Jai SiyaRam

मंगल भवन अमंगल हारी
द्रवहु सुदसरथ अचर बिहारी
राम सिया राम सिया राम जय जय राम – २
हो, होइहै वही जो राम रचि राखा
को करे तरफ़ बढ़ाए साखा

हो, धीरज धरम मित्र अरु नारी
आपद काल परखिये चारी

हो, जेहिके जेहि पर सत्य सनेहू
सो तेहि मिलय न कछु सन्देहू

हो, जाकी रही भावना जैसी
रघु मूरति देखी तिन तैसी

रघुकुल रीत सदा चली आई
प्राण जाए पर वचन न जाई
राम सिया राम सिया राम जय जय राम

हो, हरि अनन्त हरि कथा अनन्ता
कहहि सुनहि बहुविधि सब संता
राम सिया राम सिया राम जय जय राम

maṁgala bhavana amaṁgala hārī
dravahu sudasaratha acara bihārī
rāma siyā rāma siyā rāma jaya jaya rāma – 2
ho hoihai vahī jo rāma raci rākhā
ko kare tarafa baṛhāe sākhā

ho dhīraja dharama mitra aru nārī
āpada kāla parakhiye cārī

ho jehike jehi para satya sanehū
so tehi milaya na kachu sandehū

ho jākī rahī bhāvanā jaisī
raghu mūrati dekhī tina taisī

raghukula rīta sadā calī āī
prāṇa jāe para vacana na jāī
rāma siyā rāma siyā rāma jaya jaya rāma

ho hari ananta hari kathā anantā
kahahi sunahi bahuvidhi saba saṁtā
rāma siyā rāma siyā rāma jaya jaya rāma

These lyrics were taken from: http://www.indif.com/nri/bhajan/ram/rambhajan5.asp

A young second generation Indian in the US was asked by his mother to explain the significance of “Diwali” to his younger brother, this is how he went about it…

” So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him. But, like, his step-mom, or something, was kind of bad, and she forced her husband to, like, send this cool-dude, he was Ram, to some forest or something… Since he was going, for like, something like more than 10 years or so. he decided to get his wife and his bro along… you know..so that they could all chill out together. But Dude, the forest was reeeeal scary … really man… they had monkeys and devils and like that. But this dude, Ram, knocked them down with darts and bows and arrows… so it was fine. But then some bad gangsta boys, some guy called Ravan, picks up his babe (Sita). And boy, was our man angry, and also his bro, Laxman,… all the gods were with him… So anyways,you don’t mess with gods. So, Ram, and his bro get an army of monkeys..Dude, don’t ask me how they trained the damn monkeys… just go along with me, ok… So, Ram, Lax and their monkeys whip this gangsta’s in his own hood. Anyways, by this time, their time’s up in the forest..and anyways…it gets kinda boring,you know… no TV or malls or like that. So,they decided to hitch a ride back home… and when the people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home… they thought, well, you know, at least they deserve something nice… and they didn’t have any restaurant in those days… so they couldn’t take them out for a treat, so they, like, decided to light the lamps… so it was pretty cooool…you know with all those fireworks… Really, they even had some local band play along with the fireworks… and you know, what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding.., that was the very first music-synchronized fireworks… you know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff, you know. And, so dude, that was how, like, this festival started…………….

I came across this post in Aditya Sureka’s blog: adityasureka.blogspot.com.

Jai Gurudev!

Srisailam is a holy town and Mandal, situated in 232 km south of Hyderabad in Nallamala hills of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Srisailam is one among the various Jyothirlingam of India. A multipurpose dam has been built across River Krishna and caters to the irrigation and power needs of the state. The word ‘Nalla’ means beautiful and ‘mala’ means hill.

The temple complex in srisailam, whose existing buildings date from the 2nd century AD, is the Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple, it is one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’ in India as well as one of the eighteen most sacred goddess shrines, or Shakti Pithas.The temple is the site of Mahakali in the form of Bhramaramba. It is believed, the Vrishabha, the sacred bull of Lord Shiva performed penance here. Lord Shiva appeared before him, with his consort Parvati in the forms of Mallikarjuna and Bharamaramba.

Heroic legends from the Mahabharata and Ramayana are sculpted in stone on the temple walls and the Mahabharata epic refers to Srisailam as Sri Parvata – “the blessed hill”. Tradition, literature as well as epigraphical sources states that the sacred Hill of Srisailam has four GATE WAYS in the four cardinal directions Tripuranthakam in Prakasam District in the east,Siddhavatam on the bank of the river Penna in Kadapa District in the south,Alampur on the bank of the river Tungabhadra in Mahaboobnagar District in the west and Umamaheswaram in Rangapur, Achampeta Mandal,Mahaboobnagar District in the North.

Beside the main gateways four more Secondary Gateways in the four corner directions are also popularly known.Eleswaram located in Mahaboobnagar District, Somasila on the bank of the river Penna in South – East, Pushpagiri in Kadapa District in the South-West and Sangameswaram at the confluence of the River Krishna and Tungabhadra in Kurnool District on the North-West.

To Reach Srisailam: The nearest railway stations are Vinukonda(120 km) and Markapur(85KM) the Guntur-Hubli Section and Kurnool (190KM).Srisailam can be reached by road from Hyderabad. Hyderabad is nearest airport for Srisailam visit.
Thanks: Thanks to one and all for providing information and who helped me to write this article with useful information about srisailam temple. Special Thanks to Kiran Kumar HP & friends.

All Allegations leveled against Pujya Bapuji & Pujya Shri’s Ashram is False & Fabricated.

The chain of conspiracies being perpetrated for a long time against Param Pujya Sant Sri Asaramji Bapu by a gang of intriguers supported by traitors who have been spending crores of rupees to malign Indian culture was exposed on A2Z News Channel. The truth of the conspiracies being perpetrated by enemies of Indian culture against Pujya Bapuji, who is doing all within his reach to spread the invaluable message of Indian culture throughout the world, was revealed in a sting operation.

In spite of the conspiracies perpetrated by these people to shake people’s faith, the number of people gathering to listen to Pujya Bapuji is breaking all records and gives an affectionate advice to the conspirers, ‘Take a clue from this at least and let wiser sense prevail on you.’
It is worth mentioning that once Pdt Madan Mohan Malviya placed his hand on Pdt Nehru’s shoulder and pointing towards the mammoth gathering that had collected on the Kumbha festival, he said, “Look Nehru! India is a predominantly religious country. Whoever tries to shake the faith of the people of this country will be destroyed by the people.”
Indians can tolerate a lot many things but they cannot tolerate attacks on their faith. Whoever has tried to do it has been made to bite dust. The faith of people in saints and great personages of Indian culture has remained unshakeable.

http://ashram.org/Home/Downloads/tabid/706/Default.aspx

గుళ్ళో ఆ సాయంత్రం పురాణ  కాలక్షేపం ఉంది. కృష్ణా రావు గారి అమ్మ సీతమ్మ గారు శ్రీధర్ కి స్నానం చేయించి, పౌడర్ రాసి, తనూ స్నానం చేసి శివాలయానికి బయలు దేరింది. గుళ్ళో రికార్డులు వేయడం మొదలు పెట్టారు. “శివం శంకరం శంభు నీశానమీనే..” ఆ సాయంత్రపు చల్ల గాలి లో భక్తి పాటలు హృదయానందకరం గా వినపడుతున్నాయి.
పురాణం చెఫ్ఫే స్వాముల వారు కొంచం లావు గా పొట్టి గా వున్నారు. తెల్లటి గడ్డం తో కావి బట్టల తో ప్రశాంతం గా ఉన్నాడాయన. పురాణం లో ఆ రోజు ఘట్టం “శ్రీ రామ పాదుకా పట్టాభిషేకం”. స్వాముల వారు ఉత్తరాది వెళ్ళినపుడు “రామ చరిత మనస్ చదవటం జరిగింది”.అప్పుడే స్వాముల వారికి తులసీ దాసు సృష్టించిన భక్తి రసాన్ని తెలుగు వారికి రుచి చూపించాలనే తలంపు కలిగింది.
శ్రోతలందరూ గుడి లో ని సిమెంట్ గచ్చు మీద కూర్చొని ఉన్నారు.పక్కనున్న మామిడి తోపుల మీది నుంచీ చల్ల గాలి వీస్తోంది. గుళ్ళోని కర్పూరపు వాసన హాయి గా అనిపిస్తోంది. చల్లటి సిమెంట్ గచ్చు మీద బాసింపట్టు వేసుకొని కూర్చున్న శ్రోతల కాలి పిక్కల మరకలు పడుతున్నాయి.
స్వాములవారు “రాముని పాదుకలను భరతుదు అడగటం” గురించి చెబుతున్నారు. ఆయన అవధీ భాష లోని పద్యాలు కమనీయం గా పాడి వాటి అర్ధాన్ని పారవశ్యం తో, తెలుగు లో తేనెల సోనలు గా జాలువారుస్తున్నారు. ఆయన మాటలు వింటుంటే శ్రీధర్ కి “త్రేతా యుగం లొకి వెళ్ళి, తాను కూడా ఆ పాదుకా పట్టాభిషేక సన్నివేశానికి ఒక సాక్షి గా నిలుచున్నట్లనిపించింది. మామిడి తొటలొనించీ మామిడి పూల వాసన తో వీచే మలయ మారుతం ప్రశాంతతనిస్తోంది.
అక్కడ ఉన్న శ్రోతలందరూ స్వాముల వారి వ్యాఖ్యానాన్ని వింటూ తనలాగే అనుభూతి ప్రపంచం లో విహరిస్తున్నారను కొంటున్నాడు శ్రీధర్. శీతా కాలం లో పొద్దున్నే అమ్మ స్నానం చేయిస్తూ నెత్తి మీద పోసిన గోరువెచ్చటి నీళ్ళ లా ఉంది స్వాముల వారి ప్రవచనం. శ్రీధర్ నెమ్మది గా గచ్చుమీద కి జారి నాయనమ్మ వడి లో తల పెట్టుకున్నడు. కొంచెం సేపట్లో నిద్ర దేవత వాడిని తన వడి లో కి తీసుకుంది.
వాదు మళ్ళీ కళ్ళు తెరిచే సరికి వాడికి వాళ్ళ మండువా ఇంటి పైకప్పు కనిపించింది.

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఒకటవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -రెండవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -మూడవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -నాలుగవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -ఐదవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -ఆరవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఏడవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఎనిమిదవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-9

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-10

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-11

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-12

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-13

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-14

ఇంకా ఉంది…

Memories of listening to good old stories, sitting on my dad’s lap, are awesome. Its impossible to imagine the amount of patience one needs to repeat each story – especially those of Vikram Aditya, Mahabharath and others, thanks to my tormenting nature. But, there he was, always telling me those stories, with the same smile on his face, rocking me on his thighs and repeating them, as if he was telling them for the first time. Maybe he knew that those repetitions will carve those stories in my mind and I would grow up someday to think and question the paradigms that they have set.
Ramayan, of those bedtime stories, has always disturbed me and so has its teachings. It confused me with its contradictions. It could have been my shallow thinking or ill understanding, but thoughts are meant to be pondered with and expressed. Hence, I take this bold step of publishing them without anymore glitches.
Intention – Let us examine the purpose of the story Ramayan. As elders put it, the epic is an example set for all men through the remarkably impressive protagonist-Sri Ram. It shows us how to lead our lives with righteousness and respect. God himself takes up the task of demonstrating this to his people by investing one of his avatars for the purpose.
Impact – Sri Ram, as mentioned is the personification of an ideal man. Lets evaluate him as a person, forgetting for a moment, that he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There are 4 phases of his life that must be studied – As king, as a son, as a husband and as a father.
Sri Ram has been praised through generations for the remarkable son he has been. An obedient one who left the palace and luxurious life to the seek the woods. There has always been ambiguous stories about his dedication as a father and hence, without the knowledge of the right story, I am not eligible to comment. What I do have to say is about his role as a king and as a husband. Towards the end, I shall also reflect on the purpose of creating such a character.

He was a remarkable king in the sense that he practiced the then version of democracy. He was not only a good listener but also believed that he must practice in the light of that knowledge. He ended up sending his own wife to the forest. We shall get there in a while. As a king who does the best for his people, he stands high up. But, wasn’t he too democratic? Isn’t it the ruler’s discretion to distinguish what is right from the wrong and not just go by the words of people just to be appreciated and trusted? He was not a representative but a king. Wouldn’t it suit a king more to take educated and mature decisions rather than get emotionally tangled with them and hence lose objectivity?
A husband takes vows to protect his wife till his last breathe and take care of her with all his might. Was the decision to let her go on the premises of a rather irrational justification – after the humiliating test of purity, sensible? I am aware that these questions have been much discussed and exploited. But, by bringing them to light once again, I am just pushing the thought that somewhere, there has been a serious error in judgement – in distinguishing what one might call mere circumstantial crisis to sheer lack of rationale.

This brings us to the question of the purpose. If Ram was to teach men how to live for the generations to come, is it right for him to err? Were principles of such a just human being susceptible to alterations when he killed Bali through deceit? Could we justify our Lord, if he has portrayed the worst example of a husband?
If the purpose was to teach men to be righteous, isn’t it expected of the character to at least prove that it is possible?
What harm has Ramayan done?

If even God fails, how can man, with all his fallacies, manage not to?  Does it means that the power we pray to, cannot resist succumbing to his own creations? Has it not, incidentally justified human error?

I am confused if it a mockery of our beliefs or sheer human error and incapability to portray the all-powerful in the best possible way.

Tamanna Bhatia who entered into Kollywood, three years back started her career with a flop movie Kedi. But by each and every movie she improved her performance and became hot choice for directors and heroes.

This milky beauty bagged two block busters this year. First one is Dhanush starred Padikathavan and second one is Surya’s Ayan. In both the movies she get the roles which gave less scope to show her performance, but she attracted with her beautiful appearance in the songs and romantic scenes.

But Kandein Kadhlai gave her to prove her talent. She  lived up to expectations, simply copying Kareena Kapoor’s action she followed her won style but gave the required feel to the movie.

In the Sundar Kaand, upon finding that Hanuman has found Sita, Ram Chandra Ji embraced him, and said “Hanuman, of all the gods, men and sages born in the world, you are my greatest benefactor.”

Hanuman, Shiva incarnate to serve the cause of the birth of Ram – Vishnu’s incarnation – loved Ram profoundly and Ram worshiped Shiv with intense devotion. A part of the story of Ramayan is this circle of love and devotion, illustrating that without love God cannot be served.

And Hanuman Chalisa is a loving string of 40 hymns of praise and prayer of and for Hanuman’s Grace:

Hari Om Shri Hanumate Namaha

Doha

Shri Guru charan saroj raj, Nij manu mukuru sudhar |
Barnau Raghubar bimal jasu, Jo daayak phal chaar ||
Budhiheen tanu jaanke, Sumiro Pavan Kumar |
Bal buddhi vidhya dehu mohe, Harahu kales bikaar ||

Chopai

Jai Hanuman Gyan Gunn Sagar |
Jai kapees tihu loak ujaagar ||
Ram doot attulit bal dhama |
Anjani Putra Pavan Sutt naama ||

Mahabir bikram bajrangee |
Kumati nivaar sumati ke sangi ||
Kanchan baran biraaj subesa |
Kanan kundal kunchit kesa ||

Haath vajra ao dhwaja biraaje |
Kandhe moonj janeu saaje ||
Sankar suvan Kesrinandan |
Tej pratap maha jag bandhan ||

Vidhyavan gunni ati chaatur |
Ram kaaj karibe ko aatur ||
Prabhu charitra sunibe ko rasiya |
Ram Lakhan Sita mann basiya ||

Sookshma roop dhari siyahi dhikhava |
Bikat roop dhari Lank jarava ||
Bheem roop dhari asur sahare |
Ramchandra Ji ke kaaj savare ||

Laye Sanjeevan Lakhan jiyaye |
Shriraghuvir harsha ure laye ||
Raghupati kinhe bahut badai |
Tum mam priye Bharat sam bhai ||

Sahas badan Tumhro jas gavey |
Aas kahi Shripati kantha lagavey ||
Sankadik Bhramadhi munisa |
Narad Sarad sahit Aahisa ||

Jam Kuber Digpal jahan tey |
Kavi kovid kahi sake kaha tey ||
Tum upkar Sugrivahi keenha |
Ram milaye raj pad deenha ||

Tumrho mantra Vibheeshana mana |
Lankeshvar bhaye sab jag jaana ||
Yug sahestra jojan par bhanu |
Leelyo tahi madhur phal janu ||

Prabhu mudrika meli mukh mahi |
Jaladhi langhi gaye achraj nahi ||
Durgam kaaj jagat ke jetey |
Sugam anugrah Tumhre tetey ||

Ram duaare Tum rakhvare |
Hoat na aagya binu paisaare ||
Sab sukh lahai Tumhaari sarna |
Tum rachak kahu ko daarna ||

Aapan tej samhaaro Aape |
Teenho loke hakte kape ||
Bhoot pishaach nikat nahi aaveh |
Mahavir jab naam sunaveh ||

Naase rog harey sab peera |
Japat nirantar Hanumat beera ||
Sankat se Hanuman chudavey |
Maan kram bachan dhyan jo lavey ||

Sab per Ram tapasvi raja |
Tin ke kaaj sakal Tum saja ||
Aur manorath jo koyi lavey |
Soyee amit jeevan phal pavey ||

Charon jug pratap Tumhara |
Hai prasidh jagat ujiyaara ||
Sadhu sant ke tum rakhvarey |
Asur nikandan Ram dularey ||

Ashtha sidhi Navnidhi ke data |
As var deen Jaanki mata ||
Ram rasayan tumhre paasa |
Sada raho Raghupati ke daasa ||

Tumreh bhajan Ram ko bhavey |
Janam janam ke dukh bisravey ||
Untt kaal Raghubar pur jaee |
Jahan janam Hari bhagat kahaee ||

Aur Devta chitta na dharayee |
Hanumat seye sarav sukh karayee ||
Sankat katey mitey sab peera |
Jo sumere Hanumat balbeera ||

Jai jai jai Hanuman Gosain |
Kripa karo Guru Dev ke naai ||
Jo sat bar paath kar koi |
Chutehi bandhi maha sukh hoi ||

Jo yeh padey Hanuman Chalisa |
Hoye sidhi sakhee Gaureesa ||
Tulsidas sada hari chera |
Keejey Nath hridaye maha dera ||

Doha

Pavantnaye sankat haran, Mangal murti roop |
Ram Lakhan Sita sahit, Hridaye basau sur bhup ||

ramayan at its shortest form

A young second generation Indian in the US was asked by his mother to
explain the significance of “Diwali” to his younger brother, this is
how
he went about it…

” So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him.
But, like, his step-mom, or something, was kind of a bitch, and she
forced her husband to, like, send this cool-dude, he was Ram, to some
national forest or something…

Since he was going, for like, something like more than 10 years or so..
he decided to get his wife and his bro along… you know..so that they
could all chill out together. But Dude, the forest was reeeeal scary …

really man… they had monkeys and devils and
like that. But this dude, Ram, kicked ass with darts and bows and
arrows… so it was fine.

But then some bad gangsta boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his
babe (Sita). And boy, was our man, and also
his bro, Laxman,… all the gods were with
him… So anyways,you don’t mess with gods. So, Ram, and his bro get
an army of monkeys..Dude, don’t ask me how they trained the damn
monkeys… just go along with me, ok…

So, Ram, Lax and their monkeys whip this gangsta’s in his own hood.
Anyways, by this time, their time’s up in the forest..and anyways…it
gets kinda boring,you know… no TV or malls or
like that. So,they decided to hitch a ride back home… and when the
people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home… they
thought, well, you
know, at least they deserve something nice… and they didn’t have any
bars
or clubs in those days… so they couldn’t take them
out for a drink, so they, like, decided to smoke and …and since
they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps also… so it was pretty
cooool…you know
with all those fireworks… Really, they even had some local band play
along
with the fireworks… and you know, what, dude, that was the very first,
no kidding.., that was the very first music-synchronized fireworks…
you
know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff, you
know. And, so dude, that was how, like, this festival

The Ramayana (Devanāgarī: रामायण, Rāmāyaṇa) is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti). The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata.^[1] It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king.

The name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of Rāma and ayana “going, advancing”, translating to “Rama’s Journey“. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500 cantos (sargas),^[2] and tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu preserver-god Vishnu), whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rakshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma.^[3]

Photo credit

Khatri, is the Punjabi adaptation of the word Kshatriya, a warrior tribe from the northern Indian subcontinent. As administrators and rulers, Kshatriya were assigned with protecting dharma, and serving humanity and the world. In course of time, however, as a result of economic and political exigencies, the Khatri also expanded into other occupations.

The Khatri community traces its origins to the Taxila, Potohar and Majha regions of the Punjab. These regions are historically connected with the composition of the Vedas, the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas as well as more modern religious texts such as the Guru Granth Sahib.

Historically, Khatris were found throughout the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, although there had been some migration to nother and eastern India a few centuries ago. However, after the partition of India, Khatris migrated from Punjab, Pakistan to Punjab, India.

They are also found in several other north Indian states, particularly Chandigarh, Haryana, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Well integrated into India, from historical times to modern times, the Khatris have played a significant role in the Indian economy, as businessmen, civil and government administrators, landlords and military officials/generals.

Khatris, along with other Punjabi tribes like Aroras, Tarkhan, Jatts, and Rajputs, historically bore the brunt of all invasions into India. These warrior tribes mostly comprise of Hindus and Sikhs and those members who converted to Islam are known as Khojas and are found in Pakistan (Punjab (Pakistan), Balochistan, NWFP, Azad Kashmir) and India (Patiala, Malerkotla, Jallandhar, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh). Khatris in India are mainly Hindus but a substantial fraction are Sikhs.

The Khatris are a prominent Indian community originally from the Potohar and Majha region of north-western Indian subcontinent, now largely in Punjab in Pakistan. This region is of considerable historical significance in the development of the Indian culture since the composition of the Vedas and classics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas.

According to Ramayana, Taksha and Pushkala, the sons of Bharata, the brother of Lord Rama founded Taxila and Pushkalavati in this region. According to Bichitra Natak (about AD 1696) of Guru Gobind Singh, Lava and Kusha, the sons of Lord Rama founded Lahore and Kasur, and the descendants of Lava and Kusha form the Khatri Bedi and Sodhi clans. An empty temple dedicated to Lava still exists in the Lahore fort.

The region was ruled by Hindu kings until 1013 AD. King Bhimapala, the son of Trilochanapala has his capital at Nandana in the Salt Range region, where many temples and archaeological relics from their period are still present. Katas Raj remained a major pilgrimage center until the partition of India. Khatris encountered hardships after the conquest of the region, but stubbornly clung to their heritage.

Many Khatris have performed military service, such as the present Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army General Deepak Kapoor, General Joginder Jaswant Singh, and General Nirmal Chander Vij.

One of the most important characters of famous Punjabi legend Raja Rasalu is minister Mahita Chopra, Most scholars agree that Raja Rasalu ruled from Sialkot and lived sometime between 400 to 500 AD.

Many prominent historical figures have emerged from the Khatri. All ten Sikh Gurus were Khatri. The four gots of Sikh gurus existed at least since 15th century AD: As also the names of most Khatris included the word ‘Dev’, such as Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Guru Angad Dev Ji etc.

Sangam Rai Kapoor, was the founder of the house of Maharajas of Burdwan, founded in 1657. The family continued as rulers of Burdwan until feudal estates were abolished by the government of India in 1955/56.

Raja Fateh Chand was a Maini Khatri chieftain of Bihar who served Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji with dedication during his visit in 1665. Raja Fateh Chand and his wife converted their house into a dharamsala for the sangat or devotees to assemble in holy congregation. The place came to be known as Maini Sangat. On the site now stands Gurdwara Bal Lila Maini Sangat.

Haqiqat Rai was a Puri Khatri whose martyrdom was celebrated on Basant Panchami in Lahore until independence. Hari Singh Nalwa, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s most feared general was an Uppal Khatri. The father and son pair of the Diwans Sawan Mal and Mul Raj Chopra were successive governors of Multan under Ranjit Singh.

A portion of the Khatris are Sikh. All the Ten Sikh Gurus were Khatris from the Sodhi, Bedi, Trehan and Bhalla clans which like other Khatri clans, claim Suryavanshi Kshatriya, descent according to the autobiographical Bichitra Natak by Guru Gobind Singh. During the lifetime of the Gurus, most of their major supporters and Sikhs were Khatris. A list of this is provided by Bhai Gurdas in Varan Bhai Gurdas, a contemporary of the Sikh Gurus.

The martial development by the Sikh Gurus is well documented, with the first master (Guru Nanak Dev) Ji, calling upon Sikhs to make a “ball of their head” to play the game of love. The second Guru (Guru Angad Dev) Ji encouraged physical activities of Sikhs by encouraging wrestling bouts and Kabaddi. The 6th Guru (Guru Hargobind Dev) Ji took up the sword and fought many battles against neighboring Rajputs and Mughals.

The 9th Guru Guru Teg Bahadhur Dev Ji fought many battles like the 6th Guru and was an accomplished martial artist. The 10th master Guru Gobind Singh Ji, was proficient in the art of warfare as well as an accomplished swordsman, marksman and equestrian. The tenth Guru’s maternal side of the family was accomplished warriors and fighters in their own right. Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s maternal uncle, Kirpal Chand Ji served as a General in Guru Hargobind Ji army and guided Guru Gobind Singh ji from an early age.

The sacred sections of the Khatris :-There are four sacred sections among the Khatris, whose position must be touched upon, These are the:- Bedi (Guru Nanak Dev Ji) of the Dharman or Chota Sarin sub group.
Sodhi (Last seven Gurus) of the Chota Sarin sub-Group.
Trehan (Guru Angad Dev Ji) of the Bara Sarin sub group
Bhalla (Guru Amar Das Ji) of the Bara Sarin sub group.
These four sections became sanctified by the births of the various Sikh Gurus to them

Sahib Singh Bedi (1756-1834), was tenth in direct descent from Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and much revered in Sikh times for his piety as well as for his martial prowess. He was born at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur district. At the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s coronation at Lahore on April 11, 1801, Baba Sahib Singh Bedi placed the tilak or mark of sovereignty on Ranjit Singh’s forehead anoiting him Maharaja of Punjab.

Bhai Binod Singh, was a Khatri of the Trehan clan and a direct descendent of the second Sikh Guru Guru Angad Dev Ji. Bhai Binod Singh was a devoted disciple of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and was one of the few Sikhs to accompany the tenth master to the South in 1708. Bhai Binod Singh fought many battles as a Commander and was leader of the Tatt Khalsa, (True Khalsa). It was Bhai Binod Singh whose Tatt Khalsa declared the official Sikh Warcry to be Sat Sri Akal.

Bhai Daya Singh- Was a Khatri of the Sobti clan and the “first” of the Panj Pyare
. In the historic divan in the Keshgarh Fort at Anandpur on 30 March 1699, Bhai Daya Singh was the first to rise at the Guru’s call and offer his head.

During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Misl that was always ahead of other Misls and continuously moving ahead and helping other Sikh Misls was the Dallewalia Misl, founded and led by Gulab Singh Dallewalia a Khatri Sikh.

One head of the family Baba Tikka Baba Harbhajan Singh Bedi is based in Chandigarh, India. Tikka Baba Harbhajan Singh Bedi is the 16th Descendent in the bloodline starting from Guru Nanak Dev Ji with two sons Tikka Surjinder Singh Bedi and Kunwar Arvinder Singh Bedi. Arvinder Singh Bedi is blessed with two sons Tikka Nain Noor Singh Bedi and Kunwar Gagandeep Singh Bedi making the 18th current bloodline starting from Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Many Hindu Khatri families raised at least one Sikh son after the formation of the Khalsa in 1699. This resulted in Khatri clan names being present in both Hindu and Sikh communities worldwide.

Eknath Maharaj

Eknath was the grandson of Sant Bhanudas. Vitthal was their family deity and Eknath also worshiped Vitthal from childhood. As Eknath was born in a family of saints he inherited bhakthi towards Vitthal from his family members. He learnt the sastras from his father till he was about 12. He then wanted to go to a Sadguru and learn sastras under him. Eknath wanted to get a good guru and prayed Vitthal to guide him to one. Vitthobha then came in his dream and asked him to request Janardhana Swami to be his guru. Janadhana Swami was a great yogi; he had his ashram in a forest. Eknath felt that if he informs his parents they will not let him go and so one day went to Janardhana Swami’s ashram with out informing them. He joined the ashram and started serving his guru. He served his Sadguru for 12 years. There were several kids like him who had joined the ashram. Some came to study the sastras and were studying them, some came to study Yogabyasam like Yamam, Niyamam, Aasanam, Pranayamam and they studied that. Some were given manthropadesams and they chanted the mantras. Students who learnt the sastras took permission from the guru and left him once they learnt it well enough so that they could go to the outside world and do discourses. Students who learnt Yogabyasam took leave of their guru once they realised that they had now got the siddhi. Those who took manthropadesam from him also took leave of him after realization of those gods. While so many students joined the ashram, learnt what they wanted and left, Eknath was just serving his Guru. Janardhana Swami also dint teach him anything and just asked him to take care of the ashram. Eknath’s daily work was that he would get up early in the morning clean the ashram, milk the cows, take care of the visitors, make food for the sadhus, buy provisions from the village, take care of his gurus requirements and then check the accounts before going to sleep in the night. He has only been doing this for the last 12 years in this ashram.

One night, Eknath was checking the accounts as usual. He found that there was 1 paisa missing in the account and he had excess in hand. He was breaking his head to find out what happened. This was because he felt all the work he was doing in the ashram was Guru seva and that he should be correct in that. As he was awake till late in the night, his guru came to see what he was doing. Eknath dint even realize that his guru was standing behind as he was thinking deeply about reconciling the accounts. Janardhana swami understood that he is checking accounts and went back to his place. He again came at mid night to see if he was done with it, but saw that he was still working on it and went back. Around 2am Eknath emotionally shouted “Gurunatha, I found it” as he had reconciled the accounts. Janardhana Swami immediately got up and went to him and asked him what he had seen. Eknath immediately apologized for waking him up and said that an entry for 1 paisa was missing and that he had found it. As soon as the Guru heard this, his eyes were filled with tears and told him that there were so many sishyas who had come here and found so many great things and after serving me for 12 years you are happy that you have found 1 paisa. Janardhana Swami then said that he is now indebted to him for having taken care of him and the ashram for all these years. He then went back to sleep. Janradhana Swami’s deity was Dattatreya and he requested him to give darshan to Eknath and Dattatreya agreed to his request. The next day Eknath went to Godhavari River to have his bath as usual. After completing his bath he would bring water from the river to the ashram. On his way back Dattatreya gave him his darshan in godly form. The four Vedas stood next to him as 4 dogs. Dharma devata stood behind him as a bull. Eknath on seeing him prostrated to him. Dattatreya then blessed him and Eknath came back to the ashram and started doing his work as usual. Janardhana Swami came and saw what Eknath was doing and he found him boiling the milk. He then thought that he doesn’t look like someone who has had the darshan of god. The state of a person who has realised and seen god would be different and they would be in deep meditation, sometimes crying or smiling and would not look like normal persons to the outside world. Janardhana Swami was now wondering if god had given him darshan or not. Janardhana Swami was now really confused and asked Eknath if had seen anything this morning. Eknath then told him that when he was returning from the river he saw his guru’s deity standing under the tree and that he had worshiped him. Janardhana Swami was further perplexed and told him that there are so many rishis trying to realize god for so many janmas and after having realized god how he could continue with his regular work. Eknath then replied to him that his Guru was everything to him and that he was happy to see this form of god rather than the form he saw in the morning. Hearing this Janardhana Swami was moved. Janardhana swami then asked him to go back to his parents, get married and lead a family life. Eknath hesitated as he dint want to leave his guru but Janardhana Swami told him that he would realize his presence wherever he was. This consoled Eknath and he returned home.

Eknath reached home and his parents were very happy to see him again. He then told them that he went to be a student of Janardhana Swami and that he has now asked him to get married and serve his parents. Eknath then got married and lived with his family. He would spend his day in the service of god. He translated a lot of Sanskrit books in Marathi for the common man to read. Eknath Bagavatham and Eknath Ramayan are even today available and are being widely read in Maharashtra. He conducted discourses every day about god. In the evening he would perform bhajans and kirtans. He has also composed several abhangs. He also sang about saints like Namdev, Gyaneshwar and Janabai. He would invite sadhus to his house for food every day, give them food and only then have his food. As his family was rich he dint have to go for any work and would devote all his time to the service of Vitthal. Eknath’s neighbour was envious with him and was saying everyone that he dint know Sanskrit and was scribbling something in Marathi with out knowing about the grandhas that he is writing about. Eknath never bothered about what others said and would continue to do his work thinking it was Vitthal’s leela. Once while writing about Uddhava in Bagavatha he got in to a transcendental state and fell down. His neighbour saw him in an unconscious state with a note about Uddhava in his hand. He immediately understood that he had underestimated Eknath and waited for him to come back to consciousness and apologised to him and asked him to make him his sishya.

One day when he was reading Bagavatha a 12 year old boy came to him, prostrated to him and asked him to make him his sishya as he wanted to learn the Vedas from him. Eknath asked him who he was and where does he come from. He replied to him that his parents were no more and that he considered Eknath as his mother, father, Guru and God. He said that he was from Dwaraka and his name was Kandiya Krishnan. Eknath accepted him as his sishya and looked after him as his own son. Krishnan was very smart and a learnt everything easily. He took care of all the needs of his guru and served him well. He did all service to his guru right from washing his clothes, cleaning his pooja vessels, cleaning his pooja room, preparing garlands for his god etc. He would also serve his Guru matha by getting vegetable from the market, bringing water from Godhavari etc.

One day Eknath was performing his ancestral rituals. Two outcastes happened to pass by his house and understood that a feast was being prepared. They were discussing that it would be good if they could get this food. Eknath on listening to these discussions called them and gave them the food that was being prepared. They were happy with him, thanked him and then left. The other Brahmans who had come for the ceremony left the place on seeing this. All Brahmans in the village on seeing this started speaking ill about him for giving the food that was prepared for ancestral ceremony to some outcastes before completing the ceremony. They all spoke to each other and decided that Eknath should be punished for this deed of his. All the Brahmans in the village then came to Eknath and asked him how he could do this in spite of learning sastras. Eknath then said that, he gave them food as they were hungry and that hunger doesn’t have any caste difference and hence decided to feed them. He also said that the sastras say that annadhanam can be given to anyone and that there was no caste discretion on that. They then said that none of the Brahmans in the village would mingle with him and not have any contact with him and his family from now on. Eknath now had to prepare food again for the ceremony and perform the ceremony. Eknath was now worried that he would not be able to feed the Brahmans after the ritual is over as no one would come to his house now. Kandiya Krishnan then told Eknath that if Brahmans were not available the sastras say that they could give it to kurcham (a type of holy dried grass used in religious ceremonies) Eknath then started performing the rituals and when he kept the 1^st kurcham, Vitthal came and sat down to have the food. As soon as he came other gods and his forefathers who were called during the ceremony came down and took the food directly. Kandiya Krishnan was watching all these happening and smiling at Eknath. Once it got over, they blessed Eknath by reciting holy mantras and disappeared. His neighbours heard the chanting of holy mantras and thought that some Brahmans from neighbouring villages would have come without knowing what had happened with Eknath and were waiting for them to come out of the house so that they could warn them and advice them not to go to his house. After some time Eknath came out of the house. The Brahmans asked him who had come for the lunch and he was quiet. They then said that they heard some people reciting some mantras. Kandiya Krishnan then asked them what their problem was and said that no one had come. The Brahmans then left and thought that Eknath and Krishnan would have chanted the mantras in some different voices to fool them.  It was almost one year since they had given this punishment to Eknath. He then went to the Bhraman Samaj and said that he was ready to do whatever pariharam (doing penance) to clear the mistake he had done by feeding the outcastes. The Brahmans then told him that they would discuss among themselves and come back to him on the same. They got together and started preparing a list of things to be done as per their wish. One said that he has to make a gold cow and gift it to some one. Another one said he has to gift land and another said he has to gift a house. Like this each one came up with whatever they wished and this list was given to Eknath. Eknath then felt that he would use all his wealth and perform the list of pariharams given by the Brahmans. The Brahmans were now happy that Eknath will now gift all his wealth to them and Kandiya Krishnan was thinking how teach them a lesson. Krishnan tried to tell his Guru that they were cheating him and planning to acquire all his wealth in the name of pariharam, but did not agree. The Brahmans were performing the rituals and Eknath was doing the sankalpam. It was noon and a leper came enquiring about Eknath. The Brahmans stopped him and asked him who he was. He said that he came from Triambakeshwar and wanted to see him. They then asked him why he wanted to see him. The leper said that he had come to do some praiharam from him. The Brahmans then told him that they were doing pariharam even for Eknath and asked the leper to do it from them. The leper then said that they would not be able to do it for him and only Eknath could perform prayachittam for him. The leper said that he has done several pariharams from many people and had taken holy dips in many holy rivers but nothing had cured his leprosy. Just then Krishnan came and asked him what happened. The leper said that he went to Triambakeshwar and prayed to Lord Shiva. He said that he then asked him to cure his leprosy failing which he will commit suicide by jumping in the Godhavari River. He then said that Lord Shiva came in his dream and asked him to take the paada theertham (water taken by cleaning the feet of saints) of Eknath and that it was the only cure for him. As soon as he said this, Krishnan told him that it was his Guru whom he was mentioning and took him to Eknath. The ceremonies were still going on and the leper asked Eknath for his paada theertham. Eknath then told him that he was not such a great person and refused his request. The leper then told him that it was Lord Triambakeshwarar who had asked him to do this and that he should not refuse. When Eknath heard that it was the wish of Lord Shiva he agreed to it. The leper then performed paadha pooja for Eknath and consumed the water. As soon as he drank this water his body became normal and leprosy had vanished. The Brahmans there astonished to see this. Krishnan then looked at the Brahmans and asked if they at least now understood the greatness of Eknath. The Brahmans now dint have the guts to continue with these pariharams they were doing and Krishnan was happy that Eknath’s wealth was saved.

There was a Brahman who was very pious. He set out on a yatra to visit all the holy places and wherever he went the deity in that temple would speak to him because of his bhakthi. One day he went to Dwaraka, the deity here (Kalyanarayar) did not give him darshan or speak to him. He felt that Kalyanarayar was not there and it was only the statue that was there. After sometime he thought that he dint have enough bhakthi and that is why god did not speak to him. He decided to be on fast till he gets a reply form him. After fasting for 12 days, Lord Krishna came on his dream and said that he was in Prathistanapuram (now Paithan) doing service to Eknath as his sishya for the past 12 years. He then told him that he can have his darshan if he comes there. He also asked him to do service to Eknath instead of wandering all over India. The next morning the Brahman got up and started going to Prathistanapuram. He reached Paithan and enquired where Eknath’s house was and came to meet him. Eknath was reading Srimad Bhagavadam, the Brahman prostrated to him and asked him where Krishna was. Eknath thought that he was asking about Kandiya Krishnan and told him that he has gone to Godhavari and would be back soon. Eknath thought that the Brahman was related to Krishnan and had come to see him. He also asked him to be seated till he comes back. Krishnan then returned from Godhavari with some water but did not say anything to the Brahaman. Eknath was surprised why both of them dint recognize each other. He then asked the Brahman if he saw Krishnan going inside the house. The Brahman then told him that he was looking for Lord Krishna and not this Krishnan and also explained to him what had happened to him in Dwaraka. Eknath on hearing this ran in to the house searching for Kandiya Krishnan but only the vessels in which he fetched water were there but Krishnan had disappeared. He searched for him all over the house and started crying. He cursed himself for not being able to recognize god when he was there with him. He could not perform any work as everything reminded him of Krishnan only. He went to a Samadhi state and was thinking only about god. The Brahman who came now started serving Eknath.

One day Eknath decided to go on a yatra and he set out on a yatra with few others who joined him. They went to places like Kasi, Prayagai, Vrindavan, Ayodha, Mathura etc. Eknath performed Bhajans and pravachans wherever he went. When the finished the yatra and returning to Paithan with Ganga theertham, they got stuck in a place where there was no water and all of them were thirsty. Even though they had water in hand they did not use that as it was Ganga theertham and that it was supposed to be used only for religious purpose and not for quenching thirst. They then found a donkey lying down in an unconscious state due to thirst and heat. Seeing the donkey dying Eknath felt bad and moved forward to give his Ganga theertham to it so as to prevent it from dying. The others who were with him said that he should not do that as this water was supposed to be used only for religious purpose. Eknath then said that there was no better deed that saving the life of someone and that he would give it to the donkey and save it from death. Hearing this, the others left him behind and started moving forward as they dint approve of his action. Eknath then gave the water to the donkey. As Eknath was feeding the donkey it turned out to be Vitthal. He then prostrated to Vitthal and asked him why he did this leela. Vitthal then told him that he wanted to show the world that Eknath sees every living being in this world as Vitthal and hence did this leela. Eknath then returned back home.

One day a group of people were gambling. A small fight began within them and they started fighting within themselves. One of them tried to stop the fight and asked them not to get angry and fight among themselves. One of them immediately replied that he was not Eknath to be calm and collected and never to get angry for anything. One of them listening to this asked if Eknath really will not get angry for anything. All others said that even the sun may rise in the west but Eknath will never get angry. He then said that if someone doesn’t get angry then he is not human. The others then said that he was not human and that he was god. The guy then betted the whole money they were gambling and said that he would make him angry.  The gambler who had betted, had a house near the banks of Godhavari. He went home and the next morning he was waiting for Eknath to come to Godhavari to have his bath. Eknath had his bath and was returning back. The gambler was chewing pan and spited on his head from the terrace of his house on Eknath. Eknath dint even bother to look up to see him, nor did he shout at him and he went back to Godhavari to bath again. When he came back the gambler again spit the pawn on him. Eknath still dint say anything and went back to bath again. Eknath would clean himself and come and the gambler would spit on him, this happened several times and by noon the gambler had finished his entire pan and was also tired standing in the terrace and spiting. Now the gambler came down and was waiting for Eknath to come. This time when Eknath was going back from the river the gambler blocked him and asked him how he had so much of patience and that why he did not get angry with him when he has been spiting on him since morning. Eknath then replied to him that he came to Godhavari to clean his body before performing pooja to god. He also said that one should perform pooja with clean body and mind. When he spited on him, he only dirtied his body and went back to clean it. He then said that if he had got angry and shouted at him, his mind would have become dirty and that it would be even more difficult to clean his mind than cleaning his body. The gambler was moved hearing this and said that he had read about this but never seen this in practice.

“I used to think of Krishna is a part of Hindu myth and mythology. Imagine my surprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (a professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US) and his research in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy. I immediately tried to corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions [as him],” Pandit says.

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Generally Every country its inhabitants shows enormous proud on their  history , culture and past.  And they prevent their by all means, isn’t it?  . But in India it is entirely diffrent. we can’t blame Sonia Gandhi or christian connection . Because in last 60 years in India,  not a single professional  research was funded by Indian government  to get the fact of Indian History scientifically . BJP , congress , Janta Dal no body tried to establish the scientific proof of various events in Indian history say Ramayana , Mahabharata and etc.  But government accepts them Diwali as national holiday . How great ?

Ram , Ram setu and all other things are myths . Every year, Whole nation and government celebrates a myth together .  In schools childrens are taught that Krishna was part of mythology but same school celebrates these myths as holiday or as functions on Janamashtami .

Isn’t it amazing ???    Line of a famous song  from  Govinda’s movie  “It happens only in India ”

In this way we are educating our children in a very confusing way.  Islamic , christians , Nazis  every body accept their past boldly.  It is only Indian leaders who are destroying and denying our very rich history on the name of secularism.

Why are we wasting our time on mythological events , celebrating them. Tell me readers.

Either government should come forward to accept all  myths boldly  and scrap all associated holidays .

Or  proudly accept them and remove the phrase  “according to Hindu mythology”  from all government literature and textbooks.

If we remove Ramayana and Mahabharata from our history on the name of mythology then India won’t have history or culture.  Vedic culture , Hinduism ,Jainism , Ramayana and Mahabharata  are as true as Big Bang or as sun and Moon . And unanimously integrated part of Indian History .   We have rich past of more than 10000 years which is written in Vedas , Ramayana and Mahabharata , No other country has such a old history and glorious past.  These are the oldest literature of history of a nation and religions .

Now the time has come to establish the facts scientifically.  Today nobody is denying existence of drowned  historical city Dwaraka

Anyway Indian leaders can request USA to give proof of all these events as we are doing for Mumbai attacks . Don’t ashamed of it . We are already requesting USA for all proofs  so whats the problem in verifying our history also . Big Deal . We started using  yoga and Ayurved when USA companies got patent on them.

Otherwise the time  is not far away when all historians will accept the fact that  Ramayana and Mahabharata were true events in the past. But Indian students will be keep reading them as “Hindu Mythological events” .

Quite possible friends . Don’t surprise if it happens.

Another fact . India was number 1 economy of world for more then 1000 years .

“According to economic historian Angus Maddison in his book The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, India had the world’s largest economy from the 1st to 11th century, and in the 18th century, with a (32.9%) share of world GDP in the 1st century to (28.9%) in 1000 CE, and in 1700 CE with (24.4%)”

Following mind bothering  article have been  borrowed from  rediff .  For complete  news and interview Click  this link .

Raj Nambisan

Did Krishna exist?

Most certainly, says Dr Manish Pandit, a nuclear medicine physician who teaches in the United Kingdom, proffering astronomical, archaeological, linguistic and oral evidences to make his case.

“I used to think of Krishna is a part of Hindu myth and mythology. Imagine my surprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (a professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US) and his research in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy. I immediately tried to corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions [as him],” Pandit says.

Which meant, he says, that what is taught in schools about Indian history is not correct?

The Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC, the Pune-born Pandit, who did his MBBS from BJ Medical College there, says in his first documentary, Krishna: History or Myth?.

Pandit’s calculations say Krishna was born in 3112 BC, so must have been 54-55 years old at the time of the battle of Kurukshetra.

Pandit is also a distinguished astrologer, having written several books on the subject, and claims to have predicted that Sonia Gandhi would reject prime ministership, the exact time at which Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati would be released on bail and also the Kargil war.

Pandit, as the sutradhar of the documentary Krishna: History or Myth?, uses four pillars — archaeology, linguistics, what he calls the living tradition of India and astronomy to arrive at the circumstantial verdict that Krishna was indeed a living being, because Mahabharata and the battle of Kurukshetra indeed happened, and since Krishna was the pivot of the Armageddon, it is all true.

You are a specialist in nuclear medicine. What persuaded you to do a film on the history/myth of Krishna? You think there are too many who doubt? Is this a politico-religious message or a purely religious one?

We are always taught that Krishna is a part of Hindu myth and mythology. And this is exactly what I thought as well. But imagine my surprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (of the Department of Physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US) and his research somewhere in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy.

I immediately tried to corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions. This meant that what we are taught in schools about Indian history is not correct.

I also started wondering about why this should be so. I think that a mixture of the post-colonial need to conform to western ideas of Indian civilisation and an inability to stand up firmly to bizarre western ideas are to blame. Also, any attempt at a more impartial look at Indian history is given a saffron hue.

I decided that I could take this nonsense no more, and decided to make films to show educated Indians what their true heritage was. The pen is mightier than the sword is an old phrase but I thought of new one: Film is the new pen.

Any ideas I have will receive wide dissemination through this medium.

I wanted to present a true idea of Indian history unfettered by perception, which was truly scientific, not just somebody’s hypothesis coloured by their perceptions and prejudices.

Why not a documentary on Rama, who is more controversial in India today? Proof of his existence would certainly be more than welcome today…

A documentary on Rama is forthcoming in the future. But the immediate reason I deferred that project is the immense cost it would entail. Whereas research on Krishna and Mahabharata was present and ready to go.

Further more, Rama according to Indian thought, existed in the long hoary ancient past of Treta Yuga, where science finds it difficult to go.

There is a controversial point in your documentary where someone Isckon monk alludes to Krishna as being the father of Jesus. How can you say that since there is an age gap of roughly 3000 years between the two spiritual giants?

Is Krishna the spiritual father of Jesus? That is what the person who was training to be a Roman Catholic priest, and who now worships Krishna, asks. The answer comes within the field of comparative religion and theology.

The Biblical scriptures qualify Jesus as the son of God. Most Indians have no problems accepting this as Hindus are a naturally secular people. However, then the question that arises is, if Jesus is the son, then who is the Father or God Himself?

Now, Biblical scriptures do not really give the answer except to say that the Father is all-powerful and omnipresent. Now, of course, we know that Jesus does not say that he is omnipresent or omnipotent.

Now, no scripture can live as an island, all by itself, and the Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures such as the Bramha Samhita all call Krishna as an all powerful, omnipresent being.

So, if we use these words of Bhagavatam, there can be no other truth, which means that Krishna is the father of all living creation.

But it does not mean that Jesus is not divine. Jesus is indeed divine. What I liked about the monks in my documentary is that they do not denigrate Jesus although they worship Krishna as God. They keep Jesus in their hearts, while worshipping Krishna. What could be more secular or more Christian?

3067 BC is when the Mahabharata war took place, says Dr Achar. How did he arrive at this?

There are more than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Dr Achar used simulations of the night sky to arrive at November 22, 3067 BC, as the day the Mahabharata war began.

He used the references common to Udyoga and Bhisma Parvan initially, and so Saturn at Rohini, Mars at Jyestha with initially only the two eclipses, Lunar at Kartika and Solar at Jyestha.

Let me tell you how rare this set of astronomical conjunctions is.

The Saros cycle of eclipses is periodic at 19 years and so is the Metonic cycle of lunar phases.

So if I say that Amavasya has occured at Jyestha, then this will occur again in 19 years, but if I say that a solar eclipse has occured at Jyestha, then this occurs again at Jyestha only after 340 years. Add Saturn at Rohini and we take this to 1 in 7,000 years. This set of conjunctions takes all of these into consideration, but also takes all the other data into consideration.

So now, we know about Balarama’s pilgrimage tithis and nakshatras, and believe it or not, all that fits the 3067 BC date perfectly.

And to top it all, so does the repetition of the three eclipses described at the destruction of Dwarka 36 years later.

This would explain why so many other researchers tried and failed to find the date of the Mahabharata war as it is based on such a unique set of astronomy that it occured only once in the last 10,000 years.

So essentially, your thesis is that since the Mahabharata war actually happened, as confirmed by astronomical deduction, Krishna was also a living entity since he’s the fulcrum of the Great War?

Not just that, but the fact that archaeology, oral and living traditions point to the same. And yes, we cannot separate the Mahabharata war from Krishna. If one is shown to have happened, then the other must be true as well.

What’s your next project?

The next project is called Indian Jesus. It is already 80% complete. It is very controversial but needed to be done. Living in India convinced me that there are definitely many paths to God. Anybody who lives in India and does not subscribe to that concept should be termed intolerant, but instead the opposite is happening. There are some people today who call their God as God and mine as the devil, this is unacceptable, and I will see to it that those intolerant concepts are demolished. I long to see a one borderless world where we live in mutual respect. I cannot say much on the project but to say that I will prove that the underlying basis of religions is the same.

There is talk of a banyan tree which the documentary says was a witness to the Battle of Kurukshetra, where 4 million people are said to have died in 14 days. Where exactly does this exist? Has the tree been carbon-dated to confirm its age?

There is indeed a banyan tree at Jyotisaar in Kurukshetra which is worshipped as such. This concept is similar to the tree in Jerusalem, which is thought to have witnessed Jesus’s arrival. Carbon-dating of this banyan tree is unlikely to give any concrete answers. I have included it in the documentary to show the living tradition of India — like worship of the Ganges cannot be carbon-dated to give any answers.

There is a gentleman named Ram Prasad Birbal, who said he has found many bones which are said to belong to the Kurukshetra battle. Has this been scientifically proved?

Ram Prasad Birbal is a resident of Kurukshetra. I am not aware of carbon dating of those bones. But I am informed that thermo-luminescent dating of other relics as well as carbon-dating at other sites in Kurukshetra have given dates far older than the Indus valley civilisation. Further, Euan Mackie, an eminent archaeologist, had found a clay tablet of Krishna’s Yamalaarjuna episode at Mohenjedaro, a site of the Indus Valley civilisation proving that even in 2200 BC, there was a culture of worshipping Krishna.

You said Hinduism spread across South East Asia in those times … how big was this religious empire?

The Hindu religious empire extended across the whole of the Asian sub-continent to South East Asia, from Afghanistan to Thailand (where Ramayana and Krishna are still shown through dances), Burma, Cambodia (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc), Vietnam, Laos (little Kurukshetra and temples), Malaysia (which was Hindu until recent) up to Java (more temples), Bali (where Hinduism is still the religion) and Indonesia, where Bhima’s grandson is said to have performed a thousand fire rituals at Yogyakarta. Afghanistan was of course home to both the Yadu race and Shakuni (Kandahar or Gandhar).

Dr Achar said the Kurukshetra war must not have happened on a full moon day…

The Mahabharata war did not start on an Amavasya. That is straight forward.

Krishna tells Karna “Saptama chappi divasat Amavasya Bhivasyati” and says that Karna should tell Drona and Bhisma to do the ayudha (weapons) pooja on that date. But not start fighting the war on that date.

The documentary is quiet crisp. I am told this is the first time you held a camera, and learnt how to shoot. How many days did this take and what was your budget?

I learnt film editing first using a variety of software such as Final Cut 6 as I realised that a film director must be able to do decent basic editing to realise what to shoot, from what angles and for what duration.

I bought a professional grade HD movie camcorder initially and then learnt to shoot before we went filming in 8 major Indian cities, the US, UK and Cambodia.

However, nothing prepares you as thoroughly as filming on your own. Most of this was done with a skeleton crew, mostly handling audio.

I later was funded to buy the latest Cinealta tru HD movie cameras, which are not available in India, and which I am now proficient in using. I also taught a few crew members how to shoot.

Then came the task of assembling a team of professionals to do editing, graphics, voice over and all else, so that I had a team of people for my next set of documentaries.

It was a steep learning curve, as I never went to film school, but it has worked out well, with people within the industry who are veterans complimenting my work. I personally think that it was all God’s grace.

The budget was 15,000 pounds or approximately Rs 12 lakh. It took me 18 months to complete.

Your documentary says India did not have a tradition of putting down everything in writing till 325 BC, when Alexander the Great arrived. How did you come to this conclusion?

This is what the current scientific belief is. Although people have talked about deciphering the Indus Valley “script”, there is no straightforward conclusion about the same, so we stuck to the “official line” there. We will deal with these issues in a future documentary.

S R Rao, the marine archaeologist from the National Institute of Oceanography, found a 9th century building, and an entire city. Where was this and when did he find it?.

S R Rao found the sunken city of Dwarka a few years ago at Beyt Dwarka in the early 1990s.

Apparently, this city near Dwarka was set up 36 years after the Mahabharata war. Is this the summation of Rao?

It is believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dwaraka has submerged six times and the modern-day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area. Scientifically speaking, we see that 36 years after the war there were the same repetitions of an eclipse triad as we have shown in the documentary.

From Dwarka to Kurukshetra is more than 1,000 km. How do you think Krishna travelled to help the Pandavas?

As a scientist, I believe that they travelled on horses which would enable them to reach pretty quickly. If you consider 1,000 km, that should take him 7 days if he had a string of horses. Of course if you take faith into account, then it could happen in a twinkling of an eye.

What’s the link between the two comets that Sage Vyasa talked about, the retrograde motion of Mars (Mangal or Kuja) at Antares (Jyestha) to all this

The idea that comets are harbingers of doom is well-documented. The thing is that there is a set of statements describing comets and their positions. Only Dr Achar has arrived at the correct deduction, that those sentences in Bhisma Parvan relate to comets, not planets — which is where previous researchers found it difficult.

We know that Halley’s comet was seen in that year as well.

Dr Achar interpreted verses from the Bhism Parvan and Udyog Parvan to arrive at various conclusions. One of them is that when Saturn in at Aldebaran (Rohini) it brings great bad tidings. The last time this happened was in September 2001, when 9/11 happened. When does this happen next?

Actually Saturn at Rohini is long known to be a bad omen by astrologers. Rohinim Pidyannesha Stitho Rajan Shanischarah. This transit happened in 1971 where a million or so were killed, and again in 2001 September, when 9/11 happened. The next time is in 2030/2031 AD approximately.

When is the next time Mars will be in Antares?

Mars at Jyestha has to be taken in conjunction with the other things mentioned by Karna when he talks to Krishna, as it occurs every year. In any case, those people were great astronomers and not just warriors, so we don’t know what the extent of their knowledge was regarding these events, In my personal humble opinion it was perhaps even better than that which we have today.

Contact Dr Pandit at manish@saraswatifilms.org

Sant Tukaram

Sant Tukaram was the reincarnation of Sant Namdev. Tukaram was born in a village called Dehu which is about 20kms from Pune. River Indrayani flows through this village. Tukaram was a family man and was running a provision stores which was his hereditary business. He was very pious, he would always chant the name of Vitthal and his heart was always filled with love for Vitthal. He sang all 18 adhyayams (Chapters) of Bhagavad Gita as Abhangs. He would be forever singing the praise of god, having a tambura in his hand. He would open his shop and start singing his abhangs. When ever some one came to the shop and greeted him by saying “Ram Krishna Hari”, he would not take money from them and give them whatever they came to buy for free. He would do this because he felt that who ever chanted “Ram Krishna Hari” was a sadhu and it would not be correct on his part to collect money from them. If some pilgrims passed through his shop singing abhangs, he would leave the shop, start singing and dancing with them and go to Pandhari with them. Thieves and criminals would then get in to his shop and take away all the money and provisions in the store before some neighboring shopkeepers come to the rescue. Tuka was leading his life with full of love and devotion for Vitthal in his heart. Everyone in Dehu knew about him and held him in high esteem.

There was a beautiful lady in Dehu was attracted towards Tukaram. Tuka would usually be singing abhangs with out looking around who is watching him and would sing till dawn. One day, this lady came to the place where Tuka was singing just before dawn and sat down in front of him. When he finished his abhangs, he got up he saw this lady. He looked at her as Rukmani and immediately prostrated to her and asked why she had come without Vitthal. Hearing this, the lady felt ashamed and realized her mistakes. Also just because a saint like Tukaram called her Rakumai, she became a virtuous lady. 

Sant Samartha Ramadass and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj were his contemporaries. Sant Ramdass had also herd about him and had asked Shivaji to meet Tukaram if he happens to visit Dehu. As his guru had asked him to meet Tukaram, Shivaji then decided to met Tukaram. Once he met him he understood the greatness of Tukaram and frequently started visiting Tukaram. Shivaji considered Ramadass and Tukaram as his two eyes and would do every move only after consulting and taking blessing from them. One day Shivaji wanted to give some gifts to Tukaram. He took some gold coins in a plate and went to meet Tukaram. Shivaji kept the plate in front of Tukaram and prostrated to him. Immediately Tukaram started shivering, he then got up and ran away. Shivaji could not understand this reaction of Tukaram and he asked the other sishyas sitting there why Tukaram Maharaj did this. They then told him that all these days he has been coming alone and meeting him but now he had brought some gold for him which he dint like and that is why he ran away. Shivaji then said that he had brought it as there were so many sadhus who eat in Tukaram’s house everyday and was worried how he would be able to feed them without money. The sishyas then asked him to go and console Tukaram and bring him back. Shivaji then went to him and apologized for what he did, but again told him that he knew that Tuka was a sadhu and doesn’t go after money but then he said that he was a family man and there were so many sadhus eating with him every day after the bhajans & kirtans and thought this money would be of help to feed the sadhus. Tuka then told Shivaji that if he was worried about him having known him only for a few months now, wouldn’t Vitthal be worried about him as he knew him from the day he was born and for so many births. Shivaji then requested Tukaram to accept his offerings for his happiness. Tuka replied to him that he would not eat cow’s meat to please someone and said that gold was equivalent to cow’s meat for him.

Tuka used to sing abhangs everyday and a lot of Sadhus and baghavathas would come to listen and participate in this. Whoever came for the kirtans went back with heart filled with love and affection towards Vitthobha. There was a person by name Rameshwara Bhatt in Dehu. He was well versed in the sastras and was preaching about Dharma sastras. No one came to his preaching’s but everyone went to Tukaram’s kirtans. Seeing this he was angry and said that Tuka was a Vysya and that he has not read the sastras and was blabbering something in the local language Marathi and was spoiling all residents in the city with his abhangs. Bhatt also said that he was a Brahman and had read all the sastras and knew more than what Tuka knew about the sastras. He then said that in his discourse he was saying what the rishis had written earlier, but Tuka was writing his own poems and singing that to the public. When Tukaram came to know what Rameshwara Bhatt was feeling about him, he felt that Bhatt may be correct as he is a very learned person. He never even got angry with him but went to him prostrated to him and asked him if he had done some mistakes in his abhangs. Bhatt then asked him who he was to advice others and asked him if he had studied the sastras and puranas and why he was saying something on his own. Bhatt then told him that Tuka was doing a great sin by doing all this and said that he was also making others commit sin by listening to it. Tuka then told Bhatt with tears that he dint know that he was committing a sin by doing all this and told him that he would do whatever Bhatt asks him to do as he was the most learned man in the city. Bhatt then asked him not to compose or sing any more abhangs and also asked him to throw all his compositions. Tuka then came back to his house took all his compositions tied it in a silk cloth and was thinking what mistake he had done in those compositions and his eyes were filled with tears. He then felt that Bhatt who was a scholar would not lie and that he should immediately destroy it. He then took the bundle to river Indrayani and again had a look at his compositions; he saw that he had written only about the beauty of Vitthal, Nama mahima, Guru mahima, Ekadasi mahima, Prahalada, Dhruva and other bhakthas. He then felt that Vitthal was living in every abhang composed by him and how he would throw him in the river Indrayani. He was sitting under a tree near the banks of Indrayani and looking at his compositions with tears. These were his only proud possessions. He then felt that having promised Bhatt that he would destroy it he threw his compositions that were tied in a cloth in to the river. The abhangs which were his only possession had now gone with the flood in the river. He now couldn’t sing any more abhangs as Bhatt had asked him not to sing and he knew nothing other than singing the praise of Pandurang. He was crying and sitting under the tree. His wife and children came in search of him and asked him to come back home. He would only say “Panduranga Panduranga” with his eyes full of tears. He felt like he has lost everything in his life as he now could not sing the praise of Vitthal. The next morning when the priest went to open Vitthobha’s temple in Dehu, he saw a bundle on Vitthal’s head. The priest rushed in to remove it and the bundle was wet. He opened it to see what was inside and it had all the songs that Tuka had thrown in to the river. They took the bag and came running to Tuka to show it to him. Tuka was chanting the name of Vitthal and still sitting in the bank of the river.  They then gave it to him and Tuka asked why they had taken it from the river. The priest then told him that when they opened the temple for suprabatham, they found this in Vitthal’s head. Hearing this Tuka was happy and understood that Vitthal has recognized his poems and that there were no mistakes in it. Rameshwar Bhatt on hearing this leela of Vitthal, came running to Tuka, and asked him to forgive him and also praised him that he was a mahatma. Tuka then said that Bhatt was a Brahman and had also learnt the sastras and that he should not ask him to forgive him. Tuka also said that this was Panduranga’s leela to show to the world that he is happy with my abhangs and that there was no fault with Bhatt. After this incident Tukaram’s abhangs became very famous and many people started singing his songs and his collection of abhangs came to be known a Vaishnava Veda.

One day as usual his shop was looted by miscreants as he had left it open and left with a group of pilgrims to Pandharpur. His wife then gave him some jewels and asked him to mortgage the same to get stocks for his provision stores. He mortgaged the jewels collected the money and was returning home. On the way he saw some group of beggars singing about Vitthal and distributed the money to them and returned home. He would never bother about running his business and family and did not understand this materialistic world. He would forever be chanting, singing and dancing with tears in his eyes and Vitthobha in his heart. His wife knew about his character and knew he would not be able to bring money to run the family. The next day his wife Jijabai left home in the morning as she had agreed to do some household job in her locality. Tuka seeing her going out in morning asked her where she was going. She then told him that there was no money left at home and that she had to feed the children and had agreed to do some household work to feed them. Hearing this Tuka felt bad and asked her to stay at home and said that he would now go for some work and get her money to run the family. He then set out to ask for a job. Whenever he would enter any house the head of the house would prostrate to him, welcome him, ask him to be seated and ask him how they could be of service to him. This was because everyone knew that Tukaram was a great saint and had very high regards for him. When he asked them for a job they would ask him to take whatever he wants for free and not embarrass them by working for them as they considered him as Pandurang himself. This was not agreeable with Tuka and would not take anything from anyone for free. Tuka now understood that it would be difficult for him to get a job in Dehu and decided to go to some other neighboring village in search of a job. He came across an old man who had a big field and asked him for a job. The man on seeing Tuka liked him and asked him what work he would be able to do. Tuka said that he would do any work that he wanted him to do. The old man then asked him to take care of his field for the next two months from birds and other animals from destroying the crops. There was an elevated area in the middle of the field for him to be seated and asked Tuka to sit there and take care of the field. Tuka then said that he had to go home and give some money or grains to his family for them to take care of themselves. The old man then gave him some grains and asked him to give it to his family and return for work. Tuka promptly delivered the same in his house and came back to the field and sat there. Whenever a sparrow or a cow came to destroy the field Tuka would look at it as Pandurangan and not a sparrow or a cow. He did not realize that he had to scare them away and protect the corn field. He would forever be lost in singing abhangs. The old man was happy that he had kept an honest person to take care of his farm and was busy with other work. After two months the old man came to see the farm but was very angry when he found that all his crops have been destroyed. He saw that Tuka was still standing on the elevated floor and dancing and singing the praise of Vitthal not knowing what was happening in the field. The old man asked him why he did this when he was asked to take care of the farm and said that this act of him has resulted in a very big loss for him. Tuka then told him that he dint know what happened and apologized to the old man. The old man told him that he had lost about Rs.2000 because of his carelessness and asked him to repay the same. Tuka then told him that he dint have that kind of money and would not have come for a job if he had the same. The old man then said that if he doesn’t pay this money he would take him to the king for justice. Tuka then begged him not to take him to the king but punish him directly and would agree to whatever punishment the old man gives. This was because the king was Shivaji who was his disciple and Tuka dint want to go there as Shivaji would pay the old man on his behalf. The old man then told him that it is of no use for him to punish him and that he only wants his money back. Tuka dint know what to do and said “Panduranga” with tears filled in his eyes. Hearing this, the old man got wild and asked him why he was saying Panduranga as if he was Tukaram Maharaj. Tuka then told him that he was only Tukaram. Hearing this the old man prostrated to him and apologized to him for scolding him and told him that his farm was now blessed with the dust from his feet and that was enough for him to get a better yield next time. Tuka on hearing this started crying and chanted the name of Vitthal. The old man then gave him a load of sugarcane and asked him to take it with him. He asked him to sell the sugarcane and take home the money. Tuka took the sugarcane and was returning home. Jijabai heard about this and was happy that her husband had finally earned something and is returning home. She then asked him to go to the market directly, sell the same and also gave him a list of provisions to be bought. On the way when he saw the temple he got down to have a darshan of Vitthal. There were some children playing there and every kid in Dehu knew him. When they saw him with a load of sugarcane they went to him and asked him if they could take one. Seeing the kids asking for the sugarcane he distributed all the sugarcane to the kids and started singing and dancing with them. All the children were now chanting “Panduranga Hari, Vasudeva Hari, Rama Krishna Hari” Tuka then went in to the temple had a darshan of Vitthal and then came back to realize that he dint have anything with him now and that Jija would be angry with him now. He then went home empty handed. Jija on seeing him back home asked him if he had sold the sugarcane and got the money. He then told her that he had distributed it to the children near the temple. Jija was very angry and asked him why he dint think about his children and started scolding him. He then said that there was one last sugarcane left in the cart and gave it to her. On hearing this Jija became very angry and took the sugarcane and beat him on his back. The sugarcane broke in to two. Tuka then smiled and told Jija that Vitthal had broken the sugarcane in to two equal halves using her hands and his back so that both get an equal share. Hearing this Jija dint know how to react and stood still for a moment. Jija then thought the whole of Dehu considers him to be a saint, Shivaji Maharaj comes for advice, Pandurang speaks to him directly, but in spite of she being his wife why did I not understand him and think only about worldly affairs. She then apologized to him and prostrated to him.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

One Ekadasi day, Tuka was performing kirtans and Shivaji was listening to it with love. In the meantime Muslim soldiers heard about the whereabouts of Shivaji and a big troop of 2000 soldiers came to arrest him. They surrounded the house in which bhajans were performed and dint let anyone go in or come out of the house. Shivajis informers came and whispered about the situation to him. Hearing this Shivaji was worried and one of his bodyguards asked Tukaram if they could leave now. Tukaram then told him that no one should leave till the kirtan is over. Hearing this Shivaji sat down and continued to listen to the abhangs. He thought to himself that none other than Vitthal can save him now and if he doesn’t, he would be fortunate to die on an ekadasi day listening to abhangs and in the company of sadhus and saints. One of the Muslim spies came into the house to check if Shivaji was there and couldn’t find him. He went back to his commander and told him that he couldn’t recognize which one of them was Shivaji. On hearing this, the commander told him to get in and kill as many people as possible and that way they would definitely kill Shivaji. Vitthal immediately took the form of Shivaji and came out of the house on a horse. He then started riding his horse. The soldiers who saw this started chasing him but no one was able to catch him. The army was chasing him for several hours and finally they had travelled to a jungle about 40 miles trying to catch Vitthal who looked like Shivaji. Vitthal suddenly disappeared and the soldiers blamed one another for not being able to catch Shivaji. The commander just could not understand how an army of 2000 soldiers could not catch one person. Vitthal then came and whispered to Tuka on what had happened and asked him to continue his abhangs without any fear.

There was a village called Chinchwadi near Pune. (It is now called Chinchwad) People from that village would very often invite Tukaram to perform his sankirtans and he would go there and sing his abhangs. Often his bhajans used to go on till dawn. One day when Tukaram was in Chinchwadi a Brahman who gives discourses on Ramayan came to that village seeing if he could have his discourse there. He was doing this to collect money for his daughter’s marriage. When the Brahman entered the village he saw that everyone went to have their bath only by around 8am, he thought that this may not be a good place as they were all very lazy and went to have a bath only by 8am. When he enquired with the villagers they told him that Tukaram was here and that he would perform kirtans till about 4 or 5 in the morning and they would then return home and sleep for some time and then go for their usual work. They also told him that his bhajans have been happening for about a month. Hearing this, the old man knew that no one would be interested in his discourse and left the village. One of the villagers then came and informed about this to Tukaram. Hearing this Tuka went to the Brahman and prostrated to him and said that he should stay in this village and say Ramayan and that he would also sit with the villagers and listen to him. The Brahman was happy and came with Tukaram. Once the villagers knew that Tukaram was going to listen to his discourse all the villagers came for the same. The Brahman agreed to give a detailed discourse of Ramayan for forty five days. There was a miser in that village and he alone would not come for the discourse, he also asked his wife not to go for the discourse but she wouldn’t listen. This was because the miser knew that the villagers would come to him asking contributions for the discourse when it gets completed. Knowing this he left the village a few days before it got over to avoid them. On the last day the organizers started collecting money and went to the miser’s house for collection. When they went there his wife said that he had gone to a nearby village on some work. They then asked her for some contribution and she said that he had locked every thing and gone. As the organizers wouldn’t leave without collecting some thing from them, she gave them an old leaking vessel that was used to wash their legs. That evening there was a big function and all the donations were being given to the Brahman through Tukaram. After giving the entire gifts the organizers who wanted to make fun of the miser, said that the miser had given a golden vessel and handed it over to Tukaram. The miser’s wife who was listening to this felt bad and was thinking that she would definitely have given a golden vessel to the Brahman if her husband had permited her. When Tukaram received it the vessel really turned in to a golden vessel. Tuka knew what was in her heart and made this change. The lady was very happy on seeing this. The Brahman happily collected all the gifts from the villagers and went back to complete his daughters marriage. Tukaram also returned to Dehu. 

One day when Tuka came home Jija was performing Lakshmi Pooja at home. He asked her what she was doing and she replied that she was doing pooja for Rukmani. He then asked her what the occasion today was and why she was suddenly doing this. Jija then told him that some astrologer had told her that if she does this pooja, she would get more wealth. Tuka then told her that whatever wealth is needed for their family, Vitthal would give it to them and she need not do all this for gaining wealth. Jija then told him that he was praying Vitthal and that she was praying Rukmani his wife and there is nothing wrong with it. Tuka then told her that what she was doing was kamyartha bhakthi (praying god and expecting something in return) and that one should not do that. She dint listen to him and continued with her poojas. After a few weeks she suddenly got some money. She bought new clothes for the kids and herself, got back the jewels that were mortgaged. That day when Tuka came for lunch he saw the changes at home and asked her what had happened. She then told him that she had reaped the benefits of doing Lakshmi Pooja and went in to bring food for him. On hearing this Tuka went out without even having his food. Jija thought that he would be angry and return in the night. It was 3 days and he still dint return. She knew that he would go to Pandharpur very often without informing her and thought that he would have gone there. She waited for a few weeks and then it was more than a month now and Jija really started worrying. She then decided to go to Pandhari and started her journey. Pandharpur is almost about 300kms from Dehu. She searched for him there and couldn’t find him. She then asked the other sadhus there if they had seen him. They said that they have not seen him in Pandhari for more than a month now. Jijabai was really worried now and dint know what to do. She then went inside the temple prayed to Vitthal and spend the night in the temple and go back to Dehu the next morning. That night Vitthal came in her dream and told her that Tukaram was in Dehu and also showed her the hill where he was sitting and singing his abhangs. He also told her that he has not been having food from the time he left home. The next day morning Jija left for Dehu, climbed up the hill to the place where Tukaram was seated. (We can even today see this place in Dehu) She found him seated on the stone, and found that he was very weak with beard grown over his face. His voice still had the same energy and was loudly singing the praise of god. She folded her hands and stood in front of him with tears in her eyes. When Tuka finished his abhang, he saw Jija standing there and asked her why she had come there. He also said that he now wanted to be isolated from the world and wanted to sing about Vitthal. Jija asked him how she and her children would live. Tuka then told her that, now that she does Lakshmi Pooja, she has the money to run the family and does not need him any more. Jija then burst in to tears and told him that it was Tuka who was more important for her than the jewels and the money. Tuka then asked her to distribute all the wealth to the poor and asked her to come back to him as earlier. She then went back home did the same and came back to Tuka. Tuka then sang some abhangs to advice her. He then came back with her to their house.

Thuka Vaikundarohan

One day Tukaram called all his disciples and told them that he will be going to vaikuntam on a particular day and asked them to meet him on that day. That day all his disciples had assembled on the banks of Indrayani and were singing bhajans. Vitthal had sent his Garudaviman and Tukaram boarded the same with his body and the whole village saw him going to vaikuntam.

भारतीय अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान का आधार कोई एक ग्रंथ या पुस्तक नहीं है। समय समय पर अनेक महापुरुषों, तपस्पियों, ऋषियों तथा मुनियों ने अपने सतत प्रयासों से इस ज्ञान भंडार को भरा है। इसकी शुरुआत वेदों से हुई पर अंत कहीं नहीं है। भौतिक और व्यक्त जगत पर शोध तो अनेक देशों ने किया पर अध्यात्मिक और अव्यक्त जगत पर जितना ज्ञान भारत में है किसी के पास नहीं रहा। हम यहां वेदों के साथ मनुस्मृति की भी बात करेंगे जिनको लेकर हिन्दुओं को भ्रमित किया गया-इसे यूं भी कहें कि हमारा समाज स्वयं भी इसको लेकर भ्रमित है।
अक्सर हिन्दू धर्म के अन्य धार्मिक आलोचक (इसका आशय विदेशी विचारकों और प्रचारकों से है)
इन्हीं वेदों और मनुस्मृति से श्लोक लेकर हमला करते हैं पर यह उनकी सोच नहीं है। अन्य धार्मिक विचाराधारओं के मानने वालों (विदेशी विचारकों और प्रचारकों) के पास इतनी चिंतन क्षमता हो ही नहीं सकती कि वह भारतीय वेदों, पुराणों और मनुस्मृति को पढ़कर आलोचना कर सकें बल्कि यह भारतीय समाज के अंदरूनी तत्वों द्वारा ही जानकारी प्रदान की जाती है। इससे भी आगे हम यह कहें कि हमें गैर भारतीय विचारधर्मियों से कम अपने ही समाज के और बौद्धिक तत्वों से अधिक चुनौती है जो विदेशी विचाराधाराओं के सहारे यहां वर्चस्व स्थापित करना चाहते हैं। इसमें हम जनवादी प्रगतिवादी विचाराधारा के सभी नहीं तो कुछ तत्वों को शामिल पाते हैं जिनको इस देश के समाज को गरीब, मजदूर, स्त्री, बालक,बीमार और बदहाल जैसे वर्गों में बांटकर कल्याण करने का शौक है।

यहां हमारा आशय हिन्दू धर्म और उसके ग्रंथों के आलोचकों को उत्तर देना नहीं वरन् समान विचारधार्मियों को यह समझाना है कि वह अपने तर्क ठोस ढंग से प्रस्तुत नहीं कर पाते और परिणाम स्वरूप उत्तेजना या गुस्से में ऐसी अभिव्यक्ति करते हैं जो उनके लिये उचित नहीं है। भारतीय सभ्यता और संस्कृति सदैव नवनिर्माण, सौम्य विकास और वैचारिक प्रवाह की निरंतरता की पोषक है। इस धरा की ऊर्जा मनुष्य में ज्ञान और विज्ञान की धारा को प्रवाहित रखती है जिससे यहां अध्यात्मिक और भौतिक ज्ञान का सदैव भंडार रहता है।
वेदों की रचना प्रारंम्भिक काल में हुई। इसकी रचना का काल खंड कोई प्रमाणिक रूप से नहीं जानता क्योंकि इनमें ऋषियों, मुनियों, तपस्वियों तथा महापुरुषों ने अपने अथक प्रयासों से इसमें अपना ज्ञान प्रस्तुत किया और वह इतने निष्कामी और निष्प्रयोजक दयालु थे कि आत्मप्रचार से बचने के लिये नाम भी नहीं लिखते थे। हमारे देश में अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान के लिये निरंतर अन्वेषण होता रहा है इसलिये यह कहना कठिन है कि किसी एक महापुरुष ने इसकी रचना की होगी। कहने वाले तो यह कहते हैं कि दुनियां में कहीं भी कही या लिखी गयी अच्छी और समाज हित की बात वेद का ही हिस्सा है या इसे यूं कहें कि वह वेदों में कही जा चुकी है। हम यहां वेदों का महत्व साबित नहीं करने जा रहे बल्कि हिन्दू धर्म समाज की उस सतत प्रवाहित वैचारिक धारा की चर्चा कर रहे जिससे अन्य धार्मिक समाज दूर रहते हैं। वेद या मनुस्मृति की आलोचना या चर्चा कर हमारे समाज को रास्ते से हटाने का प्रयास सदियों से चल रहा है और इसे समझना होगा क्योंकि आज का समाज केवल इनके सहारे आगे नहीं बढ़ रहा। हम यहां बाल्मीकी रामायण, श्रीमद्भागवत, महाभारत और श्री मद्भागवत गीता जैसे वह ग्रंथ क्यों भूल जाते हैं जिनसे आज के समाज का सर्वाधिक प्रयोजन है। वेदों या मनुस्मृति में अवर्ण जातियों तथा स्त्रियों के लिये जो बातें तत्कालीन संदर्भों में कही गयीं उनका संदर्भ हमें पता नहीं है पर उनको वर्तमान में कौन मानता है? जो मानते हैं उनको समाज के ज्ञानी लोग ही मूर्ख कहते हैं। फिर समाज जैसे जैसे आगे बढ़ता गया अन्य रचनायें होती गयीं और वेदों से उचित ज्ञान उनमें समावेश किया गया। आज केवल धर्म में विशिष्टता प्राप्त करने के जिज्ञासु ही इन धर्म ग्रंथों को पढ़ते हैं पर अन्य सामान्य व्यक्ति इनके बारे में अधिक नहीं समझता।

कहा जाता है कि वेदों में असंख्य श्लोक थे पर अब हजारों में उपलब्ध हैं? इसका मतलब यह नहीं है कि श्लोक कहीं खो गये बल्कि उनको कहीं न कहीं संजो कर रखा जाता रहा इसलिये वेदों के प्रति यह समाज उदासीन होता चला गया। सच बात तो यह है कि वेदों में जो तत्व ज्ञान है उसे तो अनेक लोगों ने अपनी रचनाओं में स्थान दिया। वेदों में भी दो तरह की ज्ञान ही हो सकता था-एक तो दैहिक-भौतिक तथा दूसरा अभौतिक-अध्यात्मिक। इनमें दैहिक तथा भौतिक ज्ञान तो समय के साथ परिवर्तित होता है पर अभौतिक तथा अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान में परिवर्तन नहीं आता और यही मनुष्य मन के लिये लाभदायी होता है। इसी अव्यक्त और अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान को संजोए रखने के लिये प्रयास हुए जिसके कारण समाज वेदों से उदासीन है।
भारतीय अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान का मूल तत्व निष्काम कर्म और निष्प्रयोजन दया जैसे अनेक संदेश हैं। वेदों से उदासीन होने का कारण भगवान श्री कृष्ण जी की गीता भी रही। चारों वेदों का सार उसमें आ गया-सच कहें तो श्रीकृष्ण ने अपनी अलौकिक बुद्धि से चारों वेदों का सार जिस तरह प्रस्तुत किया उससे तो उन्हें इस विश्व का प्रथम संपादक कहकर मन गद्गद् कर उठता है। उन्होंने न केवल वेदों के तत्व ज्ञान का इसमें समावेश किया बल्कि दैहिक एवं भौतिक संसार को समझने का विज्ञान भी दिया।
उस दिन एक सज्जन ने कहा कि ‘भला बताईये, आयुर्वेद की कौनसी शिक्षा इसमें शामिल है।’
इसका जवाब है कि ‘आयुर्वेद में बीमारियों की दवा से बचने के अलावा उनके इलाज की चर्चा है मगर भगवान श्रीकृष्ण जी ने उनसे बचने का उपाय भी बताया और इलाज भी। उन्होंने बीमारियों से बचने के लिये उचित खानपान का ज्ञान दिया तो इलाज के लिये प्राणायम का उपाय भी बताया।’
यह दुनियां का अकेला ऐसा ग्रंथ है जिसमें ज्ञान और विज्ञान दोनों ही शामिल है। इसमें शामिल हिन्दूओं का समग्र ज्ञान है और वह भी संक्षिप्त रूप से। ऐसा कुशल संपादन कौन संपादक कर सकता था?
आधुनिक काल के हिन्दी भाषी लेखकों ने अपनी कलम विचाराधाराओं के द्वंद्व पर अधिक चलाई पर वैश्विक काल-जीं हां, अंतर्जाल पर लिखने के साथ ही इसकी शुरुआत हुई क्योंकि वह रूढ़ हो चुके संस्थानों की पकड़ से बाहर निकली है-के हिन्दी लेखकों को वेदों के महत्व बताने की बजाय अपने संपूर्ण अध्यात्मिक ग्रंथ का प्रतीक श्रीगीता में ही आलोचकों के उत्तर ढूंढने चाहिये। उससे अगर संतुष्ट न हों तो बाल्मीकी रामायण और श्रीमद्भागवत का अध्ययन करें। वेदों और मनुस्मृति पर विवाद या (कु)चर्चा करने में समय बरबाद करना व्यर्थ है। हमारा समाज निरंतर चलता रहता है और कहीं एक जगह अटक कर रह जाना उसकी फितरत नहीं है। यह अलग बात है कि श्रीगीता में जो ज्ञान दिया है वह हर युग की दृष्टि से स्थिर रहने वाला है और यही हमारी सबसे बड़ी ताकत है।
दरअसल भारत में एक बौद्धिक वर्ग है जिसे यह अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान नहीं सुहाता। वह खुशहाल समाज नहीं देखना चाहता बल्कि समाज में व्याप्त आर्थिक गरीब, जातीय विवाद तथा सामाजिक रूढ़ियों के प्रतिवाद में अपनी जगह तलाशता है। ऐसा नहीं है कि यह साठ या सत्तर साल पुरानी बात है बल्कि यह कबीर जी के समय से ही चल रहा है। भगवान श्रीराम और श्रीकृष्ण के चरित्रों की कहानियां सुनाकर कुछ लोगों ने अपने अध्यात्मिक ज्ञानी होने का ढोंग रचाया जिसको दिखाकर हिन्दू धर्म के आलोचक अधिक बौखला जाते हैं। भले ही ऐसे लोग ढोंगी हैं पर धर्म प्रवाह में उनकी एक भूमिका है जो वह अनजाने में ही निभा जाते हैं। हिन्दू धर्म के आलोचक उन जैसे नहीं बन सकते क्योंकि उन्होंने धर्म ग्रंथ पढ़े नहीं है पर उन जैसा पुजना चाहते हैं। इसलिये आप सुनते होंगे कि कुछ लोगों के नाम लगी उपाधियों-‘गरीबों के मसीहा, शोषितों के मसीहा, नारी कल्याण के प्रतीक।

कहने कहा तात्पर्य यह है कि समय के साथ ही हमारे महापुरुष, तपस्वी, ऋषि और मुनि वेदों से प्रदत्त ज्ञान को इस तरह लेकर आगे चले कि उनमें परिवर्तित होने वाला दैहिक तथा भौतिक ज्ञान जो अप्रासंगिक हो गया है उसे छोड़ दिया जाये। हां, जो तत्व ज्ञान है उसे किसी ने नहीं छोड़ा। हमारी इस पावन धरा पर समय समय महापुरुष आते हैं यह उसका गुण है और उसी तरह समाज का भी यह गुण है कि वह उनके संदेशों के साथ अपना रास्ता बनाता जाता है। किसी एक पुस्तक या महापुरुष से चिपक कर केवल उसे ही मान लेना मानसिक दृढ़ता का नहीं बल्कि वैचारिक संकीर्णता का प्रतीक है। फिर वैश्विक काल के हिन्दी लेखकों को यह नहीं भूलना चाहिये कि उनका असली संघर्ष गैर भारतीय अध्यात्मिक विचारधारा मानने वालों से नहीं वरन् कथित रूप से अपनी विचाराधारा वाले लोगों से ही है।
वह वेद की बात करें तो तुम उनको बाल्मीकी रामायण, श्रीमद्भागवत और श्रीगीता दिखाओ-उन्हें बताओ कि यह है हमारी ताकत। वह तो वेद और मनुस्मृति पर चर्चा करेंगे क्योंकि उनको इन तीनों महांग्रथों से खौफ लगता है। श्रीगीता के बारे में तो कहना ही क्या? वह इसका नाम भी नहीं लेंगे क्योंकि भगवान श्रीकृष्ण ने इसमें संदेश ही इस तरह दिया है कि पढ़ लिख चाहे जो भी ले पर जब तक वह हृदय से उनके प्रति श्रद्धा नहीं दिखायेगा वह समझेगा नहीं और जो उनको मानेगा ही नहीं तो उसकी जुबां से श्रीगीता का नाम निकलेगा ही नहीं और कान से सुनते ही उसकी नसों में भय दौड़ने लगेगा। याद रखो कि वेद और मनुस्मृति पर (कु) केवल विचलित करने के लिये की जाती है और बाल्मीकी रामायण, श्रीमद्भागवत तथा श्रीगीता की बात करने का उन लोगों में नहीं है। सच बात तो यह है कि वेदों और मनुस्मृति पर उनसे (कु)चर्चा कर उनके जाल में ही फंसना है। आखिर हम उनके ऐजेंडे पर ही बहस क्यों करें वह हमारे ऐजेंडे पर बहस क्यों नहीं करते? वह वेदों और मनुस्मृति को उठाते हैं पर श्रीगीता से उनकी परहेज क्या उनकी दुर्भावना का प्रतीक नहीं है?शेष फिर कभी
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यह आलेख इस ब्लाग ‘दीपक भारतदीप का चिंतन’पर मूल रूप से लिखा गया है। इसके अन्य कहीं भी प्रकाशन की अनुमति नहीं है।
अन्य ब्लाग
1.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्द पत्रिका
2.अनंत शब्दयोग
3.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्दयोग-पत्रिका
4.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्दज्ञान पत्रिका
लेखक संपादक-दीपक भारतदीप

Sagar World. http://www.sagarworld.com/ Así se llama el primer proyecto de parque de atracciones de temática hindú creado por The Sagar group, un grupo de empresas fundadas por el ya fallecido cineasta Dr. Ramanand Sagar.

La idea original es la de crear 9 parques temáticos repartidos por toda India, centrados en la mitología y espiritualidad hindú y en series de televisión como Ramayan (1986) y Krishna (1989), creadas por los promotores del proyecto .

El primer parque temático estará situado en Karjat, a las afueras de Navi Mumbai y a 67 Km. de la ciudad de Bombay (Mumbai). 

En el proyecto original Sagar World  tendrá un museo animado, atracciones, parques, templos y anfiteatros con espectáculos. Además de hoteles de 2 estrellas (110 habitaciones), hoteles de 4 estrellas (50 habitaciones) y resorts.  

Algunos de los futuros parques temáticos  serían el Krishna World, ubicado en Mathura, Shiv World en Benarés y Ramayan World en Delhi.

El objetivo principal de este parque de atracciones es el de que los niños se diviertan a la vez que aprendan. Además intentará aprovechar el interés internacional cada vez más creciente en India, creando un lugar accesible tambien para aquellos que quieran conocer la cultura hindú de una forma amena y divertida.