Aryanization by Lord Sri Rama

Important Note:
These views are not intended to hurt anyone. 
I have come across this somewhere and am just putting them here.

I would like to share one more interesting concept - on Aryans and Dravidians.

Who are Aryans?

                    /Arya:/ in Sanskrit means 'Noble'. It means that Aryans are those people (race) who are fair, tall and noble. Aryans have come all the way from Central Asia and have conquered Indian Sub-continent long ago. Aryans worshiped the five elements (Vayu, Agni, Bhoomi, Indra, Akash).

Who are Dravidians?

                    Dravidians are the original native Indians. They stay in a tropical climate and hence are generally dark-skinned. Dravidians are very intelligent and are well educated. They were worshipers of the genitals – Linga. Lingam represents the nature and to them, the greatest God was Siva, the first Man. The Dravidians were very strong in the southern parts of the peninsula.

 Let us now see few instances in Ramayana:

•  King Dasharatha of Ayodhya kingdom (North India) is said to have helped Suras during the fight with Asuras. During that time, he gave a boon to his 3rd wife, Kai Keyi. Later, Sri Rama was sent on Exile for 14 years.
• Rama was on exile for 14 years. During the 14th year, Rama invaded Lanka and killed Ravana (the king of asuras). All these 13 years, he was killing asuras on his way to Lanka.
• Till the time Sri Rama crossed Vindhya mountains and entered south in search of Sita, he never faced any demons / asuras. But, once he came to the South India (Dandakaranya onwards) he was obstructed by various asuras and Rama had to kill all of them and go ahead.

Now, instances of Mahabharatha:

• Mahabharatha's main theme was a fight between brothers (men) and not between suras and asuras as it was the case during Ramayana.
• It ofcourse, had few less prominient asuras. But, they were killed by suras (kings) whenever it was necessary. Like Jarasandha, Keechaka, Hidimbasura etc.
• Bhima (Sura) married Hidimbi (Asura), and many Suras and Asuras lived in the same kingdom.
• There was no special mention of South India in Mahabharatha

What does this mean?

                    It means that, Suras are Aryans and Asuras are Dravidians. The word asura means people who worship nature, Linga and do not worship the five elements. We always think that asuras are rakshasas and are really bad. But it was not like that. That's why there was always a war between suras and asuras.

                    Asuras insisted on Shiva worship, nature worship. Whereas, Suras insisted on five element worship.That is the reason why Hiranyakashyapa / Hiranyaksha during Narasimha avatar stressed on Lord Shiva worship. This was the same case with Ravana and other asuras. So, till Lord Vishnu's Krishna Avatar, it was a war between Sura & Asura. Later, after Ramayana, Shiva was given 'The Destroyer' status along with Brahma and Vishnu to please all the classes.

                    After Ramayana, the Asuras weakened and lost their kingdom. So, Mahabharatha was a war between suras & suras and not between Suras & Asuras. Everyone are now known as 'manava' and not Sura/ Asura.

To summarize:

• Dravidians never worshiped Vishnu and other five elements (Bhoomi, Indra, etc) till Ramayana
• Aryans conquered the South India
• We infer from the epics (written by Aryan sages) that Dravidians are Asura
• The 14 year exile of Lord Rama was to Aryanize South India.

 Ramayana - What it would actually have been:

                    Dravidian King was very powerful, well educated, intelligent but had only one weakness - Interest towards fair women. Prior to Rama, no king could penetrate to the South due to Ravana's power.  Aryan King was asked to go on exile to conquer South India, not by force, but by propagating the Aryan philosophy - which tells way to lead a noble life and practice the 5-element worship.

                    Dravidian king kidnapped Sita since she was fair and good looking. Then the Aryan King, in search of his wife, invaded the Dravidian kingdom, killed all those who came on his way. He took the help of tribals and locals (Sugreeva, Jambavath, and ofcourse, Hanuma) and finally killed the Dravidian King.
 
Current Dravidians:

In the modern world, the Dravidians are:

• All people in Tamil Nadu & Kerala (except Brahmins - That's why Dravidian parties of South are anti-brahmin and are anti-hindi)
• All people in AP, Karnataka (except Brahmin, Vysya (hence the name Arya Vysya) and Kshatriya)
• All the Giri Putras of central India
• Sri Lankans

Krishna Tathvam - Concept of Gopikas

This time, something related to a concept on the great 'Krishna Tathvam'.

Krishna Tathva:

" Thalli vi neeve ... Thandri vi neeve ... Sakhudou ... Gurudou ...

Daivamu nijamu ga neeve Krishna !!!"

                       It means - O Krishna! I see you in my mom, dad, friend and Guru. You are my true god. So, Krishna Tathva means seeing Lord Krishna in everyone and everything.

Many have this type of feeling right from their birth and spend their lives in tanmayathva. We all know that, Krishna had 8 wives, 16000 Gopikas and 1 lover (Radha Devi).

Let us now try to analyze the Gopikas...

Who are Gopikas?

                     As per puranas, 16,000 women were held captive by Narakasura. Sri Krishna killed Narakasura on Naraka chaturdhi day. The next day, Amavasya day was the day of liberation for those 16000 women - Gopikas.

                     Krishna freed all 16,000 women from the prison. All of them were asked to go back to their homes. Then all the Gopikas felt that it would not be possible for them to live with dignity in their old homes after having been prisoners of Narakasura. So, they have decided to end their lives at the holy feet of Sri Krishna. Then, Krishna assured them that he would protect them and become their Bhartha (Supporter - Not necessarily, Husband)


                    It being Amavasya, the Gopikas felt that, since their lives were now filled with light, it should be celebrated with lamps and fireworks to turn into a Full Moon Night. This day is celebrated as Deepavali.

How Gopikas are significant?

                    As per the promise he made, each Gopika had one Krishna with them. It can be treated as 'Vishnu Maya' or 'Krishna Leela'. All the Gopikas spoke to Krishna, spent their time with them and lead their lives happily in Krishna Tathvam.

                   Now, in addition to the 16k Gopikas, there is one more special character, known as Kumari Radha Devi. Before leaving for Mathura to kill Kamsa, Sri Krishna Promised that he would come back to meet her. But he never came back. So, Radha Devi had been waiting for Krishna on the banks of Yamuna River. Krishna never married Radha Devi, but she is always in Krishna's heart. Some say that, Radha ji is an imaginary character. It will be really painful to understand the plight of Radha Devi.

What is the significance of these characters?

                     These characters have a great influence on our Indian history, literature. There are many beliefs about these Radha and other Gopikas. Throughout the history, many people assumed that they themselves were Radha and they were still waiting for Sri Krishna. Some of them are:

• Meera Bai - 

                      Meera Bai of Chittorgarh wrote many songs on this concept.She danced in the streets of the city. She was objected by her brother-in-law, Vikramaditya as her dancing with commoners brought ill fame to Rajput families. So, he tried to poison her many times. But, as per Meera's own poems, it was turned into Amrit by Sri Krishna. She spent her life in bhajans.

• Deva Dasi's of olden days and current days :

                      Devadasi sthree are those people who have no proper life. These girls are married to god and dedicated to a deity. Very good example of Devadasi is Chandramukhi of Devdas novel / movie. These women have a psychological feeling that, they were once Gopikas. And now, they are in the prison of Narakasura (their own fate, in this world). So, they spend whole of their life in search of Lord Krishna.

                       We can see that, Chandramukhi had Krishna's murthi in her room and she sees the lord in Devdas. Even, the 'Karpuram' character of telugu movie 'Vedam' had a small golden murthi of krishna with her. Next example is 'Megha Sandesham' movie, where Jayaprada thinks she is Radhika and she sees Krishna in ANR. There are many such examples and references.

                      Of-course, all these characters are imaginary and not real. What we should understand is that, we have a great influence in everything we see even today.

   

• Raas Leela Art:

                     Raas Leela is a very famous dance form in our tradition.It is a popular theme in Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Manipuri and Kuchipudi and Kathak. It is very famous acts during Holi, Dasara, Krishna Ashtami and Diwali in North India and in Assam.

                    Upon hearing the sound of Krishna's flute, Gopikas come out from their homes into the forest to dance with Krishna. This is the central idea of these acts. Raas leela songs are used by various characters in our films.Like -Kahe Ched Ched Mohe : O Krishna why do you make fun of me (By Chandramukhi, Devdas Movie).

                    To say that a girl is waiting for true love, or to say that a woman is not leading her life happily and is waiting for best time, we use this concept.

• Some other instances:

                    If we can remember, in 2004, a senior IPS officer realized all at sudden at the age of 53 that, he was Radha. He made a public appearance in saree, danced like Radha ji. Similar is the case with those people who are associated with ISCKON Movement. They dance, do bhajans in trains, roads etc.

                    Let us not make fun of them. They are in search of their Krishna. Till the time there is no harm to mankind, it is acceptable.

"Forget everything  -  See god in everyone"

This is the essence of Krishna Tathvam.

Pakistan's view on Kashmir

                       At the time of independence, there was a princely state called 'Junagadh' in Gujarat. Junagadh province lies on the coast of Arabian Sea, and used to be the gateway for Haj travelers. Junagadh has easy accessibility to Karachi via sea route. There were 565 princely states in India which were given an option to either join Indian Union or Pakistan based on their geographical location.

Statistics of Junagadh:

• Junagadh is in Indian mainland, but is easily accessible to Pakistan via sea route.
• Junagadh is ruled by a Muslim Nawab.
• 99% of population of Junagadh is Hindu.

                        The Nawab of Junagadh, Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III, decided that Junagadh should become part of Pakistan. He acceded Junagadh to Pakistan on 15 September 1947, against the advice of Lord Mountbatten. After one month, Pakistan accepted the Nawab's Instrument of Accession on 16 September, 1947.

                         Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go to Pakistan, it would result in the communal tensions in Gujarat. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel asked Pakistan to reverse its acceptance of the accession and to hold a plebiscite in Junagadh. Patel ordered the forcible annexation of Junagadh. Junagadh's state government, lacking army forces to resist the Indian force, invited the Government of India to take control.

                      A plebiscite was held on 20 February 1948, in which only 91 out of 190,870 voted against the Indian union, ie. 99% of the population voted to join India.

Statistics of Kashmir:

• Kashmir is also in Indian mainland, and has accessibility to Pakistan.
• Kashmir is ruled by a Hindu Raja.
• 90% of population of Kashmir is Muslim.

The Raja of Kashmir has given a letter for accession with Indian Union after independence.

Pakistan argument:

                    When a Hindu-majority territory , acceded to Pakistan by a Muslim ruler,CAN be forcefully integrated into Indian Union, why a Muslim-majority territory, acceded to India by a Hindu ruler CANNOT be given back to Pakistan. Pakistan demanded for a similar type of plebiscite in Kashmir area.

                    When Pakistani troops invaded the Kashmir territory, Raja of Kashmir took Nehru's help. Patel was not allowed to deal with this issue as Kashmir is Nehru's native place. Instead of forcefully integrating Kashmir, Nehru took the issue to UNO, making it an international dispute. UN has asked both the nations to maintain a 'status quo' i.e., asking both the nations to continue the same state till the issue is resolved.

Thus, the Kashmir issue is still an issue for both the nations.

The 'Indian' thing

                        I have found few interesting things among the South Indians (not sure about Kerala) who belong to the category of 'converted - Christians'. Thought of sharing them now.

                        Before I make these points, I would like to make it clear that criticism is not meant here and the whole post must be read in a positive way. It is just an attempt to understand the Indian Hindu influence on the Indian Christian families.

Beliefs:

                         Hindus generally get wild hallucinations where they start seeing god, talking to god and do funny things like walking on fire, dancing etc. Similarly, Indian Christians are also affected by such things. A Christian woman tried to crucify herself in Guntur. She had been telling people (her followers) that Jesus Christ had appeared in her dream and asked her to crucify herself. Her followers had brought a wooden cross too. The woman is currently in the police custody.

Customs:

                         Marriages are performed in Church via the holy knot (Thali, mangalyam). Telugu Christian thali / mangalyams have a cross inscribed on them. Nalugu, is process of applying a paste of turmeric to the bride and bridegroom in their respective homes which is performed by singing of traditional Christian wedding hymns. People start important work by offering a coconut to Jesus. 'Mary matha utsavams' are common these days. Many women go to church on the  'Varalakshmi Vratham' day for the betterment of their husbands.

Castes:

                       Caste - The main and most important factor in Indian Culture has its impact even on Christianity. 60% of AP Catholics are Kamma / Kapu or Reddy who form the forward caste in Indian society. These days, caste discrimination is growing among Christians in South India. There are separate community halls, burial grounds, and churches for members of the lower castes.  All over India, about 70% of Catholics are lower caste ones (Dalits), but the higher caste priests and nuns control 90% of the Catholic churches' administrative jobs. Moreover, out of the 156 catholic bishops, only 6 are from lower castes. Pope John Paul II also criticized the caste discrimination in the Roman Catholic Church in India. He said "It is the Church's obligation to work unceasingly to change hearts, helping all people to see every human being as a child of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and therefore a member of our own family"

Other interesting things I have noticed these days:

'Gothram' :

                        When anyone visits a temple in south, one should mention his gothram. Gothra is the identification of lineage from the sages. All Hindus have a gothra and incase of not having one, surname becomes their gothra. It  is customary to say that ' so and so gothra abhivrudhyarhdam (for the benefit of so and so gothra) , the following things are performed'. Gothra becomes an important factor while performing any rituals.

                         Yesterday, I have seen an interesting Calvary poster. Calvary Chapel is known as 'Calvary Mandiramu / Temple'.It says, 'Yudhu Gothra Abhivrudhi' - It means for the development / prosperity of descendants of 'Yudhu' - 'Judaism'.  We can clearly see the Indian impact here.

'Name' :

                         For any event, the priest is very important. In India, priest is known as 'Ayya varu', 'Sastry', 'Sharma' etc. A pooja is to performed by such priests and is believed that the rituals are complete only by the pooja done by proper poojari. Now, in the same Calvary poster, the name of the Father was mentioned as - 'Father Joseph Sastry'. Obviously, masses will be attracted by this. I have seen this one at a slum (where many converted ones are present). A small church has a board which says - 'Ayya varu undu velalu (Priest Availability) 6AM to 9AM'.

Innovation in advertising:

                       I have seen one channel in which the presenter was a 'Sanyasi type Swamy'. He wore a Saffron shawl which had some letters written in red. He was preaching something. In general, Hindu priests have such shawls with 'Sri ram' 'Om' written all over in red. It looked exactly like that. The program was, to my surprise, on Bible. So, I have seen the shawl keenly wondering how such conflict would have happened. I have found that the red ones were simple lines on the saffron cloth and the program was designed to attract people. Any preacher or priest will get attention only by wearing a saffron cloth in India (especially among the masses.).

                         Many flyovers, compound walls etc in Hyderabad these have a quote - 'Gita as it is - God will come 7:4'. I used to wonder, where in Bhagavad Gita such a mentioning is there. But, have later realized that the reference in this context is made to 7th Chapter, 4th page of a local book called 'Devuni Gita'.

                         May be in future, we may hear ashtotharam, sahasranama sthothram, god's kada / kankanams etc. One thing that is clear is - the 'Indian' thing can never be taken away from Indians.

Man eating Tigers.

                 
                   Tigers are afraid of human beings and shun them. All tigers are not man eating. Human flesh is not the most-preferred prey for tigers. Most tigers will only attack a human being only if they cannot get their desired food. Tigers show no preference for human meat.

Photo by Mahesh Pillutla

                   One day, in my childhood, during a regular discussion with someone, I came to know that there is 'Jaathi Vairam' (the enmity among various species) between Monkeys and other animals. That means, Monkeys and other animals that are originated from apes (Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Human beings) are not preferred by the wild animals like Tiger, Lion etc. I have now found reasons for this vairam. Wild animals are afraid of animals that can stand on two legs. They have a lot of inferiority complex and feel that we are physically strong and powerful. So, they never target our species.

When tigers (and of-course other animals) become man-eating?

The transformation of a tiger into a man-eater begins under the following circumstances:

1. When a tiger gets hurt by the careless gun shots of hunters, or gets wounded by the quills of a porcupine, and the wounds were never healed, it loses temper due to the pain and starts attacking everyone, including human beings.
2. In forests, when people collect honey or do any sort of farming in half-crouched position, the wild animals do not recognize them as humans but as a form of four legged animal and attack them. Attacking humans is very easy and once when they realize that human being is a sort of 'fast food', they change their preference order.
3. When there is a mistaken identity factor - An Indian postman who was working on foot for many years without any problems with resident tigers was chased by a tiger soon after he started riding a bicycle for his work.
4. When wild animals are too sick and cannot hunt their normal prey, they start concentrating on hunting humans, who are much easier to hunt and kill.
5. When tiger loses its canines in old age, it becomes difficult to hunt and tear the flesh of Deer and other animals (normal prey). So, in such a situation, it starts attacking human beings.

What must be done with such man-eating tigers (and other animals)?

                        Once a man-eater, always a man eater. Once a tiger starts liking the taste of human blood, it is one of the most dangerous animals in the world. It becomes violently aggressive without any reason and poses a threat to the human population. In such cases, it must be captured and kept in zoos. It is only in rare unavoidable cases where the man-eaters are shot dead / poisoned and not captured.

                        When lost in middle of a jungle and if we face a tiger, be brave and do not try to run.
Stand still till the time it goes away. If on a motor bike or a cycle, let the Tiger cross the road and then return home safe.

Common Pronunciation Mistake - In Sanskrit based languages

                    Sanskrit and its children are the only languages which are read exactly as the way they are written. This is not the same with respect to English. In English language, we change the way we pronounce a particular word based on the situation.
                    For example, 'Capacitor' is read as 'Kaepasitar' and NOT 'Kapakitar'.
Whereas, in Sanskrit and other languages, it is written as 'Kapasitar' only.

"संशोधन:"

- Sum S(ae)o Dha Naah

Now, here are the three letters which should be spelled exactly the way they are written:

- Sha : ष   ష  as in 'Rushi' /RooShi/

- Sa :  स    స as in 'Satyam' /Sathyam/

- sae : शा   శ  as in 'Shankham' /Saenkham/

The three letters are classified as below based on the place they originate in our tongue:

• Muurdhanya - Originates when tip of the tongue tries to contact the roof of the mouth while pronouncing an s.

- Eg : Rishi - equivalent to sh in English.

• Dantya - Originates when tip of the tounge tries to  contact/contacts the upper teeth as exactly in s.

- Eg : Samara veera - equivalent to s in English.

• Taalavya - Originates when middle part of tongue is raised  against the middle part of roof of mouth while pronouncing an s) 

- Eg : Shiva / Sharma - there is no English equivalent letter for this. To be read as 'Sae'

 So, the following ways of pronouncing words is wrong:

1. Kashi is 'Kas(ae)ee' and NOT काषी
2. Shashanka is spelled as ' Sae saen ka' and NOT षषान्का  
3. Similar to this, Krishna is to be spelled as 'Kri Sh Naa' and NOT 'Krisna' कृस्न
4. When it comes to Shankara, it is to be pronounced as 'Saen kara' and not 'Sha'.

Let us all try to spell words in a correct way and follow the grammar.

The Great 'Firewall' of China

                    "If you open the window for fresh air, you should expect some flies to come in." 


                     This is a famous quotation of Deng Xiaoping, the then head of China who was the man behind liberalization of Chinese Economy. It is intended to say that, opening the doors of Chinese Economy will lead to allowing of various unnecessary things and unwanted ideologies.

                      The communist government of China imposes internet censorship in the People's Republic of China. Various laws and administrative regulations are brought into picture with respect to the usage of internet. As per these laws, censorship systems are implemented by state-owned ISPs, business companies, and organizations. This censorship is one of the world’s most sophisticated one.

                       As per the regulations, No one can use the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit the following kinds of information:

•    Encouraging the breaking of Constitution or laws or the implementation of administrative regulations
•    Encouraging the overthrow of the government or the socialist system
•    Encouraging the division of the country, harming national unification.
•    Encouraging the hatred or discrimination among nationalities or harming the unity of the nationalities.
•    Making falsehoods or distorting the truth, spreading rumors, destroying the order of society.
•    Promoting feudal superstitions, gambling, violence, murder.
•   Terrorism or inciting others to criminal activity.
•   Openly insulting other people or distorting the truth to slander people.
•   Injuring the reputation of state organizations.
•   Other activities against the Constitution, laws or administrative regulations. 

               A project to automatically filter the content that falls under above mentioned category was started in 1998 and went on till 2006. The project was named as 'Great Firewall of China'. The Golden Shield Project consists of standard firewalls and proxy servers at the Internet gateways blocks content by preventing IP addresses from being routed through.

                In China, 

• One cannot participate in social networking, where information will be shared across the globe.
• One cannot call for protests or propagate inflammatory speechs via internet.
• Discussions in forums are not not allowed.

                However, in the other China-controlled territories like Hong Kong and Macau, there is no such censorship.

                In 2006, an activist shared some information to outer world on protests via yahoo.Yahoo was summoned to provide the information of the user. He was later sentenced for ten years of imprisonment.

                It is estimated that, at least 18,000 websites are blocked in mainland China. Certain topics like Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, agitations related to freedom of speech and democracy,  Taiwan independence, Tibetan independence movement etc are blocked forever. Foreign media websites such as BBC News, Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia are occasionally blocked. On the twentieth anniversary of the government suppression of the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, the government ordered internet portals, forums and various other sites to shut down their servers for maintenance. When the Wenzhou train collision happened in China, the news reached the outer world after many days. Such an effective internet regulation is operational in China.

               However, one cannot stop the technology and innovation. A search engine called 'Elgoog' was developed. It is nothing but 'Google' spelled backwards. It gave results with all the strings reversed. Thus, they escape the Chinese firewall as it makes harder for the blockages to track on what users are looking for.

              Kapil Sibal is planning for a similar firewall to control internet usage in India. Let us wait and see how it works here.