded by poisoned swords, and arrows died soon after.

References & Works Consulted

Chakravarti, P.C., The Art of War in Ancient India (General Printers & Publishers, 1941), University of Dacca. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.28200

Crindle, J.W.M., The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, (Westminster Archibald Constable and Company, 1896). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/invasionindiaby00arrigoog/mode/2up

Hema Hari, D.K. and Hari, D.K., Autobiography of India: Breaking the Myths – About Identity (Sri Sri Publications Trust, 2018), accessed at https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-India-Identity-Breaking-Myths-Vol1-About-ebook/dp/B07C15GJMG

Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji, Asiatic Papers, Part IV, (Times of India Press, 1929). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.30255.

Mookerji, Radha Kumud, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, University of Madras, 1943. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281321.

Ramachandra Dikshitar, V.R., War in Ancient India (Macmillan & Co., 1944), University of Madras. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.503472

Rangarajan, L.N., Kautilya, The Arthashastra (Penguin Books, 1992). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/kautaliya-arthshashtra-ancient-India/mode/2up

Ray, Purnima, Vasişţa’s Dhanurveda Samhitā (J.P. Publishing House, 2003). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382701

Vittal, Vinay, “Kautilya’s Arthasastra: A timeless Grand strategy” (Graduate Thesis, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. 2011). Accessed at https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1019423.pdf

Dhanurveda – Works on ancient Indian artilleries. Accessed at http://mahabharata-research.com/onewebmedia/chapter%203.pdf

Hinduwebsite, accessed at https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_war.asp

Hinduwebsite, accessed at https://www.hinduwebsite.com/ask/is-war-justified.asp

Sanskriti Magazine, accessed at https://www.sanskritimagazine.com/indian-religions/hinduism/hinduism-code-ethics-war/

Hindu Online, accessed at http://hinduonline.co/scriptures/dhanurveda/dhanurveda.html

Surya’s Tapestry, accessed at https://www.hinduwisdom.info/War_in_Ancient_India.html

We acknowledge the editorial assistance provided by Dr. Kalyani Samantray, Sri Sri University, Odisha, India.

The post Warfare in Ancient Bharat: Part 1 of 2 appeared first on Hindu University of America.

Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way is a painted mural displayed behind the western staircase of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol Building. The mural was painted by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutzein 1861 and symbolizes Manifest Destiny.

As another example, of the way Kshatriya Dharma worked in traditional India, and continues to work is illustrated in the contrast offered by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, through the images of innocent civilians in hospitals, schools and other gathering venues ripped apart by weapons of large-scale destruction. These images reek of the Adharmic conduct of war. In stark contrast, wars in ancient and traditional India were confined to the specific swim lanes designated by the warring sides, with the fighting engaged only by Kshatriyas, while the broader community i.e., all other Varnas and Jatis, carried on with its daily activities, certain that the war and violence will not spill over into the non-Kshatriya spheres. Those were the rules of engagement generally accepted and followed on both sides in a Dharmic culture. This principle even sustains today’s India, that is Bharat, for the most part.

The Rise of Adharma

We cannot deny that the societal conditions in the US today are very concerning. Compared to just one generation ago, 84% of people surveyed in a 2019 NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll[1] said Americans are angrier. There are very few compelling reasons to believe in the possibility of a reversal of that sentiment either. Social media has had the unfortunate effect of amplifying hate speech and its causative crimes. With nearly all continents communicating through social media, perpetrators of crime can publicize their acts[2]. The confluence of a disgruntled citizenry, extreme discontent in society, the inability to manage emotions responsibly, and the easy availability[3] of guns makes for a deadly combination. Despite strong barometers of material success over the last decade as measured by property values or financial market performance in the aggregate, are we witnessing a case of civilizational decline in the form of the rise of Adharma in the USA? This pervasive decline is characterized by the choice, that America keeps making, i.e., to prioritize the ubiquitous presence of guns in society that has repeatedly proven to be deadly on unarmed citizenry, as something more important than the safety and wellbeing of its citizens. Without a fundamental reappraisal of such abnormal and perverse priorities, how are changes possible? There was a time when we could trust lawmakers to make certain course-corrections. Is that trust valid anymore, or has it been long eroded?

Such a reappraisal must necessarily consider the history of these gun related amendments, statutes, and regulations. For example, the 1791 second amendment was not some isolated gun regulation. It was preceded by several efforts towards “… prohibiting negroes, slave and free, from carrying weapons including clubs,” ensuring that “… that all such free Mulattoes, Negroes, and Indians…shall appear without arms,” so as to “…prevent negro insurrections.”[4] These laws and statues were enacted in various states through the 1600’s and 1700’s. Even more dramatically, in 1792, just a year after the 2nd amendment was passed, the “Uniform Militia Act of 1792 ‘called for the enrolment of every free, able-bodied white male citizen between the ages of eighteen and forty-five’ to be in the militia and specified that every militia member was to ‘provide himself with a musket or firelock, a bayonet, and ammunition.’” The meaning of the term militia as used in the 2nd amendment is clarified by the this Uniform Militia Act of 1792. These laws and regulations had a different intention and purpose in the 1600’s through the 1800’s i.e., one of proactively arming the white settlers against their non-white enemies, whom they were either subjugating, exterminating or enslaving. After the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865 abolishing slavery, the issue of gun ownership became one of the ‘equal rights’ of non-whites to also own guns, in relation to the whites. The question of whether ordinary members of the country’s citizenry really ought to possess weapons has not, it appears has not been considered effectively till today, outside of the rhetorical echo-chamber of rights of all people. If every citizen is required by law to carry a driver’s license, and acquire liability insurance in order to drive a vehicle, safely on the roads, without being a hazard to others, gun ownership ought to have a much more carefully thought-out process of regulation, is it not? What has prevented such a reappraisal till date, and continues to prevent it?

Dharma and Adharma

It is during these times that the wisdom of everlasting principles of human existence envisaged by Hindu Dharma become ever more important. One may ask, how do we apply the concepts of Dharma to synthesize solutions to current issues?

The word Dharma, from the Sanskrit language, is difficult to be reduced to simple definition in English. Dharma can mean transcendental cosmic order, physical order of the universe, social order, ethical behavior, duty or responsibility, community service, right self-expression, or ultimately self-liberation. Furthermore, digging into the root of the word itself, Dhr means uphold, sustain or support. Therefore, when a society has collectively built an environment of peace, harmony, and stability with a concurrent check on the opposite kinds of forces, the potential for prosperity and creativity becomes possible[5]. The exact opposite outcomes manifest when the inverses of the stated factors become dominant.

In other words, Dharma promotes social harmony, while Adharma generates social conflict. This can be a simple operating definition. It becomes imperative, then, that a conscious choice towards creating a Dharmic society is necessary to prevent the alternative spiral of decline from taking further hold. The idea that anyone and everyone in a state may and should possess guns, regardless of their extent or lack of careful preparation and training on how to use weapons, when to use them and when not to use them, is a fundamentally Adharmic choice, which has its attendant and inevitable tragic Karmic consequences. That careful preparation and training, when institutionalized by law and regulation, is a Dharmic choice, and the only way of reversing the course of affairs. For the leaders of a nation to make such a choice, requires them to have some idea of Dharma at least. Insofar as the leaders merely reflect the people of a society, the people also must have a sense of Dharma.

Guns are not just a product to be bought and sold like a commodity. They are deadly weapons, capable of taking lives. The conflict here is between a Vaishya Dharma, the freedom to buy and sell guns as a commodity, without restraints, and a Kshatriya Dharma, where careful training, preparation and self-regulation is a necessary duty, that is inseparable from the privilege of possessing such weapons. When the Vaishya Dharma and a Kshatriya Dharma enter into a seeming confrontation, there must be a framework for resolving that conflict. These Dharmas are not merely mutually conflicting imperatives, that can be settled only through a gunfight, but also have an inherent sense of hierarchy built into them. This is where Hindu thought is infinitely more insightful than a discourse on rights, which has lost its way, into a radical clamour for their inviolability and has no more any space for its counterpart, i.e., a discourse on restraints, duties, responsibilities and obligations. Dharma brings balance, order, justice, it integrates, and responds to the diverse interests in play – It transcends the mere scramble for power. But to actualize this, one must move from the sphere of power-struggles to the sphere of wisdom. That call to move from a sphere of power, of dominance, or control, to the sphere of knowledge, wisdom and peace is the voice of Dharma.

For more information about HUA, visit https://hua.edu.

[1]    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/26/735757156/poll-americans-say-were-angrier-than-a-generation-ago

[2]    https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hate-speech-social-media-global-comparisons

[3]    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB7MwvqCtlk

[4] Steve Eckwall, The Racist Origins of Gun Control, Laws Designed To Disarm Slaves, Freedmen, And African-Americans, at https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/29093/the-racist-origins-of-us-gun-control.pdf

[5]    Kalyan Viswanathan, Orientation to Hindu Studies, Dharma, Hindu University of America, 2020.

The post Gun-Violence and Dharma – Part II appeared first on Hindu University of America.

If the American civilization as we have come to cherish and respect has entered a spiral of self-destruction, as it appears to be, is there still an opportunity to reverse course? What is the way out of senseless violence plaguing American society today? Or do we simply have to accept that everyday a certain number of people randomly will have to be sacrificed, as unavoidable collateral damage, to uphold the ‘freedom’ of Gun ownership for the people and the ‘freedom’ to maximize gun sales for the corporations?

What does Hindu Dharma have anything to do with domestic gun violence that the USA is witnessing all too frequently? What does it have to say about ownership and use of guns or any weapons for that matter? In this sequence of two articles, we will examine this issue through the lens of Hindu Dharma.

Overview

Ownership of a gun is a deemed fundamental right in the US Constitution[1], as enshrined in its second amendment passed in 1791, which reads “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This has often been read in a way that means that anyone in the US can keep and bear arms, i.e., legally possess a weapon of destruction. It is understandable that a trained military officer or soldier, who is a member of a well-regulated entity, such as the military or the police, may necessarily keep and bear arms to perform his duties, but what is the relationship between any private citizen i.e., the people and a ‘well-regulated militia’ that the second amendment references? Herein lies an enormous space for mischievous interpretation. There appears to be no guidelines in the constitution about how a gun may be used except for a vague hint about sport hunting. The US Department of Justice website[2] says that “Americans have a right to defend their homes, and nothing should undermine this right; nor does anyone question that the Constitution protects the right of hunters to own and keep sporting guns for hunting any more than anyone would challenge the right to own and keep fishing rods and other equipment for fishing.” The reality is gun ownership is a key causal factor for unnatural mortality in the US. The data on this is beyond ambiguous.

Sobering Statistics

In 2021, in the US alone, 45,010 human lives were lost due to some form of gun violence[3]. Nearly a quarter million souls (240,512) have been lost just in the 5-year period ending 2021 and yet nothing in the horizon appears to be able to put a stop to this senseless, deliberate, and preventable loss of lives. Lawmakers in the USA are trapped in a tragic quagmire, justifying the importance of the “freedom to own and sell guns” on the one hand, and lamenting the loss of innocent lives, with their all-too-frequent “thoughts and prayers” on the other hand, apparently in utter bewilderment as to how one could be correlated with the other.

Drivers of Gun Sales

Nearly 20 million guns (about 6,000 for every 100,000 people) were sold in the US in 2021[4]. Two reasons have been proposed as key drivers of gun sales[5]: (1) protection against a potential breakdown in civil society and (2) acquisition of the firearm ahead of any potential government intervention on gun ownership. Co-incidentally, a breakdown in civil society especially as it pertains to the peaceful transfer of power after a democratic election has just concluded, is not something America can turn a blind eye towards anymore. Perversely, gun sales also tend to spike after mass shootings[6]. This means that to promote gun sales, these sporadic shooting events, and loss of life, are quite helpful, even if they are not pre-planned. According to Firearm Industry Trade Association, 2021 the firearm and ammunition industry employed ~376,000 people and was responsible for ~$70 billion in total economic activity in the US in 2021[7], indicating that it is a lucrative market for a variety of industries. These beliefs and facts make it extremely difficult for legislative interventions to change course.

Contrast with Indian Situation

A comparative study of India along the same or similar metrics reveals that there is no gun industry for the domestic civilian market. There are no legal provisions for ordinary citizens to own a gun except perhaps for non-violent competitive target shooting activity. Manufacturing activity around guns and ammunitions are for either domestic military, paramilitary and state police use or for exports[8]. More importantly, the civilians in India do not aspire to own guns for domestic self-defence. They leave this matter to the community of people engaged in law-enforcement, and the military, by and large. Of course, there are exceptions, such as criminals and mafia gangs and so on, but they are exceptions by and large, and not the norm.

The Dharma of Violence

The natural question is then why does the Indian society seem to be the opposite to the US on guns, and gun related laws, especially when on every other matter, it seems to want to do nothing more than copy the west? A review of the social history of India provides a few explanations.

For thousands of years, social interactions in Indian society were framed by Hindu Dharma, specifically the Dharmashastras. These treatises on Dharma included extensive thought and writings on religion, ethics, society, and politics. Also embodied in these texts of profound insights were codes of conduct formulated by realized masters such as Manu, Yagnavalkya, and others. In particular, the Dharmashastras never sanctioned ownership of weapons to private citizens. The Protectors of the people, i.e., the Kshatriyas, so designated by their character (Guna) and choice of work (Karma), were the only community officially called upon and expected to carry arms for one purpose – defence of the state and its citizens, and the enforcement of law and order. That other members of the society i.e., other communities never aspired to own weapons was well understood by society, a characteristic behavior that continues even today.

Kshatriyas have always lived and transacted with the rest of the Hindu community on a mutually cooperative, inter-dependent basis, within the framework of Dharma. A true Kshatriya will never confront an unarmed member of the society for doing so will go against Dharma. Chapter 18, verse 43 of the Bhagavad Gita says,

शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम् |

दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम् || 43||

śhauryaṁ tejo dhṛitir dākṣhyaṁ yuddhe chāpy apalāyanam
dānam īśhvara-bhāvaśh cha kṣhātraṁ karma svabhāva-jam

Translation:

Valour, strength, fortitude, skill in weaponry, resolve never to retreat from battle, large-heartedness in charity, and leadership abilities, these are the natural qualities of “Kṣhātraṁ Karma.”

That immensely stable structure, called the Varna-Jati social order, protected by the Kshatriyas, prevailed in conditions of a stable peace for thousands of years. That it broke down in the face of relentless outside pressure, from both Islam and Christianity, and gave rise to the enormous problem of the Dalit and Subaltern community, which it could not reabsorb subsequently is a story for another day.

Since independence in 1947, the Indian Polity, despite ravages from invasions and colonial incursions, has somehow maintained the essential spirit of the Dharmashastras as it pertains to private ownership of weapons. In other words, despite the fact that the constitution of today’s India, is largely an exercise to replace the duties of individuals and communities as espoused in the Dharmashastras with “rights” of citizens – a concept borrowed from Western ideals of state constitution, not only is private ownership of arms not sanctioned by the constitution as a fundamental right, but the broader society itself continues to live by its code of traditional Dharma for the most part, at least in this regard i.e., it does not demand the private ownership of weapons as a right of all its citizens.

[1]    https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-2/

[2]    https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/second-amendment-does-not-guarantee-right-own-gun-gun-control-p-99

[3]    https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls

[4]    http://smallarmsanalytics.com/v1/pr/2022-01-05.pdf

[5]    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52189349

[6]    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/12/19/seven-facts-about-the-u-s-gun-industry/

[7]  https://www.nssf.org/government-relations/impact/

[8]    https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/india-as-an-emerging-weapons-exporter-383067

The post Gun-Violence and Dharma – Part I appeared first on Hindu University of America.

How would you react if you were told that the Periodic Table and Maslow’s Model both have their roots in India? Here’s an interesting blog post by Keshav Goyalji that describes how a thought traveled from India to other countries by taking the examples of Samskrit Varnamala and Panchkosh, and how they ‘inspired’ the development of Periodic Table and Maslow’s model respectively.

1. Periodic Table versus Samskrit Varnamala

Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist developed Periodic Table in 1869. He used a framework to group and arrange them logically based on their characteristics. Elements with similar behavior were grouped into columns. Rows contain elements that exhibit same pattern of traits like the typical elements.

He also postulated a method to discover more elements. The number of elements identified by him was 56. Now that number has gone up to 118. Mendeleev presented the Periodic Table as a two-dimensional array, as shown in Figure 1, to help understand and explore the chemistry in nature, i.e., a repetitive pattern in the nature of elements in nature. As you may be aware, the Periodic Table contains rows of increasing atomic weight (number) and columns with groups of elements depending on their atomic structure and valency.

Figure 1: Periodic Table

With regard to rows, the lead row, in this table, contains the “typical” element for that group while subsequent rows contain elements that exhibit the same pattern of traits like the typical element. For example, sodium is a typical alkali, chlorine a typical halogen, helium a typical noble gas etc.

Samskrit alphabet, shown in Figure 2, has swara (sound) that can be spoken independently and vyanjana which cannot be spoken without a swara.

Figure 2: Samskrit Varnamala

Samskrit Varnmala table (Figure 2) is a two-dimensional array with columns of increased aspiration of air while pronouncing and rows of decreased area of contact of tongue with the contours of mouth. This grouping is based on (i) effort made to produce sound-prayatna (ii) location of tongue-sthan, (iii) force with which the sound is released-bala, (iv) duration of sound-kala. This arrangement has been explained by Panini, the samskrit grammarian.

Dmitri Mendeleev, a professor of Chemistry and his friend Otto Bohtlingk, a professor of Samskrit worked at University of St. Petersburg. At that time, former was working on a chemistry text book and Periodic Table and the latter on the second edition of his book on Panini.

Baku, a city near Caspian Sea, was a trade center through which Indian goods coming by sea route went to Russia and western Europe. This city flourished as a center for fire worship more than two millennia ago. This area is rich in oil. Natural gas emanating from oil wells keeps the fire burning at Ateshgah fire temple at all times.

Baku has been a pilgrimage place for many Vedic fire worshippers, Samskrit scholars and priests from India even up to 1800s. Dmitri stayed in a cabin located at the main gate of this fire temple many times since 1862 to investigate the composition of petroleum to help local producers as well as the Noble brothers, Ludvig and Robert, who had stake in oil fields in Baku. Living in the same temple premises in Baku where there were rooms for priests and pilgrims, Dmitri would have had many opportunities to interact with Samskrit scholars (priests).

This interaction may have given the shape of two- dimensional Periodic Table (Figure 1) similar to Samskrit Varnmala (Figure 2). While predicting future elements, Mendeleev used Samskrit based names such as, eka aluminium (Gallium), dvi tellurium (Polonium), tri-manganese (Rhenium) and so on.

2. Panchkosh versus Maslow’s Model

In Indian thought process, the mind is not a small matter. It led to creation itself. According to Nasadiya sukta in Rig Veda, the seeds of mind manifested first. Their aggression led to a process of manifestation of subtle matter leading to the Big Bang, which then spewed out the gross matter.

The mind is not an organ of brain but is spread across creation and even in that which existed before the creation. Therefore, mind is a continuum (Brahman-big mind) before as well as after the creation. All of space-time and creation seems to be in one single mind in more ways than one. We are connected to the Universe through our mind and therefore, we all are connected. This allows us to influence others through our mind if our “connect” is preserved (present).

Mind science (Manovidya) is collective understanding of the mind, memory, intellect, ego, consciousness etc. Manovidya should not be mistakenly equated with limited science such as psychology or Mano Vigyan.

According to Indian thought, we have a dual existence, (i) a physical body (diversity) and (ii) a subtle self, free to mingle in universal homogeneity (unity). For our existence, it is necessary that our being (physical existence-discrete) is in equilibrium with the rest of the universe (gross matter in cosmos) by being conscious and mindful. This awareness about the two-sided nature of creation is commonly called as “unity in diversity”.

The awareness of being bounded by a physical body gave Indian civilization an urge to be tolerant, open minded and liberated.

The Panchkosh concept, shown in Figure 3, can be seen in the Taittiriya Upnishad that dates back to at least 5000 years. Panchkosh (five sheaths) includes annamaya (food), pranmaya (breath/energy), manomaya (mind), gyanmaya (intellect) and anandmaya (bliss). Alternatively, they represent, physical matter, life energy, mind, psyche and spirit.

Figure 3: The Panchkosha Pyramid

Annamaya kosha is made up of 5 elements (space, air, fire, water, and earth). Pranmaya kosha has 5 prans: pran, apan, samana, vyan and udan and they regulate the functioning of the body. The next is manomaya kasha, which is more powerful than the preceding two. The mind brings about a change inside as well as outside of a human being. Without the mind, there would be only inertia in the world. Gyanmaya kosha relates to deeper knowledge that helps one discern, differentiate, probe and penetrate. The fifth sheath is anandmaya kosha, a state of bliss, calm and tranquility. This is the state of atma. There is no imbalance due to pain or pleasure in this kosh.

In other words, we need a body to have a life (pran), need a life to have a mind, need a mind to be aware (intellect), and need an awareness to enjoy bliss. These sheaths, therefore, enable a being to exist, live, feel, know and enjoy.

Those who can recognize their mind (mana) are called Manav. Those who become aware of their intellect and consciousness are called Gyani. Animals and birds remain in realm of pranamaya kosha are called prani (creatures).

The lowest sheath is bound to earth. Pran is bound within the physical dimension of space. Mind goes beyond realm of space-time continuum or universe (Brahmand). Consciousness (intellect) can reach out to many universes (Akhil koti Brahmanda). Soul (atma) can go further in to the core of creation (Srishti). It is also called Narayan.

Abraham Maslow, a Russian, developed a motivational theory about man’s hierarchical needs for management studies during the second half of 1900s. Maslow’s concept has five levels: food, health, goodness, knowledge and bliss as shown in Figure 4. These levels express respectively, comfort, safety, being part of a group, fame, and finally I am me. The first two cover basic needs, next two cover psychological needs and the fifth covers self-fulfillment needs of an individual.

Figure 4: Maslow’s Pyramid

Initially, Maslow stated that individuals must satisfy lower-level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. However, in 1987, he clarified that satisfaction of a need is not an “all-or-none” phenomenon, admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges”.

This pyramid shaped theory, shown in Figure 4, is similar to the Panchkosh concept, discussed earlier. Interestingly, the word Maslow means butter (oil) in Russian language. The word Makkhan (butter) in India became maska in Persia. That, in turn, became Maslow (maslo) in Russia.

References:

Hari, D.K. and D.K. Hema Hari (2017), Autobiography of India, Brand Bharat, vol 5. Roots in India, Hindu Contributions to the World-In the Realm of Mind. future from India, mind versus matter. www.bharathgyan.com.

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How does one set right an agenda-driven narrative that has not only been widely spread, but also widely bought by young minds? By raising uncomfortable questions, and by having them answered by expert faculty, avers Krishna Kavita ji.

It is quite a blessing to have found such an institution as the Hindu University of America in this stage of my life, after having looked for a safe space where I could be myself and voice my thoughts without fear. A Hindu who is a practitioner and believes in the welfare of all beings, you would think, poses no threat to anyone. Sorry, you are very wrong!

But for the course that I took with HUA: Race and Modern Hinduism by Dr. Joydeep Bagchee in January 2021, I would have failed to understand why there is so much hate and distrust directed towards a Hindu, especially in the US, where we happen to be the most educated and wealthy of the minorities who have also been the most law-abiding. 

Knowing both Dr. Joydeep Bagchee and Dr. Vishwa Adluri to be two of the foremost philosopher-thinkers in our world today who are practicing Hindus, as also experts on German Indology, speaking fearlessly the truth of Race Studies, I decided to take this course. It was one of the best decisions of my life, as it answered many questions that have been plaguing me for many years.

Yes, it did push many buttons and boundaries, but Dr. Bagchee, apart from being a very erudite and an exacting professor, is also very generous with his time and in sharing his knowledge. As is Dr. Adluri, who peppered Dr. Bagchee’s lectures with his deep insights.

HUA has been at the forefront of providing a wonderful platform for such civilizationally important and meaningful courses. I am glad I chanced upon it and Shri Kalyan Viswanathan ji was kind enough to offer me a scholarship for the same.

A borrowed narrative called ‘History’ originating from the German Indologists has been put in place in India and the native Indian narrative has been shot down. Indians have unfortunately bought into this narrative and say that we now have to talk about the History of the sacred texts for them to be real. Dr. Bagchee speaks of all this and so much more effortlessly, having studied this topic for decades and having penned a book along with Dr. Adluri – the Nay Science – on the same.

My own past experiences and unanswered questions had propelled me to take up this course. If Indians belong to the same genetic pool as has been proven recently, then where did this idea of Aryan Invasion come from, and why?

Considering how deeply this concept has taken root in India, being taught to this very day in schools as a hard fact, considering the havoc it continues to cause in dividing people of one nation from one another, I decided to devote a semester to learning the causes. Before I enumerate my learnings, I do want to take time to talk a bit about my personal experiences which set the stage for such a study.

In my years at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) teaching Indian Language and Culture, I watched helplessly as the narrative on Hindus and Hinduism was set by those who were not practitioners. Distorted notions regarding our customs and mores (and hence the politics too) was routinely taught to the Foreign Service Officers leaving for posts in India.

Many students came with their own baggage having learnt either Hindi or South Asian Studies at the feet of Hindu-baiters such as Wendy Doniger and her ilk. Calling RSS a fascist organization or Baba Ramdev a cheat, peddling the atrocity literature by the Dalit Solidarity groups – all this helped create an atmosphere of intimidation.

Negative news from India was constantly inboxed (the implicit blame always falling on Hindus for all such ills) by one person in particular with strong LTTE links. While Roza and Iftar were made part and parcel of students learning the culture of their host country, any overt Hindu celebration was frowned upon, in fact any Hindu celebration was reduced to a raucous Bollywood party, specifically for Holi or for Diwali, with the religious or philosophical elements toned down. This was done by the Hindu instructors themselves as a matter of self-flagellation.

While Islam got all the respect, and fear of Islamophobia prevented any critical analysis on part of the student, not so Hindu Dharma, which was open to criticism and mockery from all quarters. The school I contracted with, Global Language Center, was also very Hindu-averse – they had an annual Christmas party which was all about beef and drinks and they dare not serve pork, and all the year-end raffle gifts were distributed among their chosen people, not once was I either feted or gifted like they did my other Muslim counterparts despite being a minority Instructor too, the only Hindu.

During daily class hours, every Indian institution was ripped apart by students constantly trying to find issues with anything ‘Hindu’ without labelling it so. Arranged marriages, of course caste, vegetarianism, Modi, and so on.

Everything was also looked at from a feminist lens only – so a wife cooking for her husband was considered patriarchal and regressive, women choosing to wear saris or bindis were illiberal or brainwashed, loving one’s country and standing up for it became fascism and ultra-nationalism.

The language and culture course soon became a battlefield for social justice by American FSOs who were of course fed on a narrative of India being regressive, superstitious, backward etc. along with other subliminal messaging that happens via the predominantly anti-Hindu/ anti-India media in the U.S.

Not one of them (perhaps one or two exceptions in a decade) was sincerely interested in knowing the views of a Hindu practitioner i.e. me without coming in with an inherent bias, with a willingness to learn and a genuine humble curiosity for the ‘other’. It astonished me then as it does now – what is the criteria for being in the Foreign Service if you lack the basic quality of love of exploration into a foreign territory? 

There was no attempt made to understand or appreciate a Hindu’s point of view. Weren’t these students here to learn that for which they were paid? No. It seemed that they were neither curious nor interested. In fact, they hated to be corrected. They did not respect someone like me who presented a ‘Hindu face’ to them. 

This sad situation did not change at George Washington either. In the Humanities section, whether I took courses on Cross-Cultural Communication or Indigenous Development or even Climate Change and Energy Policy, the professors’ biases, the prescribed books, and the lies that were propagated against Hindus and India were mind boggling. The oft repeated, the greatest lie of all being the Aryan Invasion Theory. 

All this while when the insidiousness of Christianity on campus was totally condoned or overlooked. For example, at the yearly Inter-Faith Dialogue dinner I overheard one of the key officials of this group say this aloud, ‘We did not reach them (Sentinelese) correctly, it simply means we have to change our methods (in trying to convert them)’. 

This was in response to the killing of John Chau by a Sentinelese (Andaman and Nicobar Islands). How appalling is it that at a time and space which was supposedly set aside for appreciating and accepting the ‘other’, conversion by a militant missionary who entered a prohibited territory was being openly talked of as normal activity!

Coming back to the large-hearted offer by Kalyan ji, who is also Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji’s student like me, I am most grateful for this opportunity to learn from the best. This course went beyond my highest expectations, not only offering answers to my age-old queries, but also new ideas, concepts and points of view to ponder upon.

I would like to summarize them as under:

Race is an outcome of Christianity and Supersessionism – History and Humanities work for Christianity. From the Christian idea of monogenesis that all peoples arose from a single source, along with the Christian idea of salvation that all peoples have a teleological purpose which ends in being accepted by Christ at the end of the linear journey of life, the superimposition of a natural scientific classification of beings onto humanities/ groups of peoples enabled German Protestants to create a pseudo-science of anthropology wherein they maintained that people moving away from the ideal source (European/German Protestant/Aryan) were influenced by climate and geographies and thus degeneration set in over time. 

Race then gave rise inevitably to superiority and inferiority, naturally, and racial hierarchies were made inherent in humanity, just as the Aryans who went South to India and then intermingled with the ‘dark unruly hordes’ there (latter called Dravidians) to produce what we call Hindus today.

As per Oldenburg (a German scholar of Indology), Mahabharata is a prime example of this theory – of Aryans fighting for territory and the degeneration of Aryans into Hinduhood! He sees a decline of the Aryans from the high rational atheistic philosophy of the Rig Veda to the ‘superstitious backward’ Shiva-Vishnu worshipping peoples in the Mahabharata.

Where Dr. Vishwa Adluri sees a great work of literature and Bhagavad Gita as an exemplary gist of the Upanishads in that great epic, the German Indologists who constructed the idea of race and universal history see only decline and degeneracy.

In all this, supersessionism is the key, again a Christian concept which tells us that what is old and traditional must be thrown out as backward and superstitious and the new and modern is to be accepted. What must that be but Christianity and Christ!

Christianity is also about identities and self-consciousness as it does not accept a universal consciousness that unites all beings, the idea of one-ness that is espoused by Advaita for example. Hence any practice that is self-reflective is targeted and criticized, any concept which bases itself on jeevaatmaa which can work itself up with saadhanaa is suspect. There is no concept of upward ascent of the jeevaa, no upward dimension to go to. The experiential practices of Hindus such as Yoga or Dhyaana are thus suspect (as in Alabama schools) and are looked at as the work of the Devil.  

For the Hindu, the here and now are of prime importance, we can attain moksha (freedom) in the here and now; we are not obsessed with history nor the future. “The Hindu narrative transcends history, it becomes puraaNa, itihaasa; there is no pretence of history. It has a different prayojanam and phalam and needs a particular adhikaara ….that recognition is built in into Hindu texts.” (Bagchee). Thus, the natality of Hinduism is opposed to embalming death cult nature of Christianity as is described by Nietszche in ‘Dionysius versus the Crucified One’. 

All of the above has been very revealing of the ‘Humanities’ that I have been subjected to thus far in my academics. This course has made all that suspect in my eyes. I want to be able to study further to disabuse Indians especially of the horrors that they have been victims of in the name of Social Studies. I look forward to other courses by Dr. Bagchee and other distinguished academics at HUA in the future and highly recommend the same to you too.

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THE HISTORY AND SPREAD OF MEDICINE AND MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE

India’s contribution to medicine is a story that needs to be told, especially to the medical students.

Most Medical schools in the world, including the ones in India, try to teach the history of medicine in their chronologic order of development. They mostly start with Greek medical men like Askelopes, Hippocrates (5th cent. CE) and Galen (5-6 Cent. CE) and go on to the more recent ‘father of modern surgery’, John Lester. The names of Susruta and Charaka are glossed over, if that.

The history of Medicine in India starts with the Vedas. Ayurveda, which is still practiced in India, is an upanga (subsidiary) of Atharvaveda. This Veda is roughly dated in the 2nd millennium BCE but it is more likely to be earlier than that. Ayurveda was believed to be received by Dhanvantari from the creator, Brahma. Later, other rishis like Bharadvaja, Angirasa, Brihaspati and Kanva, Nagarjuna and several others have contributed additional knowledge. The medicine practiced in the Vedic period (Up to 500 BCE) was rich in practices of magic for the treatments of diseases although herbal treatments were suggested for many ailments. Conditions such as fever, consumption (Tuberculosis) diarrhea and skin diseases including leprosy have been described.

However, dated at least before the first century BCE (some historians date him as from 3rd century BCE, Rudolf Hoernle dates him as 600 BCE), was a very history-making surgeon, Susruta, who is now accepted as the ‘Father of Surgery’ even by Wikipedia. (Dr. Raj Vedam’s research based on archeo-astrology puts Susruta’s date before 2982 BCE by astronomical position of Krittika mentioned in Satapatha Brahmanas regarding Yagnavalkya’s era.). Susruta learned his art in Kasi (Varanasi) from Dhanvantari, the original physician in the Hindu history. He was the main author of the Susruta Samhita which contained discussions of general principles, Anatomy, Pathology, Diagnosis, Sensorial prognosis, Therapeutics, Pharmaceutics and Toxicology.

The Samhita is in two parts, the first five chapters, considered to be oldest part and a ‘later section’ (Uttaratantra), which was an addition by a Buddhist monk Nagarjuna in the first century CE. Susruta is recorded to have performed many surgical procedures and all of those were passed on to the following generations through his personal teaching and this Samhita. In addition, it deals with medical education, duties of medical students and an oath of care to be taken by the practitioner. It is to be noted that this oath preceded in time of the famous Hippocrates’ oath that is currently administered to trained physicians. The caesarian section was known, as was plastic surgery, and bone setting reached a high degree of skill. Susruta classified surgical operations into eight categories: incision, excision, scarification, puncturing, probing, extraction, evacuation, and drainage.

Susruta lists 101 blunt and 20 sharp instruments made of steel that were used in surgery, see Figure 1. It is to be noted that some or many of those instruments resemble surgical instruments of today! Susruta himself performed and taught many surgical procedures such as incision and drainage of abscesses, puncture of the abdomen to remove fluid, repair of anal fistulas, splinting of fractures, amputations, cataract extraction, glaucoma, rhinoplasty (Gentlemen’s Magazine, 1794), hemorrhoid and Prostate removal, among others.

Stones in the bladder were removed by lateral lithotomy, which was introduced into the Western medicine by Galen in the first century CE in Europe. Rhinoplasty was a frequent procedure as cutting off one’s nose was legal punishment for adultery. A flap of skin is loosened from forehead or cheek and reflected over the nose without losing its blood supply. The modern plastic surgery operations appear to have been derived from these techniques.

Fig.1. Illustration of some of the instruments used by Susruta

Susruta was using Kshara Karma and Agnikarma which seem to have preceded today’s cauterization by heat or freezing or by electricity. Alcohol was used as narcotic during operations. There was emphasis on observation and experimentation.

Charaka (Between 100 BCE and 150-200 CE and some people claim as early as 8th century BCE), a medical physician who along with Susruta was one of the principal contributors to Ayurveda. He studied and taught anatomy, physiology, material medica and emphasized the need for prevention of illness. He believed in the principles of Ayurveda – that there are three doshas, Vatha, Pitha and Kapha, whose imbalance causes all diseases. When medications are required to bring back the balance of the doshas, medicines, mostly plant based, were used coupled with required diet modification.

Charaka also taught the medical treatment to a large number of students. Both Susruta and Charaka described recognizing 1,120 diseases including smallpox. Patho-physiology of some diseases is explained in detail. Many of the symptoms and signs for various diseases that were described in the Susruta Samhita can be seen even in modern medicine. Susruta mentioned that Rabies was caused by bite or licks on abraded skin by rabid dogs, cats or even jungle animals like jackals, wolves and monkeys, etc. He goes on to describe the patient of Rabies as having morbid fear of water (called Hydrophobia currently). The first report of Rabies in Mesopotamian literature was recorded in Codex of Eshnunna (1930 BCE), in Greek literature by Democritus (460-370 BCE) and in Persian literature Cannon of Avicenna (980-1037 AD)- all after Susruta.

In the treatment, they emphasized the need to include mind and body (Holistic practice). Control of diet was important in the process of treatment.

The wholistic treatment included Panchakarma (five procedures) consisting of administration of emesis, purgatives, water enemas, oil enemas and sneezing powders. Leeching was practiced when treating certain diseases of blood. This still is the principle for treating Polycythemia, a disease of red blood cells where there is excess production of red blood cells in the body…. only now a patient is being bled into a bag.

Indian materia medica was an extensive collection of indigenous herbal medications. Charaka knew of about 500 medicinal plants and Susruta, 760. Some remedies were obtained from animals, such as milk of various animals, bones and gallstones. Also used were minerals such as sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper, and gold. The physicians made their own medicines from the ingredients. The following is a partial list of physicians of the past India.

Physicians of Ancient India

*Dr. Raj Vedam’s archeo-astronomical research based on position of Krittika stars mentioned in Satapatha Brahmana, proposes Susruta was from the 3000 BCE period

Later Ayurvedic classics mention eight branches of medicine, Kayachikitsa (internal medicine), Salyachikitsa (surgery), Salakyachikitsa (eye and ENT), Kaumarabhartya (pediatrics), Bhutavaidya (spirit medicine), Agadatantra (toxicology), Rasayana (science of rejuvenation) and Vajikarana (aphrodisiac). In addition to this, a medical student is also trained in distillation, cooking, horticulture, metallurgy, sugar manufacture, pharmacy and analysis and separation of minerals, compounding of metals, preparation of alkalis. The length of student training was about seven years with an emphasis on continuing education. Besides treatment, dissection of dead bodies to learn anatomy was encouraged.

Autopsy was a well-respected procedure in learning. Cutting a dead body with a sharp instrument was a prohibited procedure in those days by law since it was considered defiling the body. To circumvent that, Susruta had prescribed the procedure of autopsy that does not use sharp instruments! The cadaver is wrapped by brush, grass or bark, flax etc., put within a cage which is dipped into a slowly flowing river and allowed to decompose for seven nights. After that, the cadaver is removed from the cage and ‘dissected’ by gently rubbing it with brushes, coarse grass or bamboo and thus layers of skin, fat under the skin, muscles, tendons and bones can be examined.

While the Indian system of medicine was being practiced from many Centuries BCE, and improved through 1st century CE, there were several ways the knowledge transfer took place in the 6th century to Iran, Syria and Greece. Dioscorides, a Greek physician in 507 CE wrote a 5 vol. Materia Medica with a large number of Indian herbs and recipe of drugs.

While the Indian system of medicine was being practiced from many Centuries BCE, and improved through 1st century CE, there were several ways the knowledge transfer took place in the 6th century to Iran, Syria and Greece. Dioscorides, a Greek physician in 507 CE wrote a 5 vol. Materia Medica with a large number of Indian herbs and recipe of drugs.

Sassanian (Persian) King Khosrow (Anushiruwan) 531-579 CE sent his physician Borzouye to India to get medical texts. Under Harun al-Rashid, (766-809 CE) in Baghdad, the first translations were performed of Indian works of medicine and pharmacology. He amassed a large collection of books from India and Greece, and it was called the House of Knowledge. In one chapter on Indian medicine, Ibn al-Nadim (998 CE) the names of three of the translators: Mankah, Ibn Dahn, and ʾAbdallah ibn ʾAlī were mentioned. Yūhannā ibn Māsawaiyh cites an Indian textbook in his treatise on ophthalmology.

At-tabari, (between 783 and 870 CE) devotes the last 36 chapters of his Firdaus al-Hikmah to describe the Indian medicine, citing Susruta, Charaka, and the Ashtanga Hriday; “the eightfold Heart”, one of the most important books on Ayurveda, translated between 773 and 808 CE by Ibn Dhan. Rhazes cites in al-Haw and in Kitab al-Mansuri both Susruta and Charaka besides other authors unknown to him by name, whose works he cites as “min kitab al-Hind”, “an Indian book”.

Meyerhof suggested that the Indian medicine, like the Persian medicine, has mainly influenced the Arabic Materia medica because there is frequent reference to Indian names of herbal medicines and drugs, which were unknown to the Greek medical tradition. Whilst Syrian physicians transmitted the medical knowledge of the ancient Greeks, most likely Persian physicians, probably from the Academy of Gondishapur, were the first intermediates between the Indian and the Arabic medicine Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 11th century Persian philosopher-physician helped his knowledge from Indian medicine to be spread to Europe by his essay, ‘The Cannon of Medicine’ and translating it into Latin.

From the Arabs through their trade route with other Islamic nations, the knowledge went from Arabia to northern African countries into southern Spain. Toledo, in northern Spain had translation schools in the 12th and 13th century which actively translated many books from Arabic finally to Latin. Translations later to European languages followed.

This is how one can trace the antiquity of Indian knowledge and practice of medicine that formed the basis for modern medical practice.

References:

1. Course given by Dr. Vedam as HAM4202 at HUA in the summer of 2021
2. Traditional Medicine and Surgery in Asia….from Britannica
3. Surgical Supremacy in Ancient India. Today’s Clinician.com
4. Anatomy in ancient India, a focus on Susruta Samhita. Journal of Anatomy. Vol 217, Issue 6, December 2010
5. K. Natarajan in Indian J. Surg. (October 2008) 70:219–223

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WHOSE COMMON ERA?

Students are taught a one-sided history, no matter the school or state. 

Millennia of history, written by winners of wars and purveyors of ethnocide, is unravelling. Disrespect and erasure of non-European civilizations has been etched into the fabric of the English-speaking world at all levels, especially in the public education system. In elementary school, the history of this settler colonial state starts with Christopher Columbus sailing West across the Atlantic Ocean in three tiny ships to trade with Indians. No discussion of the fact that India was prosperous [1] and complex with a Vedic literature [2] that plausibly seeded Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Democritus. Instead, there is a mention that India had nice spices.

We get pablum on how the Christian/Catholic Capitalist Settler Colonizers used brutal violence to expand their Dominion in their New World, while the Native American Indian was nearly eradicated. Instead of 500 years of attempted genocide against the Indigenous people of this land, children are taught that Indians helped the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving. We are going from Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 to Columbus sold 9-year-old girls into slavery, to be raped. It is written in the words of his men [3] and his own words [4]. I will not hold back my words.

Starting with the word “Indian” itself, Europeans mislabeled a diversity of cultures and civilizations, which has stuck. The ancient people of the Americas were diverse and complicated, but nearly wiped out and replaced. The mislabeling of an oppressed people by the oppressor in the oppressor’s language, is part of the conceptual framing of colonization and ethnocide. Fundamentals of the way society is organized in the English-speaking world, are about to change.

The resurgence and rejuvenation of indigenous human civilizations shall be crucial to transcending the European colonizer’s Christian narrative that used Manifest Destiny to conquer, destroy, and create the modern world. The strategic pre-meditated systematic assimilation and then destruction of numerous indigenous civilizations needs to be recognized and reconciled if this truly shall be humanity’s common era.

Mahmud of Ghazni [4] is very much like Christopher Columbus in that he documented his ruthless barbarity in his own words, in his own journals, and in the letters shared with his people. Plenty of Muslim mosques are known to have been built using materials from razed Hindu mandirs to express social order and religious hierarchy under Islam. We were never even given a hint at the numbers of Hindus who were erased — murdered, captured, enslaved, raped and/or forced to convert — to create the Mughal Empire and then the British Raj. In that same way, winners of wars project a heroic accounting of history to justify the spoils of their barbarity.

There was no lesson on the rapacity of the East India Company [5] and how $45 trillion in wealth was extracted from India through a sophisticated colonization plan [6]. The colonial roots go deep in America’s education system and it is no accident that winners write the history and then project their narrative. In high school, the first Advanced Placement class many students take is European History. For teenagers in America, it is the one-sided history, the accumulating micro-aggressions in popular culture, and the continued bullying of Hindu youth to this day [7], that illustrates the fact that we are only scratching the surface of Hindudvesha [8].

The Mughal Empire was a unique civilization where a minority of Muslims dominated the more numerous Hindu, Jain, Buddhist plurality, and under which Sikhism grew along with a sophisticated government that codified apartheid. Europeans learned Sanskrit to interpret Hindu texts, especially the Vedas [9] and then proceeded to tell Hindus what their ancient texts really mean while laying the groundwork for conversion to Christianity – the ultimate gaslighting. Both Muslims and Christians co-opted key parts of Hindu culture to facilitate their control of the land, resources, and people.

William Jones “discovered” Hinduism, James Mill denounced it, Thomas Macaulay disrupted it, Max Mueller digested it, and Jawaharlal Nehru regurgitated the colonizer’s narrative about Sanatana Dharma. At the crux of the battle for history is the specious speculation of European Christians like Max Mueller and Mortimer Wheeler that Vedic civilization was seeded by Aryan invasions [10], later changed to migrations [11]. The Aryan empire, especially the hypothesized Aryan invasion seeding Vedic culture around 1,500 years Before Christ (fitting the literal Biblical timeline) has been thoroughly refuted [12][13].

Across multiple disciplines such as archeology [14], linguistics [15], astro-archeology [16][17], genetics [18][19], and through common sense, the evidence shows there was no Aryan invasion or large-scale migration bringing Vedic civilization to India. Yet, academics and some European Indologists still believe, regurgitate, and defend weak positions, while avoiding debate. The alternative is the more coherent and parsimonious explanation that Vedic civilization grew out of India [20].

As we discover more ancient archeological sites [21] we get a fuller version of history that shows that the Indus River Valley Civilization was flourishing millennia before a fictional Aryan people migrated. Harappa was robust with representation of Vedic knowledge systems in the form of altars, rituals, idols, figurines, and urban planning 5,000 years ago [22].

Because generations of people have been indoctrinated in the Eurocentric global education system with a whitewashed history, the critical period of 1453 to 1492 needs attention as a fulcrum of civilizational battle between the Abrahamic peoples. We are on the verge of the refutation of the Eurocentric global economy dependent on violence and exploitation since Inter Caetera in 1493 and the other Papal Bulls of the 1400s.

The crescendo of Muslim jihad forced the Catholic Church to reformulate their crusade in 1453 when Constantinople was claimed as Istanbul by Mehmet II of the Ottoman Empire. On one side of the world, the Roman empire evolved and spawned the English-speaking United Kingdom, which created and distributed the self-reproducing colonial project across the planet in competition with the equally rapacious Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonial projects, all supported by an unbroken line of Catholic Popes.

Colliding into it, was the Muslim world which assimilated [23] and then tried to erase thousands of years of Hindu contributions, expanded the scope of slavery in Africa [24], and stretched from the Great Wall of China to the Steppes of Europe. There is a pervasive oppressive denigration of all things indigenous, and with the conflation of the Hindu and Indian identities, the complicated genocidal-existential tension that exists across civilizations continues through modern day geo-politics.

Our global economy has evolved from blatant slavery, mass murder, dispossession of land, and genocide through “civilizing colonization” to a complicated geo-political framework where independent and semi-dependent nation states and non-state actors with layers of religious, economic, geographic, genetic, cultural, political, and historical identities are constantly triangulating against each other and for their people.

The systematic effort to marginalize, disrespect, and trivialize Hinduism has been an ongoing project of Europe for nearly three centuries. Most Americans are not aware of this, and some subconsciously buy into simplified false narratives that depict Hindus as tribal, superstitious, hierarchical, oppressive, violent, and dangerous. The British creation and enumeration of caste [25] still shapes public consciousness, while stereotypes and generalizations supported by anecdotes regurgitated by a biased media are held up by a colonial academic framework and continue to poison public discourse.

Hindus throughout the common era have been a huge, fractious, and diverse population. Divide and conquer was used expertly by claiming Varna as a system of hierarchy and oppression where the Brahmins ruled, dominated, and oppressed the others. Do public intellectuals, teachers, and spiritual leaders oppress wide swaths of society today? Could that even be possible?

It is the epitome of hypocritical anti-intellectualism to claim that educators and curators of knowledge, wisdom, and indigenous culture were the ones oppressing laborers, exploiting merchants, and manipulating soldier/administrators to subjugate society. The insidious genius of English colonization was to undermine, destroy, and denigrate all forms of Hindu knowledge systems, language, and culture to the point that a section of Indians, including a former Prime Minister, participate in and support the devaluation of Hindu knowledge, tradition, culture, and contributions.

History from different perspectives presents different theories, facts, experiences, biases, and even timelines. There are forces on all sides that would use religion, violence, economics, and knowledge systems as tools for power and control. Throughout ancient history with modern warfare no outlier, lies and manipulation buttressed by ideologues have led to hundreds of millions of unnecessary human deaths and the destruction of cities. Instead of the cycle of violence, let us elevate Vedic thought and dharmic principles towards enlightenment for those who seek it, while moving all of us towards peace, comfort, opportunity, and a new common era founded on the unflinching truth.

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