Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #2 >> Why are there no tribals in Punjab?

India has roughly 120 million ( 12 crore) tribal population. They form 8.4% of the population. Almost every state and Union territory has a significant tribal population. But Punjab and Haryana are exceptions. They have near ZERO tribal population. And further east along the Ganga, UP and Bihar have very low tribal population (less than 5%) , How did this happen? The answer, again, is in the MB.

In the previous tale we have seen how Khandava Prastha (and other forests) was set afire by the Pandava and the wildlife killed/ driven out eastwards. But what about the people who lived in those forests?

The MB mentions a forest dwelling beings called Naga. They are sometimes mentioned as serpents and sometimes as human. The MB also mentions one of the 4 wives of Arjun as Uloopi, a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Airavatha Kauravya. So, the Naga were definitely human. The MB also tells us that Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu / grandson of Arjun died of a Naga snake-bite. So Janmejaya (son of Parikshit) vowed to exterminate the Naga. This was to be accomplished through a yagya called the Naga Yagya or Snake Sacrifice (famously known as Janmejaya Ka Naga yagya). When the yagya was conducted, the magical powers of the yagya caused the Naga to fall into the yagya fire and die.

Adi Parva, Chapter 57 (Sarpa Sattra) records

Mahabharata Adi Parva Chapter 57

"Saunaka said, 'O son of a Suta, I desire to hear the names of all those snakes that fell into the fire of this snake-sacrifice!' "Sauti replied, 'Many thousands and tens of thousands and billions of snakes fell into the fire. O most excellent Brahmana, so great is the number that I am unable to count them all. So far, however, as I remember, hear the names I mention of the principal snakes cast into the fire. Hear first the names of the principal ones of Vasuki's race alone, of colour blue, red and white of terrible form and huge body and deadly poison. Helpless and miserable and afflicted with their mother's curse, they fell into the sacrificial fire like libations of butter.

"Kotisa, Manasa, Purna, Cala, Pala Halmaka, Pichchala, Kaunapa, Cakra, Kalavega, Prakalana, Hiranyavahu, Carana, Kakshaka, Kaladantaka—these snakes born of Vasuki, fell into the fire. And, O Brahmana, numerous other snakes well-born, and of terrible form and great strength, were burnt in the blazing fire. I shall now mention those born in the race of Takshaka. Hear thou their names. Puchchandaka, Mandalaka, Pindasektri, Ravenaka; Uchochikha, Carava, Bhangas, Vilwatejas, Virohana; Sili, Salakara, Muka, Sukumara, Pravepana, Mudgara and Sisuroman, Suroman and Mahahanu. These snakes born of Takshaka fell into the fire. And Paravata, Parijata, Pandara, Harina, Krisa, Vihanga, Sarabha, Meda, Pramoda, Sauhatapana—these born in the race of Airavata fell into the fire. Now hear, O best of Brahmanas, the names of the snakes I mention born in the race of Kauravya: Eraka, Kundala Veni, Veniskandha, Kumaraka, Vahuka, Sringavera, Dhurtaka, Pratara and Astaka. There born in the race of Kauravya fell into the fire. Now hear the names I mention, in order, of those snakes endued with the speed of the wind and with virulent poison, born in the race of Dhritarashtra: Sankukarna, Pitharaka, Kuthara, Sukhana, and Shechaka; Purnangada, Purnamukha, Prahasa, Sakuni, Dari, Amahatha, Kumathaka, Sushena, Vyaya, Bhairava, Mundavedanga, Pisanga, Udraparaka, Rishabha, Vegavat, Pindaraka; Raktanga, Sarvasaranga, Samriddha, Patha and Vasaka; Varahaka, Viranaka, Suchitra, Chitravegika, Parasara, Tarunaka, Maniskandha and Aruni.

"O Brahmana, thus I have recited the names of the principal snakes known widely for their achievements—I have not been able to name all, the number being countless. The sons of these snakes, the sons of those sons, that were burnt having fallen into the fire, I am unable to mention. They are so many! Some of three heads, some of seven, others of ten, of poison like unto the fire at the end of the yuga and terrible in form,—they were burnt by thousands!

So this was no ordinary battle. This was genocidal extermination which explains why there are no tribal communities in Punjab/ Haryana.

Interestingly this list mentions one tribal community that still exists in India of the present day: MUNDA. And more interestingly the word MUNDA in Punjabi means a boy which is exactly what it means in the Mundari language (spoken by the Munda tribe). But the Munda tribe today lives in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal all of which are at least 2000 km away form Punjab. So, it turns out that the Naga yagya is an allegorical reference to the expulsion and extermination (by the Kuru Bharat dynasty) of tribals from the dense forests that once covered the Indo-Gangetic plains. The tribals, like the wildlife, were also driven eastwards where they live till today in a place called the Chhota Nagpur Plateau! Is that NAG in the Nagpur just a coincidence?

Another point to note. Sanskrit is one of the ancient Indo_european langauges. There are 2 popular words for sanke is Sanskrit: Sarpa and Naga. Surprisingly while other Indo-European languages have SERPENT (equiv to Sanskrit Sarpa), they do not have any word parallel to Naga. What this implies is that the Vedic Sanskrit speakers picked up this word as a result of their contact with the Indian tribal community. The tribals worshipped snakes (as they still do after 3000 years) .

Many other cultural remnants of the Naga are also seen even now. Snake worship by Hindus across the country. The association of snakes with Shiva. The Puranic enmity between snakes and Garuda (Vishnu’s mount), reflects the ideological conflict between Shaiv/ Tribal and Vaishnav sects. The name Naga as a prefix especially in Andhra (Nagarjuna, Nagalakshmi) and as a second name (Bengal, Rajasthan etc).

In forthcoming tales, you can look forward to the tale of dethronement of Indra by Vishnu.

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 Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #1 >> Where are the Rhinos of Sindh/Punjab?

The images below are seals from the Indus Valley Civilisation. According to archaeologists they may be from the period 3,000 to 2,500 BCE. That is about 4,500 to 5,000 years in the past from now. While more than 3,000 seals have been found, I have selected a few, all of which show various wild animals. Tiger, rhinoceros, elephant, deer (below the seated human figure), buffalo can all be seen. Of special interest is the rhinoceros because in the present day, the only rhino available in the Indian sub-continent is in Assam which is 2500 km from the Indus valley. So how did a rhino appear on an IVC seal? The answer lies in the Mahabharat (MB).

To get to the answer, we have to first understand the historical and cultural context of the MB. This is going to be a bit long, but here we go:

The orthodox Indian tradition recognises 3 scriptural pillars. The Veda (and associated Brahmana, Aranyak and Upanishad). Collectively they are called the Shruti (revealed). The second pillar is the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. These are called Itihaas (History). The third pillar are the Purana. The Veda are the oldest composition (2000-1000 BCE) followed by the epics (originally approx. 400 BCE but extended /expanded subsequently over a long period) and then the Purana (300 to 1,000 CE). So, there is about 800-1000 years between the Veda and Epics and another 800-1000 years between the Epics and Purana.

There are several facts about the MB which are not widely known.·

First the name. The Bharat in the name Mahabharat does not refer to a region or province. It refers to the Bharat (भारत) dynasty named after King Bharat (भरत), See note below) who is mentioned very briefly in the Rig Veda. But King Bharat posthumously becomes more well-know because of the exploits of his descendants, the Kuru-Bharat dynasty chronicled in the MB. Indeed, the exploits of the Kuru-Bharat dynasty were so highly admired by a section of Indians, that Bharat / भारत was adopted as a name for the country in the Constitution of India. ·

The MB is a fictional story woven around the Bharat-Kuru Vedic dynasty. It chronicles the rise of Vedic kingdoms in general (and the Kuru kingdom/ dynasty in particular) from Punjab and their eastward expansion into the Gangetic plain.·

The kernel of the Kurukshetra war scenario is the Battle of Ten Kings (aka BTK or Dasrajnya from Rig Veda Mandala 7) which has been dated to about 1200-800 BCE. In this battle, King Sudas (a descendant of King Bharat) defeated the combined forces of 9 Vedic tribes some of who were his own cousins and kinsmen. One can notice the similarity between BTK and MB here (one kingdom against many/ brother-against-brother). The genealogy is King Bharat --7 generations –King Sudas -several generations--King Kuru --several generations –MB era.·

The extant MB is a very large work, but it did not begin so. It was expanded in stages. The MB itself records that the original story was Jaya (Victory) of 8000 verses, expanded to Bharat with 24,000 verses and finally to the Mahabharat with 100,000 verses. So Mahabharat is the Great (Maha) story of the Bharat dynasty. ·

It is these expansions, which likely happened over a period of several hundred years, maybe even a 1000 years, that makes the MB a treasure trove of information on the social, cultural and political changes happening in India in those times. As incident upon incident was woven into the original, the authors (or editors), perhaps unintentionally, recorded contemporary history in a dramatic genre/style. So while the characters (Karna, Yudhishthira , Arjun etc) are fictional, the expanded MB is a very good record of the broad social and political trends in India over perhaps 800 to a 1,000 years. 

So, what about the rhino?

The MB mentions a forest by the name of Khandava Prastha located in present day Haryana. The clearing of the forests is specifically mentioned in the MB in the Adi Parva/ Khandava-Daha section incident which describes the burning of the Khandava Prastha forest by Krisha/ Arjun. This is an allegorical reference to the clearing of Gangetic plains lands (for farming/ agriculture) by the Vedic people and expulsion / displacement of wildlife that lived in the forest. Modern Khandava Prastha is identified as the town of Khanda (Dist. Hissar, Haryana) close to the river Yamuna and about 125 km to the east of Hastinapur.

The MB (Adi Parva / Khandava Daha ) says (from the transltion of the Mahabharata by KM Ganguli 18183-1896)

Vaisampayana said, 'Then those foremost of chariot-warriors (Krishna and Arjuna), riding in their chariots and placing themselves on opposite sides of that forest, began a great slaughter, on all sides, of the creatures dwelling in Khandava. At whatever point any of the creatures residing in Khandava could be seen attempting to escape, thither rushed those mighty heroes (to prevent its flight). Indeed, those two excellent chariots seemed to be but one, and the two warriors also therein but one individual. And while the forest was burning, hundreds and thousands of living creatures, uttering frightful yells, began to run about in all directions. Some had particular limbs burnt, some were scorched with excessive heat, and some came out, and some ran about from fear. And some clasping their children and some their parents and brothers, died calmly without, from excess of affection, being able to abandon these that were dear to them.>>

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Repeat this a few hundred times over a 1,000-year period and you can see why there is no wildlife (or forests) in the Gangetic plains. Also, by the 10th C BCE, the Vedic people were using iron weapons and implements. This made the task of clearing the forests easier. Thus, the rhinos were pushed eastwards to Assam.

But this story does not end here: It gets worse, much worse. Read about it in the next Hidden tale.

Note on Bharat / भरत (the king): The word derives from the Sanskrit root “bhar” which means to fill or to replenish. Bharat is someone who is responsible for replenishing the yagya fire. According to the rules of Sanskrit grammar the progeny of Bharat/ भरत are called Bhaarat/ भारत. The English word “bear” (as in to bear the burden/ responsibility) is a cognate of the same Sanskrit word “bhar”.

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Ageing with dis-Grace.. India: A 5000 year old civilisation

Ageing with dis-Grace.. India: A 5000 year old civilisation
This idea has been knocking around in my head for sometime now. There was a time in the 60’s and 70’s when only the Jansangh (predecessor to the BJP) leaders used to proclaim the greatness of India by constant reference to the past. I guess they had nothing else to counter Nehru’s forward looking rational “western” outlook. But nowadays its not only the BJP/ VHP and their ideological brethren, but people from all kinds of political and non-political backgrounds who keep mentioning and praising India as a 5000 year old civilization. Sometimes one even hears foreign publications and authors using this concept...(and this of course delights us Indians to no end)

Now, we certainly have a 5000 year old history. But the question in my mind is, does that make us a 5000 year old civilization ? In my opinion, NO. I must add that if I were to pride myself on being a member of a 5000 year old civilization, I would think it was an unbroken 5000 years of cultural and social development. Now my specific problem comes with the word “unbroken”

I look at this issue with 2 view points. The historical/ chronological and the empirical.

Historical: The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), which “makes” us a 5000 year old civilization, certainly existed in 3000 BC, but how much did it contribute to its follower the Vedic civilization? Now I haven’t done a great amount of googling on this, but I know a few things

•   Historians are not clear how the IVC dwindled. Was it the rivers shifting course ? Or were they massacred and obliterated almost completely by the invading central Asian “Aryans” who then laid the foundation of the Vedic culture? Or some other reason? In any of these cases, is it logical to assume that a people who disappeared so mysteriously and so completely would leave a major influence on the next culture that came along? What I am trying to say is that if a culture disappeared so anonymously, their impact on the succeeding culture would have to be negligible. So we have a break in cultural lineage,
• Do we see any influence of the ICV in our day to day life, as we see the influence of Vedic culture? Again the answer is no. An example I always remember from school is that the IVC had under ground drainage. Now if IVC had really influenced us, why didn’t we have any underground drainage till the idea was imported from Europe and executed only in the 19th century in India.
• Another point, though perhaps not a major one is that all the IVC sites are restricted to a few places in Pakistan, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. It wasn’t really a pan-Indian phenomenon.

Thus, on the historical count I am not so comfortable in including the IVC as a part of a 5000 years of unbroken civilization in India. So my friends, I am sorry, but I have just made us at least 1000 years younger.

Empirical: When we say with pride that we are a 5000 year old civilisation, what we are also saying that as far as membership to civilisations goes, the older the better. So it’s better to be 5000 years old than to be a mere 2000 year old. This pride also assumes that a 5000 year old civilisation is a good thing and is better than a civilisation which is 2000 years old. Now what is “better” ? I would say that a civilisation or culture is “better” if it has highly developed forms of art and literature, architecture, philosophy, technology, etc. But above and before all this, for a civilisation to be better, it must provide for its citizens a life without want or fear, with justice and equity, and with opportunity. Now let’s take a look around and see how India is doing on this score as a 5000 year old civilisation

• In our country we routinely kill people in the name of religion, caste, community, political affiliation and for a hundred other things. You name anything and we kill people for it. The State blatantly sponsors the killing of innocent citizens as happened in Delhi and in Gujarat.
• We allow, through our inaction and complacence at all levels, people to die of hunger, disease and accidents. This in a country which now has its citizens swamping the Forbes Top 20 billionaires list !!
• For a 1000 or more years , we have kept 65 percent of our people deprived of education and participation in the mainstream. These are the people in the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
• We consistently elect political leaders about whom the less said , the better. We recently (in 2008) had the sad case from Bangalore of a young man who committed suicide because his vehicle met with an accident with the vehicle of a political leader , and the young man felt so terrorized that he saw suicide as the only way out.

In many ways , I can say that India is a place where human life is not valued at all. Surely a civilisation that does not value human life cannot claim a 5000 year heritage with any pride whatsoever.

Just do it ? Free will or Destiny. Part I

Just do it ? Free will or Destiny. Part I
Be warned , this is a long one !

Some years back, General Electric had a career guidance booklet. It carried the title “Control your destiny or someone else will.” This phrase was attributed to the super-manager Jack Welch, the guy who REALLY controlled everyone’s destiny at GE.. but that’s another story.

In this post, I intend to show how collective beliefs can shape the destiny of a people and a nation (Part I), and why personal beliefs must be changed for collective beliefs to change (pat II).

Now this “Control your destiny or someone else will” is one end of the spectrum in an ongoing debate on what governs human affairs , free will or destiny. Aptly it comes from the USA. At the other end is the oft heard in India “Sab upar waale ke’ haath mein hai/ Sab theek ho jaayega” in Hindi and no doubt in most other languages of our wonderful land.

To elaborate, the debate is between the forces of Destiny and the choices of Freewill and which of these two defines our lives. At one end of the spectrum there are those who believe that an individual can achieve anything if she / he makes the effort and at the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that everything is pre-ordained or “destined”. And there are of course those in between. In some ways this debate is similar to the one about whether god exists.

India and most Indians have traditionally believed in destiny/ fate. Our Hindu religious books and leaders (past and present) are explicit about destiny. Very little importance is placed on the role of effort and action. The doctrine of karma states that our orbits in this life are limited by actions in past lives, and that the only worthwhile rewards are to be obtained in the afterlife (swarga/ moksha). And the highest level of action is “tapasya”, “tyaag” or “sanyas” , that is withdrawal from life. Historically, we have honoured and revered not so much the ones who achieved, but those who withdrew. With the exception of Swami Vivekanand I am not aware of any major Hindu religious leader or philosopher who has laid stress on doing and achieving.

What this meant for most of the last 1000 years or more, is that our collective will has been indoctrinated to “withdraw” rather than achieve. This was eminently suited to the various powers that ruled us, whether they were Hindu kings, Arab-Turks, Mughals or the British. Some scholars even suggest that this belief was encouraged and supported by the ruling class, because a people who have been taught to withdraw are not likely to demand a better life… being poor and dying of epidemics or hunger was after all a faster way to moksha! In fact it took leaders of the caliber of the Mahatma and several of his contemporaries to wake us up from this passive approach and demand independence from the British.

Even after independence, things did not change rapidly. India struggled along as a subsistence economy (an euphemism is Developing Country) for many years. In fact a new phrase was coined in Economics: the Hindu Rate of growth !! Implying a GDP growth rate of 3 to 4 percent which is what India did till the seventies.

It is only in the last 20 years or so, that prosperity, a better life and better living condition have caught the imagination of India at every level. This is due, in no small measure, to our interactions with the Western world and its “riches’ through the channel of books/ magazines, satellite TV, movies and NRI’s. India has suddenly realized that it is better to live in at least some comfort here than be in perpetual misery for a swarga in afterlife. We are at last publicly celebrating achievement and wealth. And a GDP growth rate of less than 8 percent is a nightmare for everyone. So we now have a new sensibility, a new belief a new hope. And this has given us  new malls (yes chithra, I DID read ur post !!), new roads and new lifestyles.

…… to be continued