Civilisation of Jammu

Jammu, 1st. March, 1984

[Jammu is the winter-capital of the Jammu-Kashmir state. It has been an ancient seat of Aryan civilization since Aryan. principality was first established here. It was known as Duggar- desh, and had a long and glorious record of cultural expression and blending. Temples of the place depict the influence of Gauriya Tantra in the region. ]

On His visit to Jammu, Baba visited Bagebahu park situated on the bank of river Tawi, beneath the Bahubal fort. Baba said: Aryans first came to Kashmir and Jammu on their way to India. It was the oldest seat of Aryan civilization. They found here stones of the colour similar to blackberry (in local language, Ja’mun) and they named the place Jambu Dwiipa. Tawi is one of the rivers coming out from the Himalayas.

When Aryans came here Takhshila university existed here, Takhshila means the rock of learning. The University existed upto Buddhist and Gupta period. Thereafter came the period of downfall and no university was founded thereafter, It was only after independence of India that the universities were founded again.

From king Lalitaditya to Shankar Verma, Kashmir extended upto Mansarovar and Kailash. The great poet Kalhan, who lived during the times of Lalitaditya Muktapida, wrote in his book Rajtarangini that Kashmir extended as far as 600 miles. The eastern frontier of Kashmir extended upto Kailash, with Mansarovar in it; today Mansarovar is included in Tibet.

When Aryans came to this land, ‘Kash’, a Mongolian tribe were the inhabitants; they lived in Laddakh and Kargil as well. They had flat and pressed nose, while the Aryans had long and moanted nose. Due to them the land was known as Kash-meru- the land of Kash. Later, it was known as Kashmira; to pronounce it Ka’shmira is wrong. ‘Ka’shmiri’ will mean a woman of the land of Kashmir and ‘Ka’shmir’ means a man of this land.

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per year. This much rainfall is not available in regions of U.P., so Baba suggested that research sould be undertaken to find a proper neutralising agent for the alkaline soil so that it can be fully utilised.:

While walking in the garden, Baba pointed to a plant and said that it was vacjayanti. In Bengali it is known as Marvajaya but it has no Sanskrit name. Pointing towards another plant, Baba said that it is called Vishalyakaranil or Mrta Sanjiivanii. Vishalya karanii has been derived from Nishalya Karanil, which helps in joining or healing wounds. In the eple Ramayana Hanuman brought this very plant to cure Lakshmana. Here only the red variety is available, while in Madhu Malanca- Baba’s residence in Calcutta-both varieties can be found.lila India has its own varieties of flora and fauna. Generally, flora and fauna may be classified into three categories : Indian- found from Afghanisthan or Gandhar to Teknaff, the border of Chittagong and Burma; Malaysian-found from Burma to the Phillipines, including Andamans and Nicobar; and Australian found from the Phillipines to Tasmania.

Pashcatya Prakrta was once spoken in Afghanisthan or Kan- dahar, Pashcatya means western or occidental. Kashmiri, Uzbeki, Tazaki, and all the languages of southern Russia are offshoots of Pashcatya Prakrta. To the east of Afghanisthan, Paesachi Prakrta was spoken and Punjabi, Pahari Punjabi. and Dogri are its offshoots. Bhadrawai is a dialect of Dogri-it is a blending of a southern dialect of Kashmiri and a northern dialect of Dogri. Further east Shaoraseni Prakrta was spoken. These three forms of Prakrta and their offshoots are Vaedic languages and their vocabulary is full of Sanskrit or Tadbhava words. ‘Khuditaya’ is a popular word in Pahari Punjabi from which ‘Kui’ was derived. In Punjabi, ‘kui’ is a tadbhava Sanskrit word. Krishna spoke Shaoraseni Prakrta to the Pandavas but He conversed in Sans- krit with the Kaoravas. Sarada script was in use until 1200 years ago and is the oldest script in India. Shaoraseni was written in Sarada script. * Bhadarwa is a place in the Jammu region in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

55 Dogri is an appendicised form of Sarada script. If excavations Are made, samples of Sarada script will be found beneath the soll Landail script, which is still used by the Banias (business- men) of Punjab, is a metamorphosed form of Sarada script. The Vedas were first written in Sarada script and old sanskrit books can still be found in this script. Kashmiri was also written in Sarada script. A few years after independence Sheikh Ab- dullah, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir dis- carded this script arguing that it was the script of Pundits (Brah mans). Sheikh Abdullah’s arguments were incorrect, since a script belongs to no particular caste, it is public property and the common legacy of everybody. Nagri script was adjusted to Persian letters, and a new script was evolved in eastern India, known as Kayathi script. In Persian, ’’ and ’’ are not present-the same policy has been adopted in Kayathil as well. Baba again visited the Tajmahal today, and while walking around the Taj. He made the following observations: At several places, including the entrance gate, Rajwara style of architecture is very prominent. Rajwara style was prevalent in the Gupta period of India, and was a very popular style in Kota also. It is not found in Europe. Architects and masons from Rajasthan, Dhaka and Turkistan were employed in the construction of the Tajmahal, and the Architectural style of the walls is distinctly Turkish. Lal Dastura Piir of Dhaka, for example, constructed the design of the Taj. His grave is located at Krishnanagar but no mazhar or mauso- leum was constructed in his memory. What an irony of fate! In Istanbul: monuments reflect a blending of Turkish and Greek architectural styles while European churches were cons- tructed in Roman, Greek and Gothic styles. Although Christia- nity originated in Palestine and spread to Europe, there is little semitic influence on church architecture in Europe.

The Jall’ (perforated sheet) on the walls of the Tajmahal is similar to the construction at the Hawa Mahal of jaipur, mani- feating the Rajwara style. The Taj is a blending of Indian and Middle Eastern architectural styles, and this synthesis has

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only extensive excavation will uncover this buried city. The Lo li gardens stand on a mound like the Purana Kila, which implies that some remnants of an older city lie underneath. Hastinapur, the capital of the Kaoravas, was a more beautiful city than Indraprastha, the capital of the Pandavas. The symbol of the five-pointed star, comprising of two equilateral triangles with one triangle pointing up and the other pointing down, is found on the walls of the Purana Kila.

It is also found in ancient Persia and amongst Aryan relics.

Shia Muslims influenced the religious outlook of the Moghul emperors up to the reign of Shah Jahan. The Nawabs of Bengal, Oudh and Lahore were also Shias, while Aurangzeb was a Sunni Muslim. The mother tongue of the Shias is Urdu In India, the Shia population is only 0.1% of all Indian Muslims, while the remaining 99.9% are Sunnis. Shias mostly reside in cities and can be found in the districts of west Uttar Pradesh, Unnao, Lucknow, and Aligarh.

In Bihar Shias can be found in Sheikhpura, a mahalla of Patna. In Punjab there are more or less equal numbers of Shias and Sunnis, while in Kashmir, there are more Shias. In Iran Shias comprise the whole of the population and Persian is the language spoken in the entire area from the west of Kabul to Iran. The Sunnis of Bengal belong to the Va’havi section who keep the palms of their hands down- wards during ’namaz’ or prayers. It is said that the Vahavis were originally Shaevites and kept an idol of Shiva hidden under their clothes or tied around their wrists. When Maulavis came to know of this practice the Vahavis were asked to stretch their hands forward, and this has now become the accepted style of offering ’namaz’ by the Vahavis.

Baba briefly examined a structure called Sher-i-Manjila and said that its architecture is representative of the Rajawara style which is a popular style in Kota.

Architecture undergoes a significant transmutation over an 800-year period since the society’s concept of beauty changes. And after twenty generations which is also approximately 500 years, the physical structure of the human body changes. The chin and nose, for example, change and if the twenty first generation is

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compared in the first generation, there is very distinctive physi- Shiva temples in Rajawara and Gauriya styles are found in north and raut india. In Bengal, only one percent of the Shiva temples are in Rajawara style, the rest are in Gauriya style while all Shakta temples are in the Gauriya style.

Pure Utkal style is found in Chriss, while in Bengal a blending of Utkal and Gauri- ya styles is evident in Chattisgarh, a blending of Rajawara and Unsal myle can be found, which Baba names ‘Chatiisgarhi* ale tn the southern side of the Godavari river, Dravida style can be found, as exemplified in the Minakshi Temple while on the northern side of the Godavari river in Telengana and orth Andhra Urkat style of architecture dominates. Brahmt script was used during the time of the Pandavas although Kharou script was also sometimes used. The Panda- lived in tndraprastha, which was frequently visited by Krs’n’a.

Many of the buildings still standing in Delhi are about 700 years old and were constructed during the first Pathan period which began after the death of Raja Dahira. The materials used for the construction of these buildings were taken from earlier constructed buildings unfortunately destroying them.

Decimating old buildings destroys valuable archaeological records which can often result in the distortion of history.h Of all the temples in India, Jain temples are the most neglec- led. Small museums should be established at places where ancient monuments are kept and opened to the public. In addition, ancient monuments should be protected by the archaeological departments of universities.

Chattisgarh is the eastern region of Madhya Pradesh where Chattisgart is the spoken language of the people.

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Delhi, Feb. 25, 1984

Baba visited Shantivana today. While walking on the lawns He commented that the park was well-constructed and well-main. In addition He noted tained and that it was also well-named. that the soil was excellent for growing roses. Baba looked at a mound in the park and said that if the area is excavated the remnants of ancient Delhi will be found here. Delhi has been the capital of India for a long time and the arch- The aelogical record should date back to very early times. capital was shifted to Agra during Shah Jahan’s time and Calcutta was made the capital of India by the British between 1757 and 1912. Apart from these two periods, Delhi has always been the capital of India.

Baba visited Rajghat and enjoyed the scenery. He said that the thorny pineapple was brought to India from the East Indies and Malaysia, while the thornless pineapple came from the West Indies and Guatemala. Pineapple was brought to India by the Portugese and banana was brought by the Dutch from the East Indies.

That night Baba walked around His residence and explained that the term ‘culture’ means the collection of many manifesta- Hons and emanations in the different spheres of human life. While local differences and variations exist, fundamentally human culture is one. For example, the Vaedic Sanskrit ‘dha’ma’ means shelter. “This is my home”, in Vedic language is “Etad nas dha’mah” and in Russian, it is “Etad nata dham”.

Baba also explained that spiritual classical dance is very helpful for spiritual development. When Baba was 22 years old tin 1913) He composed 150 songs in Urdu and 100 songs in English. He also composed twelve songs in Sanskrit when He was only 13 or 14 years old.

Bell, February, 26, 1984

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Baba visited Nehru park today. While walking around the park He observed that small hills have been a feature of Delhi’s Rogaphy since the time of the Mahabharata, while today several large ponds decorate the capital.

Baba also commented that French influence on the English people has been very great; even ‘London’ has been derived from the French word ‘Londres’. In the past, the British royal family and aristocracy proudly spoke French while the commoners spoke English.

Long before the partition of India, ordinary people in Lahore spoke Urdu. The Sikhs used Gurumukhi script in personal tran-. #actions while the language spoken in court was Urdu, written in Persian script. Gurumukhi is not a historical script.

It was invented and implemented by Arjun Dev, a guru of the Sikhs. in the northwest of Allahabad, which included west U.P., Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Duggar-desh (Jammu) and Kashmir, Afghanistan, and southern Russia, Sarada was the original script. Even today, the pundits of Kashmir prepare horoscopes in Sarada script. Modified Sarada is the script of Dogri while old businessmen in Punjab use Landaii script. To the east of Allahabad, Kutila or Shri Har’sa script was in vogue; to the southwest of Allahabad, in west Madhya Pradesh, Mahar- ashtra and Gujrat, Nagri script prevailed. Maurhii is a changed form of Nagri. It had three forms- Curuwali Maurhii, Gujrati Maurhii, and Marathi Maurhii. For the last eighty years, only Devanagri has been used in Marathi. In Gujrati Maurhii, there is no upper line over the words. Marwari businessmen still write their cash books in Curuwali Maurhii while Gurumukhi script is only read by ‘Gianis’ (priests) of the Sikh community.

The Punjabi language had no grammatical structure. It had three dialects-the dialect spoken around Amritsar; the dialect of Sialkot; and Multani dialect, a blended form of Dogri, which has been influenced by Sindhi. Guru Granth Sahib contains the devotional songs of Miira Bai. Miira spoke a mixture of Marwari, her father’s language, Mewari, her father-in-law’s language and Braja, the language of the place where she lived during her old

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For example, the Dasheri mango of Lucknow is less sweet if it is grown in Bengal, while the Langra mangoes of Lucknow, Varanasi, and Hazipur also differ with changes in the environ ment.

People also change with environmental changes. In a dry climate people tend to be laborious while those in a wet climate are more lethargic. The capacity for physical labour de Ereases with increasing wetness. For example, the people of West Punjab are more laborious than those of East Punjab and the people of East Punjab are more laborious than those of Haryana The pattern continues across India, up to Bengal, Assam and Orissa, Refugees from West Punjab, for instance, can migrate to other places in India and experience little hardship in adjusting to physical work. The opposite may also apply.

If an Assamese bay is brought up in Punjab, he will gradually develop the capa eity for more physical labour. In the Bhojpuri area, the people of Arrah are more laborious than those of Gorakhpur, since the climate in Gorakhpur is wetter due to the Himalayan Tarai. People from Arrah go to Gorakhpur to perform manual labour. Baba has termed this phenomenon the East-Wet Theory. While looking at a structure near the road, Baba said that stone used in the construction has no stability which indicates that the building would probably have been constructed about 300 years ago.

Nemitic architecture influenced the monuments of the Pathan Berled since the Pathans came to India from semitic lands. The Moghuls came from Turkistan and outer Mongolia and were Turkish-speaking people while the Pathans spoke Persian. Urdu is a mixture of Turkish, Persian, and the Hariyanavi of Delhi. Many Turkish words like ‘hava’ (air), ‘cammaca’ (spoon), ‘kita’ (Hoor), ‘kursi’ (chair) and ‘mez’ (table), are popular in Hindi, During the time of Yayati Keshari and Ananta Keshari, the Area of Orissa stretched from the Suvarnarekha river to the Godavari river. By 1912 Orissa was a small state consis- ting of five districts-Balasore, Cuttock, Sambalpur, Mayur- bhan) and Puri. The languages of north and south Orissa are In Berhampur, the spoken dialect very similar to Telugu. a mixture of Oriya and Telugu although in some portions of

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Berhampur district people speak Telugu’ the way it is spoken in the Cirear area of Andhra Pradesh. By 1937, Ganjam and Koraput were added to Orissa after the findings of the Odonel Commi- ssion. Some portions of Balasore were under French domination. A separate Sindh was created under the Montague Chelmsford Report and before that, it was a part of Punjab. An examination of international relations reveals that politi- cal boundaries continuously change; only a few decades before Burma was separated from India. In India, there was no sepa- Fate state of Orissa between 1757 and 1912. Rather it was in- eluded in Bengal presidency and once Chauth or tax in Orissa was realised by the Bhonsles of Nagpur. The construction of tombs was a rare phenomenon during the Pathan period. Art and architecture then were still in their developmental stage and had not attained a degree of subtleity or sophistication.

Delhi, Feb. 28, 1984

A big, Today Baba visited Suraj-Kund, a tourist resort. round-shaped pond and ancient relics can be seen here. Baba examined the surroundings and made the following observations.

The history of this place is older than Pathan rule in India. The Tomar Dynasty, a branch of Jastika Ksattriyas ruled from the west of Delhi to Sirhind. Sirhind used to be the water barrier of northern India. The Pandavas were Jastika Ksattriyas, while Krs’n’a was a Vrs’n’ika Ksaltriya. The Pandavas moved throug- hout northern India. It is quite possible that Raja Surajmal constructed this pond and it was named after him. Ponds with a round shape are called ‘kun’d’a’ while those with a rectangular shape are called Sans ‘va’pii’. If the shape is oval, the pond is called ’tadaga’ in Sans- krit. *Surajkunda is a place in Hariyana about 40 kilometres north west of Delhi..

                       

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The pond and buildings were constructed entirely of long. thin stone slabs. Local people explained that on the bank of the pond there used to be a sun-temple, which was destroyed. The sun was the deity of Shakaldwipi Brahmans who came to India from Sacdonia, South Russia. The deity was dressed in pyjama, long coat and a fez, Muslim style cap. Hindu gods were never depicted in this manner. If the temple had contained the deity Gomateshvar, it would have demonstrated Swetamvara Jain’s in- fluence. And if it was a sun-temple, the purohit or priest must have belonged to the Shakaldwipii section of Brahmans. In that case, Shakaldwipiis who are fair and tall would be found in the nearby villages. A survey of the place would reveal such facts.

Aryans started their journey to India from the Caucasian area of south Russia. First, they went to Aryana Braja (Persia) and long ago they visited it. ‘Braj’ means enjoyment synchro- nised with movement. The Aryans liked the Persian countryside very much, thus they called it Aryanya Braja. Later the word Aryanya Braja was transformed into Iran bej, which later became Iran. From Aryana Braja the Aryans went to Gan- dhara, then to Sapta Sindhu, and then Harita dhanya or Hariyana, which included this area as well.

‘Sar’ means ‘head’, and those who work with mind or head are known as ‘Sarkar’. Accordingly, ‘Sardar’ means ’leader’. The medieval English term for ‘sir’ was ‘sire’ as the term for ‘father’ was ‘frere’.

Sarasvat Brahmans live on the west of Delhi, Gauriya Brah- mans reside towards the southeast of Delhi in Rajasthan; Joshi Brahmans live towards the north of Delhi while Kanyakubja Brahmans live towards the east, in west U.P. The Kaoravas ruled on the north of Delhi and the Pandavas on the south. Panchals were rulers in the northeast of Delhi up to Himachal border while the kinnaors lived in the area from the borders of Panchala to the borders of Tibet.

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The Kinnaors were an extremely attractive race which caused others to ask, Kim narah asti ? (Are they hu- mans?) In Sanskrit ‘Kinnaor’ was derived from ‘Kim narah’. Polyandry amongst the women was the custom in those days. Draupadi, for example, had five husbands. Even today, the system of polyandry continues in Kinnaor. Beautiful people are also found between Philippines and Hawaii. While looking at the Palash flower, Baba said that it is called ‘Kinshuka’ in Sanskrit, while in Paeshachi Prakrta and Shaoraseni Prakrta it is called ’tesu’.

In Punjab, tesu was used for colouring sweets. On the occasion of Hola, a festival observed the day after Holi, the people of Punjab would dance and sing. “Ai basantide bahara, amba mole, tesu mole, mola rahii kachnar, which means “The verdant beauty of spring has come, tesu and kacanara flowers have blossomed.”

A thorough study of the history of Delhi will also reveal the history of north Rajasthan, as both places are closely con- nected. Popular folk songs will also tell a lot about the history of this area. In Rajasthan, a blending of Scythian Bhiils includ- Ing Shaks, Huns, and Kushans, and Aryans took palce, and the leading people became Rajputs. The culture of Rajputana is a blending of Aryan and Bhiil cultures. There are several places where Bhills were the dominant race; for example, in Bhiilawada. Wada means locality. Kota was named after the brave leader, Kotia Bhill From Mount Abu to Gujrat, the Sirohiis were dominant and to the south of Rajasthan, the Nagars were dominant. In Rajasthan, different tribes have their own group characteristics. In Mewar, one finds extremely warlike people while Hadas are fighters as well as farmers and the Marwaris are mostly commercial-minded people.

Although this place is negleced today, it is an ancient part of India’s civilisation. Unfortunately, people have forgotten their historical legacy.

To illustrate this point Baba told an instructive story regarding Rama. It is said that Rama forgot that he was Parama Purusa. The gods quite recognised this and deputed some representatives to remind Rama every now and then, that he was Parama Purusa. Through constant remind- ing Rama became conscious of his true self. should be made conscious of their glorious history. Although Similarly, people vested interests are always trying to keep people ignorant and apathetic, a strong social consciousness must be generated in the minds of the people.